Everything We Know About The Rings of Power Season 3, Including the Comedian Voicing a Demon
The world of J. R. R. Tolkien has been expanding more and more over the years, ever since the 2000s when everything was still mostly about Peter Jackson’s trilogy. And ever since it made its way to TV, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been reaching an even bigger audience, from the more open-minded Tolkien fans to people who fell in love with Middle-earth for the first time when they watched the very first episode of Season 1. And this year, the series is finally starting to take some major steps toward the forging of the One Ring and the growing war between Sauron and the Elves. So far, the show has spent a lot of time introducing its characters and setting up the board, but now with Season 3, the climax of the story is getting much closer.
With a different tone, new characters, and new confirmations following the series’ panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, we’ve put together everything you need to know to get ready for the newest chapter of The Rings of Power… and Sauron.
What’s Already Confirmed About The Rings of Power Season 3
Season 3 is making a time jump, picking up five years after the fall of Eregion with a darker and more dangerous tone. And, honestly, that time jump is the best decision The Rings of Power could have made at this point, since spending another season following every little step of a war that is about to become massive would have felt a bit strange and unnecessary. So, when the show returns, Sauron will already have made some serious progress, with his armies having conquered large parts of Middle-earth, and Khazad-dûm, Lindon, and Rivendell are among the last major strongholds still standing against him. So, what exactly should we expect from the villain?
After Season 2, the Dark Lord had already started playing a much bigger part, and it was pretty obvious that the story was going to shift toward him. Now, he’s no longer just interested in making Rings to manipulate people, because he wants to make the One Ring itself. That means we’ll finally see him begin the process of forging the Ring, which is basically the point where the story starts lining up more directly with what fans already know from The Lord of the Rings. The teaser already makes that clear, showing Sauron with Barad-dûr established and working toward completing his plan while the war keeps spreading. But here’s the most interesting part: the forging sequence.
According to showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, the scene where the One Ring is created will be a long one. Payne said Sauron will be in the Cracks of Doom, having to survive the hellish heat and fire. “The forging of the Ring will be unhinged. Evil cannot create, it can only corrupt. Sauron has to spend the season learning how to forge the Ring,” he shared. “It’s a 15-minute sequence and it takes everything Charlie [Vickers] has.” And that’s no small thing considering this object is the biggest symbol in the entire franchise. Plus, the new season will also introduce the villain’s servants: the Nazgnagôl, who are connected to the Nine Rings given to Men and represent an earlier version of the Nazgûl we know from the Third Age.
However, the connection to Sauron that has probably got the most attention is the Balrog, which is coming back in a huge way after awakening deep beneath Khazad-dûm last season — and this time, it will speak. It’s the first time the creature has done so in a Tolkien adaptation, and it will be voiced by comedian Simon Pegg. According to McKay, the idea is to show a different side of the demon. “Creatures in Tolkien talk. He isn’t just a monster. He’s a character in this show and we want to show new facets of him every year. And we’re crazy enough to think he should have a scene with Sauron. Balrog knows how to live in fire and survive. Sauron might need to know that dark magic. So, he goes to learn this power,” he explained. Still, even though Pegg is a comedian, fans can rest assured that the creature is meant to be a genuinely dangerous and intelligent threat.
And moving away from the villain side of the story, The Rings of Power also has a few surprises in store with its new characters, and there’s one in particular that has fans talking. The additions include Zubin Varla as Khamûl, the Easterling from Rhûn; Eddie Marsan as Thrain, Durin IV’s older brother; Andrew Richardson as Anárion, Isidulr’s brother; Adam Young as Marnûkh, an Orc who joins Galadriel and Arondir on a mission and will have his own storyline; and Jamie Campbell Bower as the long-awaited Celeborn, Galadriel’s missing husband. And that last name could shake things up for the protagonist, since after two seasons in which so much of her story was tied to Sauron, bringing her husband back completely changes the dynamic.
On top of that, Celeborn is important to the new plot for more than just his relationship with Galadriel. Obviously, a big part of his return revolves around her, and the season will explain what happened to him all this time, as well as show how exactly the couple first met. But according to Bower himself, his character will also go through his own journey, with plenty of growth and a newfound sense of wisdom that comes from everything he has experienced during their time apart. That’s also why there’s another interesting side of him the show can explore. “(…) He’s going through something… there is a darkness in him; he has seen things, and they have formed and shaped who he is when we first meet him,” the actor shared. That should be especially curious considering he’s returning at such a tense point in the story, with the War of the Elves and Sauron reaching a critical stage.
