After two years off the air, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is back for Season 3. Amazon’s billion dollar project spent its first two seasons setting up the War of the Elves and Sauron and fleshing out Middle Earth’s Second Age by adapting bits from The Silmarillion and the appendices from The Lord of the Rings.
With the Dark Lord on the rise and the story building up to some critical moments in Tolkien lore, here is everything you need to know before The Rings of Power Season 3 premieres:
When does The Rings of Power Season 3 come out?
The Rings of Power Season 3 will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday, November 11 at 3 a.m. ET. The first four episodes will all come out at the same time. Based on how the first two seasons played out, each episode should have a runtime of over an hour.
Amazon has utilized multiple release strategies for its headlining shows over the years. From The Boys and Gen V to Reacher, the studio typically launches seasons with multiple episodes up front, although Fallout Season 2 was one per week from the start. As for The Rings of Power, Season 1 had a two-episode premiere followed by weekly one-off releases, while Season 2 had a three-episode premiere and then one episode a week from then on out. Here is the show’s full release schedule for Season 3:
- Episodes 1-4 – Wednesday, November 11
- Episodes 5 & 6 – Wednesday, November 18
- Episodes 7 & 8 – Wednesday, November 25
(Warning: Spoilers for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Rings of Power Seasons 1 & 2 ahead.)
Who will show up this season?
Even though some notable characters died in Seasons 1 and 2, not all of them will be leaving the cast entirely. Meanwhile, characters like Markella Kavenagh’s Nori Brandyfoot and Megan Richards’s Poppy Proudfellow have gone from series regulars to out of the picture – at least for now. Here’s a full look at who is expected to appear in this season of television:
- Morfydd Clark as Galadriel
- Charlie Vickers as Sauron
- Robert Aramayo as Elrond / Elros
- Benjamin Walker as Gil-galad
- Daniel Weyman as Gandalf
- Ciarán Hinds as the Dark Wizard
- Ismael Cruz Cordova as Arondir
- Ben Daniels as Círdan
- Owain Arthur as Durin IV
- Sophia Nomvete as Disa
- Lloyd Owen as Elendil
- Maxim Baldry as Isildur
- Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Míriel
- Trystan Gravelle as Pharazôn
- Ema Horvath as Eärien
- Leon Wadham as Kemen
- Adam Young as Marnûkh
- Jamie Campbell Bower as Celeborn
- Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor
- Simon Pegg as The Balrog (voice)
What to expect in The Rings of Power Season 3
Following the seige of Eregion, Galadriel, Elrond, Gil-galad and Arondir escaped to the north to start a new settlement at Rivendell. They were able to escape with the three Elven rings – Vilya, Narya and Nenya – while Sauron secured the nine rings for men after killing Celebrimbor. He also found himself an army after the orcs turned on their previous leader, Adar.
There will be a five-year time jump to get to Season 3, with Rivendell established on the Elves’ side and Barad-dûr constructed for Sauron and the orcs in Mordor. Sauron has recreated Celebrimbor’s workshop in Barad-dûr, although he still hasn’t cracked the code on forging the One Ring – you know, the one that will rule them all? As a result, the memory of Celebrimbor will haunt the Dark Lord, who may be in over his head despite his immense power and numbers. His extinguished romance with Galadriel could also play into her own relationship with her long-lost husband, Celeborn, who is finally set to appear this season.
We are going to get plenty of familiar iconography in this season, including the predecessors to the Nazgûl – or the ringwraiths – called Nazgnagôl. They and Sauron will ride fell beasts, too. On top of that, the Balrog that lives in the mithril mines of Khazad-dûm will return after killing Durin IV’s father. Gandalf will also seemingly join the main story after wandering through Rhûn with the harfoots, Tom Bombadil and the mysterious dark wizard in Season 2. Amid all of that magical chaos, the men of Númenor are now led by Ar-Pharazôn and have a military outpost in Middle Earth. Elendil escaped with his family sword Narsil as his son, Isildur, goes on the run as well. Elrond will head out to the island kingdom looking for help in the war against Sauron, possibly sparked by the intel of a defected orc named Marnûkh.
Here is the official trailer from Amazon:
The Rings of Power FAQs
When does The Rings of Power Season 3 come out?
The first four episodes of The Rings of Power Season 3 will premiere on Wednesday, November 11 at at 3 a.m. ET.
Where can I watch The Rings of Power?
The Rings of Powers Season 3 will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. The first two seasons of the series are also available on the streaming service.
How is The Rings of Power connected to The Lord of the Rings?
The Rings of Power takes place thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. While those books and movies take place during Middle Earth’s Third Age, this show details major events from the Second Age. Amazon doesn’t have direct rights to adapt The Silmarillion, but the series covers events from that fictional history since Tolkien addressed them in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings.
