The Lord of the Rings: What to Know Before Rings of Power Season 3

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returns on November 11 for Season 3, which is finally expected to show the forging of the One Ring. The wait has been a long one: Season 2 concluded more than two years ago, leaving viewers with yet another sizable gap between episodes of the increasingly expansive fantasy series.

Amazon’s release strategy for Season 3 will also differ from the first two seasons. Four episodes will arrive on premiere day, followed by the remaining four installments in two weekly pairs released on the next two Wednesdays. That means fans will be getting a substantial dose of Middle-earth right away, even for those who remember every major plotline.

For everyone who has lost track of the many characters, locations, alliances, and conflicts introduced in Season 2, this guide revisits the developments that matter most. It also highlights the key storylines and major changes viewers should expect when “The Rings of Power” Season 3 begins.

Seasons 1 and 2 followed one another with relatively little interruption, but Season 3 will not offer the same sense of immediate continuity. Early news about “The Rings of Power” Season 3 revealed that the story would “jump forward several years from the events of Season 2.” In a later interview with EW, showrunner J.D. Payne said Sauron would have “five years in this specific time of Middle-earth to try and fail to make the One Ring.”

Five years may seem insignificant to immortal figures such as Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), whose lives stretch across centuries and millennia. The same cannot be said for the mortal characters around them. Isildur (Max Baldry) and Kemen (Leon Wadham) should enter the new season older and more seasoned, while five years represents a meaningful portion of the lives of older mortals such as Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and Ar-Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle).

The most dramatic consequences of the time jump, however, may be felt across the show’s interconnected storylines rather than in the characters’ appearances. Season 2 ended with a Balrog unleashed, an Elven city destroyed, and major political upheaval underway. After events of that magnitude, Middle-earth cannot simply look the same five years later. Time itself will shape the opening chapters of Season 3.

Sauron is unquestionably evil, but “The Rings of Power” spent its first two seasons exploring a more layered version of the Dark Lord. That approach is not entirely without precedent in Tolkien’s work, where Sauron’s earlier struggles with morality provide room for a more sympathetic interpretation. Even so, the series has already shown flashes of the monster he will become, particularly in the Season 1 finale.

Season 2 pushed that transformation much further. Across its eight episodes, Sauron’s Annatar disguise gradually gave way to a ruthless and vengeful tyrant who seized power, eliminated his enemies, and pursued the Rings of Power as instruments of control. He also killed Adar, the Orc leader created specifically for the series, removing one of the last figures capable of challenging his rise.

Season 3 is unlikely to return to the secrecy and deception that defined Sauron’s earlier appearances. Annatar is finished, and the Halbrand mystery from Season 1 is over as well. With his identity and ambitions exposed, Sauron can finally operate openly as the fully committed villain Middle-earth fears.

That shift should benefit the story. The hidden-identity plotlines gave the first two seasons plenty of intrigue, and Tolkien frequently portrayed Sauron as a schemer. But his defining role is that of a conquering force determined to dominate others. After spending so long in disguise, the series can now let its central villain pursue that goal without restraint and raise the stakes across Middle-earth.

The coming conflict is also set to expand dramatically. When the Season 3 time jump was announced, it was described as taking place “at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron.” Viewers may wonder how that is possible after the Elves already fought Sauron in Season 2. The answer is that the battle shown so far was only the beginning of a much larger, multiyear conflict known in Tolkien’s history as the War of the Elves and Sauron.

In Tolkien’s source material, the war begins nearly a century after Sauron forges the One Ring, although the television adaptation has already compressed and rearranged the timeline. The conflict lasts eight years. Four years into the war, Eregion is destroyed and Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) is killed.

Those events mark only the midpoint of the struggle. The timeline in the appendices to “The Return of the King” later states that “Sauron overruns Eriador.” With the Elves pushed toward disaster, they eventually turn to the Númenóreans for assistance. Without revealing too much, the War of the Elves and Sauron still has plenty of upheaval ahead, and Season 3 appears poised to begin in the middle of that escalating campaign.

The creation of the Rings of Power remains one of the series’ central storylines. Tolkien’s famous distribution includes nine rings for mortal Men, seven for the Dwarf-lords, three for the Elven-kings, and one ruling Ring for Sauron—a total of 20. At the beginning of Season 1, none have been forged. By its conclusion, the Three Elven Rings exist, although they are created in a different order from the chronology in Tolkien’s writings. Season 2 then introduced the remaining 16 rings intended for Men and Dwarves.

