War is on the horizon in The Rings of Power Episode 5, which provides a look at what various characters are fighting for. It’s also the first episode to have both dwarves and harfoots as the show’s disparate plots are finally coming together for the inevitable big fight for Middle-earth.

The harfoot plot is pretty brief, anchored by a sweet travel sequence set to music that really feels like it gets to the adventurous spirit of Tolkien’s work. This storyline mostly continues to make clear just how powerful the Stranger is. A lot of harfoots would likely have been “left behind” if he hadn’t been there to stop the warg attack. But after his weird healing frost trick, it seems like even Nori is starting to become a little scared of her giant friend. I still don’t think the Stranger is a bad guy, but that much power is always dangerous and he needs to get his act together to ensure no one gets hurt. We also finally get a glimpse at the strange cultist-looking characters seen in a previous teaser who seem to be tracking The Stranger, but there’s no new details on who they are or what they’re after beyond the very creepy music playing when they’re on screen.

The humans of the Southlands who fled to the elven tower to escape Adar and his army, meanwhile, are not doing well. About half of their group have followed Waldreg, who I can’t help but think of as a Darkfriend from The Wheel of Time, to take Adar up on his offer of surrender. Waldreg’s been a scumbag since Episode 1, when he tried to hide news of the spreading corruption from Arondir, and he just keeps doubling down. It’s really funny to see how quickly he pivots from pledging loyalty to Sauron to offering to serve whoever’s leading the orc army.

In many ways, it feels like The Rings of Power has set itself up as the anti-Game of Thrones, even as comparisons to House of the Dragon continue to run rampant. There’s no way we wouldn’t see Waldreg slit that poor kid’s throat and get covered in his blood in either of those HBO shows. Here, all we need to know is found in Waldreg’s expression changing from horror to grim determination. Game of Thrones would have played out the council session in Númenor to show some sharp-tongued intrigue, but Rings of Power just gives us the setup and then a shot of Halbrand showing just how well he cleans up. Again, the character decision is all that actually matters.