How the Season 2 Finale Sets Up Season 3
Okay, we already know what to expect from the new chapter of The Rings of Power, but how exactly could the last season’s ending shape what comes next? Basically, the final episodes left behind a pretty long list of problems to deal with: Eregion fell, Celebrimbor and Adar died, Sauron moved further ahead with his plan, Durin III died fighting the Balrog, the Stranger finally became Gandalf, Númenor fell into a deeper political crisis, and Galadriel ended the season being found by Elrond, Gil-galad, and Arondir. So, where do things go from here?
Starting with Eregion, the situation is important because Celebrimbor’s death officially brought an end to the manipulation Sauron had been carrying out since the first season. With the city destroyed, the Three Elven Rings now carry even more weight, especially since Lindon and Rivendell are among the last places of resistance. The problem, of course, is that the Dark Lord knows they existed, so the new episodes begin with the Elves having a powerful weapon on their side while the enemy is getting closer to figuring out how to take that advantage away from them.
Khazad-dûm is also a pretty complicated position. The king of the dwarves died after facing the Balrog, but his death didn’t solve the problem. The creature is still down there, and Durin IV now has to take command while dealing with a crisis that was already getting ugly. Since we know the Balrog will have an essential role in Season 3, the dwarves’ storyline is becoming more serious to the bigger picture as well. Meanwhile, there’s the Stranger’s arc, which, even though fans had already figured out, is no longer a question mark after he helped the Stoors escape and spoke with Tom Bombadil. Now that he’s Gandalf, it’s time to see the character start growing into the figure that The Lord of the Rings fans know and love. And, naturally, that also means the story in Rhûn and the Dark Wizard’s storyline aren’t over yet.
As for Númenor, the problem is that Pharazôn has taken control, Míriel has been pushed aside, Elendil has left the island, and Isildur is also following his own path. The new season will naturally have to keep dealing with that divide. Everyone knows the show doesn’t follow Tolkien’s work strictly, but it does pull from different versions of his stories, so we can still get a pretty good idea of where things might be headed. In the original material, the split between the Faithful and the King’s Men only grows more extreme until Pharazôn is eventually manipulated by Sauron, who arrives in Númenor as a prisoner and turns the king’s fear of death into a weapon. The series has already taken a very distinct route with Sauron as Halbrand in Season 1, so there’s no guarantee this part of the original story will play out the same way, but the introduction of Anárion and Míriel’s request for Elendil to reclaim his lordship could suggest the family that will lead the survivors of Númemor is starting to take shape.
And when it comes to Galadriel and Sauron, there’s still plenty going on beneath the surface, since their connection is far from over after their confrontation in the season finale. According to Charlie Vickers, even though his character was willing to do whatever it took to get the Rings, Galadriel is the only person Sauron can truly be himself around. And according to the showrunners, there will be an unconventional dynamic between both of them and Celeborn — not exactly a romance, but something built around manipulation, tension, and obsession.
The Rings of Power Season 3 Cast, Release Date, and Episodes
And what about the episodes? The Rings of Power will have a specific release schedule. There will be 8 episodes, but they won’t be released weekly from start to finish. In the same vein as the final season of Stranger Things, the show will be split into three parts, with the first four episodes arriving on November 11; two more episodes dropping on November 18; and the final two coming on November 25.
As for the cast, most of the main players are back, with Vickers (Sauron), Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), Robert Aramayo (Elrond), Benjamin Walker (Gil-galad), Daniel Weyman (Gandalf), Owain Arthur (Durin IV), Sophia Nomvete (Disa), Lloyd Owen (Elendil), Maxim Baldry (Isildur), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Míriel), Trystan Gravelle (Pharazôn), Ismael Cruz Córdova (Arondir), Ciarán Hinds (Dark Wizard), and Rory Kinnear (Tom Bombadil), along with the new additions.
The challenge for The Rings of Power now is making all of this work. The question is whether the show can finally make all the setup from before pay off. Now’s the time.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 premieres November 11 on Prime Video.