That leaves one legendary artifact still to be made: the One Ring. Season 3 promotional material confirms that the Dark Lord will seek to create the weapon he believes can turn the war in his favor and ultimately give him power over all of Middle-earth.

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have offered additional insight into that storyline. Patrick McKay told Empire magazine that Season 3 is the one “where Sauron makes the One Ring in the volcano.” He also explained to EW that Sauron possesses the nine rings for Men and is distributing them throughout Middle-earth while his armies grow stronger. Yet forging a ring more powerful than anything made before is proving personally difficult for him. After two seasons spent building the collection, the series is finally ready to complete it.

In “The Lord of the Rings,” the kingdoms of Men form the primary resistance to Sauron. That story unfolds near the end of the three-thousand-year Third Age, whereas “The Rings of Power” takes place in the Second Age, when the Elves remain the dominant power. As Gandalf explains in “The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The strength of the Elves to resist [Sauron] was greater long ago; and not all Men were estranged from them.” The series is showing that earlier era.

Even during this period of Elven strength, however, their position is precarious by the end of Season 2. Sauron takes control of Adar’s forces, and they destroy the influential Elven city of Eregion. Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) and Elrond arrive with an army to defend it, only to suffer a devastating defeat. With Sauron advancing, the surviving Elves retreat toward a significant new location that is almost certainly Rivendell.

Tolkien’s account suggests that the Elves’ troubles will continue, although enough of them survive to keep resisting Sauron. The five-year time jump gives them an opportunity to rebuild their forces and prepare for another phase of the war. The series will need to explain how the Elves recover after their defeat and how the immortal survivors endure years of conflict between seasons.

Tolkien’s world is filled with formidable villains, and “The Rings of Power” has already introduced the Balrog, Ar-Pharazôn, and Sauron. One notorious threat has not yet appeared, however: the Nazgûl. The Ringwraiths who later hunt Frodo in the Shire originate during the Second Age, so Season 3 could show the earliest stages of their frightening transformation as Sauron’s war enters a new and more dangerous phase.

The first trailer for the season showed these new additions in all their nightmarish glory — but there’s an important distinction: they won’t be called the Nazgûl at this point. The showrunners have announced that they will actually be called by the non-canon name, Nazgnagôl. J.D. Payne explained the name shift to Empire magazine: “The word ‘Nazgûl’ means ‘Ringwraith’ in the Black Speech of Mordor. But before they were Ringwraiths, we know that these were just men. So we were able to derive in the Black Speech that ‘nagôl’ could mean ‘servant.’ ‘Nazgnagôl,’ therefore, literally means ‘Ring-servant.'”

Tolkien never tells us who most of the Nazgûl are, so it will be interesting to see who ends up being given a Ring of Power in the show. But Payne revealed that the one Nazgûl who is named in Tolkien’s legendarium, Khamûl the Easterling, will be played by Zubin Varla. Payne even gave some insights into Khamûl’s motivations this season, explaining that he’s a would-be king who allies with Sauron to fight a dark wizard. “Every character stays the hero of their own story,” he said. “From Khamûl’s point of view, he is a warlord who deserves to be a king.” Khamûl and the rest of the Nazgûl, or more specifically the partially-corrupted Nazgnagôl, will arrive in full force this season.

“The Rings of Power” has taken advantage of its Second Age setting to introduce a few key characters. One unexpected addition in Season 2 takes place when Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) crosses paths with an angry Ent and Entwife. They aren’t in the show for long, but the presence of the male and female halves of the race is a good reminder that we’re in the part of Middle-earth history where Treebeard and the Ents suffer their greatest tragedy: they lose the Entwives.

The slow-burning romance between the two groups comes to an abrupt end not too far in the future of the story. While that painful episode is most likely to take place in a later season of the show, the question right now is whether or not we’ll see more of the Entish world in Season 3. If the showrunners intend to depict the tragic loss of the Entwives at a later date, there’s a good chance they’ll build up the arboreal world a bit more in the next season. But, so far, there hasn’t been any clear indicator one way or the other.

When we meet Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings,” she’s leading the Elven realm of Lothlórien with her husband, Celeborn (Marton Csokas). So far in “The Rings of Power” series, though, Celeborn has been missing in action. The Season 1 explanation for this is pretty simple. Celeborn went off to war (looking like a silver clam) and never came back again. Galadriel is distraught, but centuries later, she’s clearly come to terms with it on some level.

