Every episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, ranked worst to best

The season 2 finale of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power aired last Thursday. So there's no new episode this week, but we have the next best thing: nit-picking and ranking! Let's run through all eight episodes from The Rings of Power season 2, ranking them from worst to best, "worst" and "best" being relative terms:

8. Episode 204, "Eldest"

The Rings of Power is set during the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings story most of us know. Some characters are familiar and some are brand-new, and some of their stories are more entertaining than others. "Eldest" revolves mainly around some of the more boring characters in the cast, namely the elf Arondir, the Númenórean Isildur, and the human woman Estrid. The show sends them on a mission to find Arondor's stepson Theo, who's been kidnapped for an Ent. Every character here is dull, so this story is too.

We also check in on Galadriel and Elrond as they lead a group of elves to the city of Eregion but are waylaid by wraiths and orcs. The elves almost match the humans who dullness. Finally, in the distant desert of Rhûn, the magic-wielding Stranger meets Tom Bombadil, a character from J.R.R. Tolkien's original book trilogy who's been awkwardly repurposed here as a mystical guide.

All of this drags or is strange. My favorite bit is the harfoot Nori connecting with a new tribe of harfoots she and her friend Poppy find in Rhûn. Other than that, this is an episode to endure, not enjoy.

7. Episode 203, "The Eagle and the Sceptre"

The Rings of Power seems to have trouble with its human characters. Isildur, Arondir and Estrid meet up in this episode, and while their adventure ranks low on the energy meter it's not as flat as their adventure in "Endless." Meanwhile, on the island nation of Númenor, Queen Regent Míriel is thrwarted in her bid to be coronated as the island's next ruler. The Númenor scenes seem perfunctory this season on The Rings of Power; I often felt like there were scene missing, or that I wasn't connecting with a character the way I should. They're not bad, just a little boring.

Happily, "The Eagle and the Sceptre" is still a decent watch, if unspectacular. By and large, this season of The Rings of Power is fairly consistent, with episodes separated from each other by a few degrees of quality. And the quality only goes up from here.

6. Episode 202, "Where the Stars Are Strange"

The first few episodes of The Rings of Power season 2 set up much of the rest. In Episode 202, the Stranger and the harfoots push deeper into the land of Rhûn, entertaining us with their lightweight back-and-forth. Sauron, disguised as a heavenly being named Annatar, reveals himself to the elven smith Celebrimbor, setting off one of the season's best plotlines. And deep beneath the mountains, in the dwarven stronghold of Khazad-dûm, we catch up with marrieds Disa and Durin IV. They do don't much in this episode, but the dwarves are consistently the most relatable, warmest, funniest characters on the show, and any time with them is time well spent.

5. Episode 201, "Elven Kings Under the Sky"

The premiere episode of The Rings of Power season 2 poses a question to the elves: what do they do with their newly forged elven rings, which have the power to ward off decay but may also be corrupted since they were made under the influence of Sauron, then in disguise as a man named Halbrand? There's dissension in the ranks — Elrond jumps off a waterfall to stop the rings from being used — but in the end the elves slip them on their fingers, and Middle-earth returns to full bloom.

The elves are a little stiff, but this at least gives them something to lose and to fight for. But the best parts of this episode are reserved for Sauron. At the top of the episode, we get a flashback to the world as it was right after the end of the First Age, when Sauron is betrayed by his lieutenant and has to spend an indeterminate amount of time rebuilding himself from a pile of goo into something resembling a man.

It's fun getting this time with Sauron. He feels like the main character of the season and this sequence sets him up for success.

4. Episode 207, "Doomed to Die"

The season climaxes with a massive siege of Eregion, with the corrupted elf Adar harrying the elven city walls from without and Sauron masquerading as a benevolent protector to the citizens within. Things really get going in "Doomed to Die," but there are some weird moments that hold me back from kicking it up the list. For instance, at one point Elrond gives an inspirational speech to a random archer, who then saves the day and dies in slow motion. It's shot like an epic moment, expect that we'd never met this person before and it has no emotional impact, no matter how the show tries to sell it. Sometimes The Rings of Power assumes that mounting an expensive action scene is effort enough, but without connections to the characters, it doesn't count for much.

The battle is still entertaining despite my complaints, but the best stuff is between Celebrimbor and Sauron, who is tricking the elven smith into forging rings of power. Sauron is consistently entertaining as a devious schemer.

3. Episode 206, "Where Is He?"

"Where Is He?" drills down on the parts of The Rings of Power that work: we spent a lot of time with the dwarves as Durin IV wrestles with the question of whether to betray his father, and with Celebrimbor as Sauron as the future dark lord successfully tries to make the elven smith look crazy. Things are even a little more exciting on Númenor, as Míriel opts to leave the decision of whether or not she's fit to rule up to a giant sea monster.

The episode gets docked a couple points for another weird scene with Tom Bombadil in Rhûn, but the season is really cooking at this point.

2. Episode 205, "Halls of Stone"

"Halls of Stone" works for more or less the same reasons that "Who Is He?" works, but everything is executed a touch better. In Khazad-dûm, Durin IV can see his father becoming corrupted by greed, but doesn't want to jeopordize their relationship now that they've reconciled. It's a very human, relatable story about a pair of people who aren't human at all. In Eregion, Sauron expertly manipulates Celebrimbor into thinking that forging ahead with the rings of power is the only reasonable option for him, coming off as dangerous and devious in a deliciously believable way.

This is also probably the pinnacle of the Númenor plotline. The newly installed king of the island, Ar-Pharazôn, stares enviously across the ocean to the eternal land of the elves in the kind of simmering character-driven moment I wish this show had more of. Later, things blow up between Pharazôn and Míriel's followers in a tense scene.

1. Episode 208, "Shadow and Flame"

The finale of season 2 is also its best episode, which is a plus; it's good to end on a high note. The Siege of Eregion ends with several entertaining scenes, including a shape-shifting fight between Sauron and Galadriel, a kind of redemption for Adar, and a barn-burner of a scene where Sauron pelts his friend and colleague Celebrimbor with arrows to torture him for information. If Sauron is the main character of the show, this is one of the scenes that makes him.

I also really enjoyed Durin III leaping into the battle against the monstrous balrog hidden deep beneath even the depths of Khazad-dûm, taking responsibility for how his greed had roused the creature and passing kingship of the dwarven realm onto his son. I wasn't as enthusiastic with how the show wrapped up things in Númenór (rushed) or in Rhûn (ditto), but overall this was a solid way to end the season.

The Rings of Power hasn't officially been confirmed for a third season yet, but will probably return for one in 2026.

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