Now we know that Celeborn will be played by Jamie Campbell Bower of “Stranger Things” fame. But the reason he was gone for all of this time still remains unclear. While the couple split up at points, Celeborn never goes missing like this in Tolkien’s source material. It will be interesting to finally get some more details on his extended absence in this adapted version of the story.

Even if the explanation for the curious case of the missing husband is satisfactory, it won’t answer another burning question the series has neglected to address thus far. How are they going to get their daughter, Celebrían, born and all grown up (Elven aging takes a while) so she can eventually become Elrond’s wife and Arwen’s mom? Lots of explaining to do here. At least we know Season 3 will start to give us some answers.

Robert Aramayo’s Elrond has given us a very different take on the iconic half-Elven leader of Rivendell than we got used to in Peter Jackson’s films. That’s because by the time of “The Lord of the Rings,” Hugo Weaving’s Elrond is wise, highly experienced, and well-established as a leading figure in Middle-earth. In “The Rings of Power,” Elrond is young and still learning the ropes. Rivendell doesn’t even exist yet — although Season 2 ended in a sunny glade that is almost certainly going to be the spot where Elrond builds his hidden fortress.

While the Elf’s story through two seasons has mostly focused on his connections with friends like Galadriel and Durin (Owain Arthur), there have been hints at Elrond’s extremely unique ancestry as well. We can anticipate a lot more of the family-focused stuff in Season 3, especially since it’s been confirmed that Aramayo will also be playing Elrond’s twin brother Elros in “The Rings of Power.”

Don’t expect too many interactions between the two, though. The twins are Peredhil, meaning they’re half-Elven, half-human. While Elrond chooses immortality through his Elvish blood, Elros opts to live as a human king and founds the nation of Númenor, living out his lengthy but mortal life long before “The Rings of Power” story starts. Still, bringing Elros back through a flashback will at least give Elrond’s motivations more context. J.D. Payne even said (via Polygon) that losing Elros creates a lifelong sadness in Elrond, because his twin was “the person who was closest to him of anyone.”

One of the strangest character arcs of the entire “Rings of Power” show has been that of Daniel Weyman’s Wizard. A lot of Season 1 is spent following the otherworldly character as he arrives via a meteor, is adopted into a tribe of overly cautious Harfoots, sheds his childlike innocence, and starts to learn that he has magical powers and a higher purpose.

In Season 2, he sets out in earnest to chase down that purpose — by heading east, right into the barren desert region of Rhûn (which Tolkien doesn’t say much about). There, he meets the enigmatic Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) and is further trained in his Wizarding ways. He also meets a Dark Wizard (let’s put a pin in that for a minute), and in the end, it’s (finally) revealed that he is, indeed, the Wizard Gandalf, arriving in Middle-earth.

Big sigh. It took two seasons of mystery box teasing to finally reveal that this guy really is Gandalf, even if the classic “Lord of the Rings” character isn’t supposed to show up in the Second Age and explicitly says he doesn’t go to the East in the text. So what can we expect heading into Season 3?

Since there isn’t any source material about Gandalf in the Second Age, all we have are teases from the showrunners and cast about what’s coming next. Daniel Weyman hinted (via Empire) that we should expect to see “the wizard we all love from Tolkien’s writings” this season, adding, “I found this new side to him, the side that we all hopefully recognize: the mischief, the twinkle in his eye.” Expect him to get his classic grey hat and learn how to better control his powers, too.

At San Diego Comic-Con, Weyman also revealed (via Gizmodo) that during the five-year time jump, Gandalf has been busy in his tutelage under Tom Bombadil. He’s learning from the mystic master, and as Season 3 dawns, we’ll see a version of the character who is ready to step into his role beyond just being a magic wielder. He’ll also start to be an inspiration to the people around him to rise up and resist evil. As Weyman said, “He’s learning that it’s not all about sort of wielding the staff and creating massive magic power. It’s also about that soft power touching people’s hearts.”

Gandalf isn’t the only Wizard revealed in Season 2. Once the story shifts to Rhûn, we meet a Dark Wizard played by Ciarán Hinds. The jury is still out on who the Dark Wizard is, but the showrunners have definitely ruled out Saruman as an option. That means, by the end of the season, there are only a few possibilities left. 

The character could simply be a new magic-wielding person made up for the show. But in reality, he is most likely one of Tolkien’s mysterious Blue Wizards. They were an underdeveloped part of the author’s world, sometimes showing up as bad guys and at other times appearing to be a force for good. In either case, their main stomping ground is the East, where Gandalf is right now — and, well, if the shoe fits, right?

The other thing to look out for is yet another Wizard. If the Dark Wizard is one of the two Blue Wizards, it stands to reason that the other one is out there somewhere, too. Tolkien initially named these two guys Alatar and Pallando. Alatar is the leader, and he brings Pallando along on the mission to Middle-earth. If that’s the case, there’s a good chance we’ll find a partner in crime as we learn more about the Dark Wizard this season.

Whether we meet another Wizard or not, expect the Dark Wizard we already know to have an interesting role this season. For starters, we’ll definitely get some clarity around who he is. At SDCC, the showrunners said (via GamesRadar) that we’ll find out his identity in Season 3 — and sooner than we might think. Unconfirmed reports on social media indicate that the character will, indeed, be revealed as Pallando.

Whatever his name, though, we know that he’s not a great guy. He demands blood from his acolytes, orders servants around at will, and harms innocent Halflings without a second thought. At the same time, when the Nazgnagôl were revealed before the season, Khamûl the Easterling – the only named Ringwraith — was positioned as an opponent to the Dark Wizard. J.D. Payne explained to Empire that from Khamûl’s point of view, the warlord wants to be a king — he deserves it. But his “power has been usurped by a dark wizard. Sauron offers him a way back to the top.”

Make no mistake, the Dark Wizard is a bad guy right now. But it looks like he may be squaring off against other baddies this season, too. That’ll make an interesting situation for Gandalf and the good guys as they figure things out in the Eastern regions of Middle-earth. What’s the old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

There are many areas of Middle-earth that Tolkien barely touched on — regions like the Kingdoms of Harad, Khand, and Rhûn that sit on the edge of the story and occasionally enter it, but are otherwise left out of sight. “The Rings of Power” has opted to dive right into one of those unexplored regions through Gandalf’s trip to Rhûn. In Season 2, we see hints of the desert area, but not much in the way of any serious civilization. But Rhûn isn’t just a place. It’s a powerful collection of people.

As the story unfolds around characters like Gandalf, the Dark Wizard, and Khamûl the Easterling, expect to see more of this world come into focus. We already know from the promotional material at SDCC that Gandalf is going to ride an Oliphaunt while he’s in Rhûn — a fun fact that has a surprising connection to “The Two Towers.” We know from the source material that the Blue Wizards are busy out in this area, too, as are some of the Ringwraiths and even some Dwarven kingdoms. Any or all of these could factor into the show this season.

Sauron is also at work. “The Silmarillion” says that at this point in the Second Age, “in the east and south well nigh all Men were under his dominion … To them Sauron was both king and god; and they feared him exceedingly, for he surrounded his abode with fire.” The takeaway here? Expect more from Rhûn in Season 3.

The Dwarves have been a major faction in “The Rings of Power.” Last we saw them in Season 2, they helped some of the defeated Elves escape from the destruction at Eregion. But all is not well in their home of Khazad-dûm. A Balrog is actively awake in the caverns under their feet — and in the season finale, it kills their king, Durin III (Peter Mullan).

While the Balrog remains hidden for the moment, the threat remains a major worry for the Dwarves heading into Season 3. The death of Durin III also opens up a succession crisis. His son, Durin IV, is right there and ready to ascend to his father’s throne. But in the fading moments of the season, we learn that his older brother, Thráin (who will be played by Eddie Marsan in Season 3), has also laid claim to the throne and is gathering support. Add in the introduction of Durin and Disa’s (Sophia Nomvete) recast teenage children, Gerda and Gamli (played by Amber Mendez-Martin and Lee Braithwaite, respectively), and it looks like we’re going to get a whole lot of Dwarven family drama.

Don’t forget the Dwarven Rings of Power, too. They’re forged now and in play as well. King Durin IV has them, but other Dwarf-lords will want in on the action. Tolkien says the Dwarven rings don’t have much power over their stubborn owners, but they do inflame their hearts with things like greed, wrath, and vengeance. You can count on them to supercharge any political situation and create all sorts of havoc.

The Balrog is loose in Khazad-dûm, and its effect on the Dwarves living there is going to be important. But it turns out the Balrog will impact Season 3 in its own unique way as well. At SDCC, the studio revealed that the Balrog will get a voice through actor Simon Pegg. That means, for the first time, we’re going to hear dialogue from the demon. Who will he be talking to? Why the Dark Lord himself, of course.

As McKay explained at the Comic-Con Hall H Panel, “The Balrog is a character, so he should have a voice. Every season we want to show a different side of him. He should have a scene with Sauron this season. Balrogs know how to live in fire. Sauron goes to the Balrog to learn this power.”

Remember the bit about Men worshiping Sauron because he surrounds his abode with fire? And then, of course, there’s the whole forging of the One Ring in the piping hot Cracks of Doom. Look out for some red-hot scenes between these two terrifying individuals in the upcoming season.

The island nation of Númenor has been a fascinating corner of the “Rings of Power” story. The isolated but powerful human kingdom has slowly devolved into chaos over the first two seasons. Its king, Tar-Palantir (Ken Blackburn), dies in Season 1, setting off a political crisis that drags on through Season 2. Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is the natural heir to the throne, but her cousin, Pharazôn, immediately starts plotting a takeover. Miriel is supported by a pro-Elvish faction called The Faithful, while Pharazôn is backed by a human-centric group called the King’s Men. 

By the end of the season, all hell breaks loose on the island. Miriel is overthrown and locked up. Her hero and friend, Elendil, flees the capital city as Pharazôn’s political coup turns into an all-out takeover of power. The drama on Númenor is far from over, too.

Last we saw, Elendil is in exile but still loose on the island. His son, Isildur, is trying to get back to the island and doesn’t know what’s going on. His daughter, Eärien (Ema Horvath), is breaking bad and scheming with the King’s Men. And his younger son, Anarion, remains missing (but is confirmed to arrive this season, played by Andrew Richardson). Suffice it to say, things are a hot mess for this Second Age branch of the family tree that will eventually connect to Aragorn himself.

With so much in flux as Season 2 ended, the five-year jump into Season 3 will be interesting. One thing seems likely, though. Númenor has been on the periphery of the story for the first two seasons. It should shift to front and center in the coming episodes.

By the Season 2 finale, Pharazôn is so in control of Númenor that he starts sending out ships to colonize Middle-earth and plunder the mainland for everything it’s worth. This is a critical part of the setup for the final act of the Second Age story. In the source material, the Númenóreans start as friends, settling along the shore and building mutually beneficial relationships with the local people living on the mainland.

Under Pharazôn, some Númenórean settlements, like Pelargir (an early version of Gondor which we saw in Season 2), become safe havens for the Elf-friendly Faithful Númenóreans. But most of them become tyrannical centers of Pharazôn’s power, enslaving people and stealing resources at will. This also sets the stage for the usurper to eventually fight directly with Sauron’s armies coming out of Mordor, triggering a string of Atlantean events that don’t end well for their island.

All of the pieces are in place for the colonizing chaos to kick off in Season 3. Pharazôn’s son, Kemen, is leading corrupt forces on the mainland. Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) is also hanging around the area and could get involved. This might feel like a side story compared to some of the bigger stuff going on, and at this point, it kind of is. But Season 3 will keep laying the groundwork for the upcoming face-off between Sauron and Númenor. And when that begins? It’s going to be headline news.

One group that hasn’t gotten much attention in the lead-up to Season 3 is the Halflings. Season 1 introduces us to the Harfoots, one of the three groups that ultimately come together to create the Hobbits we know and love. Season 2 brings another of those groups, the Stoors, into the story as well. Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards) discover an enclave of the half-pint hold-dwellers during their adventures with Gandalf in Rhûn. By the end of the season, they lead the group back into the West, literally in search of greener pastures and to link up with their own Harfoot community.

If you were looking forward to more proto-Hobbit fun, though, it likely won’t come in Season 3. When asked about their involvement in Season 3, J.D. Payne hinted at a change: “It was time for them to take a little bit more of a backseat,” he said, adding, “I will also say: never count a Halfling out.”

While that technically leaves the door open, it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll see Nori, Poppy, and company until Season 4 at the earliest. There’s a silver lining to their absence, though. Throughout the first two seasons, “The Rings of Power” has juggled a lot of disconnected storylines. It’s been a lot to keep track of. In Season 3, many of these are coming together, and trimming off side quests with Harfoots and Stoors seems like a smart way to rein things in and focus on the bigger stories unfolding.