Major spoilers follow.
Season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is out now on Prime Video with its first 4 episodes. Episodes 5 and 6 follow on November 18, and the last 2 episodes arrive on November 25. The new season jumps ahead 5 years from the fall of Eregion, and the official Rings of Power account posted a map recap of where every faction stands going in. Check out the official post down below:
Season 1: Galadriel's Hunt For Sauron
Season 1 premiered on September 1, 2022, and ran 8 episodes through October 14. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay set it in the Second Age, thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and built it mostly from the appendices of Tolkien's novel. It opens after the defeat of Morgoth, with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) still hunting Morgoth's servant Sauron, the enemy her brother Finrod died searching for. She finds an abandoned fortress in Forodwaith bearing Sauron's mark, but High King Gil-galad declares the war over and grants her company passage to Valinor. Within sight of the Undying Lands, Galadriel jumps from the ship into the Sundering Seas.
Swimming back, she finds a raft of shipwreck survivors, and only one man lives through a sea monster attack: Halbrand of the Southlands. A ship captained by Elendil picks them up and brings them to Númenor, where Queen Regent Míriel refuses to help until the petals of the island's White Tree begin to fall. Míriel had seen a vision of Númenor drowning in a great wave in a palantír, and she sails to the Southlands with Galadriel, Halbrand and an army.
In the Southlands, the Elf Arondir and the healer Bronwyn find villages destroyed by Orcs led by Adar, while Bronwyn's son Theo carries a broken sword hilt bearing Sauron's mark. The Númenóreans arrive in time to win the battle at Tirharad, but the tavern owner Waldreg uses the hilt as a key to open a dam. The water floods the Orcs' tunnels into a lava chamber beneath Orodruin, and the eruption buries the region in ash. Míriel loses her sight, Elendil's son Isildur is presumed dead, and the Southlands are renamed Mordor.
Mithril, The Stranger And The First 3 Rings
Elsewhere, Gil-galad sends Elrond to help the Elven-smith Celebrimbor build a great forge in Eregion. Elrond goes to his friend Prince Durin IV in Khazad-dûm and learns that the Dwarves have found mithril, which Gil-galad believes can stop the fading of the Elves. King Durin III refuses to share it, strips his son of his royal status and seals the mine, unaware that a Balrog lives deep below it. The Dwarf kingdom's history is laid out in Khazad-dûm Explained: Tolkien's Great Dwarf Kingdom Before The Rings Of Power Season 3.
The Harfoot Nori Brandyfoot finds a stranger in a meteor crater, and the migrating Harfoots slowly accept him even as his magic proves dangerous. A trio of mysterious women hunt him down and tell him he is Sauron, but he banishes them, recovers some of his memories, and tells Nori he is a Wizard who must travel east to Rhûn. She goes with him.
In the finale, Galadriel brings the wounded Halbrand to Eregion, where he takes an interest in Celebrimbor's work and suggests making a small object from Elrond's piece of mithril. Galadriel checks the records of the Southlands' kings, realizes Halbrand is lying, and he reveals himself as Sauron before fleeing to Mordor. She keeps it secret and convinces Celebrimbor to make 3 objects instead of 2. Elrond pieces it together too late, and the 3 Elven Rings of Power are forged. Here is Prime Video's official trailer for Season 1:
Season 2: Annatar, Lord Of Gifts
Season 2 premiered on August 29, 2024, with 3 episodes and ended on October 3. Its prologue shows Adar's Orcs killing Sauron at the dawn of the Second Age and his spirit forming a new body over thousands of years. Elrond takes the 3 rings to Círdan, and Círdan, Galadriel and Gil-galad put them on, restoring the power of the Elves.
Sauron (Charlie Vickers) returns to Eregion and convinces Celebrimbor that he is Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, an emissary from the Valar sent to help make rings for Dwarves and Men. Durin III supplies mithril, and his ring rebuilds Khazad-dûm and brings back sunlight while making him greedy enough to dig toward the Balrog. Celebrimbor then works on 9 rings for Men inside an illusion, and Annatar reveals that they were made with Sauron's own blood instead of mithril.
Númenor, The Southlands And The Wizard
In Númenor, Míriel's cousin Pharazôn takes the throne as Ar-Pharazôn, and his son Kemen kills Isildur's friend Valandil at a gathering of the Faithful. Elendil refuses to pledge loyalty and is sentenced to trial by abyss, but Míriel takes his place, and the Sea Worm spares her. The Faithful hail her as Queen of the Sea until Pharazôn learns through the palantír that Halbrand was Sauron and has the Faithful arrested. Elendil escapes to the west of the island with the sword Narsil.
Isildur turns out to have survived the eruption. His horse Berek finds him in a nest of giant spiders, and he travels toward the old Númenórean colony of Pelargir with Estrid, a woman who secretly bears Adar's brand. Arondir and Theo join him, and they face Wild Men, a creature in a mud pit and 2 Ents before Kemen claims Pelargir as a military outpost. Isildur sails home without Estrid.
The Stranger meets Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear), while Nori and Poppy find a community of Stoors in the desert of Rhûn. The Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds) offers the Stranger a chance to replace Sauron. He refuses, the Dark Wizard destroys the Stoors' canyon, and the Stranger finds a staff and believes he will come to be known as Gandalf. Here is Prime Video's official trailer for Season 2:
The Fall Of Eregion
On the road to Eregion, Elrond and Galadriel find Adar's army. Galadriel gives her ring, Nenya, to Elrond so he can warn Gil-galad, and Adar captures her. Adar wants to destroy Sauron with Morgoth's crown and the Elven rings, but he ignores Galadriel's warning that Sauron lured his army to Eregion because he had none of his own, and the siege begins.
Gil-galad and Elrond bring the forces of Lindon, Arondir frees Galadriel, and Celebrimbor hands her the 9 rings while he stays behind to delay Sauron. Sauron kills Celebrimbor and takes the 9 rings, and Adar is killed by Orcs who have turned against him. Beneath Khazad-dûm, the Balrog attacks Durin III, who names Durin IV king before the cavern collapses. Durin IV then sends his army to help the Elves, and Gil-galad, Elrond, Arondir and Galadriel escape to a valley north of the ruined city, where they resolve to keep fighting.
What Prime Video Says About Season 3
Prime Video's official synopsis says 5 years have passed since the fall of Eregion and Sauron's armies have marched across the world. Only a few pockets stand against him: Khazad-dûm, where the Dwarves are sealed inside their mountain halls, and the Elven strongholds of Lindon and Rivendell, protected by the 3 rings. In Mordor, in his newly completed tower of Barad-dûr, Sauron works to forge the One Ring, and the Dwarves, Elves, Men and Wizards have to come together to stop him.
The episode synopses on Prime Video outline the opening run. Episode 1, "Marnûkh," has Galadriel remembering a long-lost love. Episode 2, "The Gift of Men," brings unrest to Númenor, offers Theo a new path, and has the Elves learn of Sauron's plan. In Episode 3, "The Secret Fire," Gandalf works to keep Rhûn out of the war, Elendil hunts a spy, and the Orc Marnûkh leads Galadriel and Arondir to Gundabad.
New cast members include Jamie Campbell Bower as Galadriel's husband Celeborn, Eddie Marsan as Durin IV's older brother Thrain, Zubin Varla as Khamûl, Andrew Richardson as Isildur's brother Anarion, Adam Young as Marnûkh, and Simon Pegg as the voice of the Balrog. Durin, Disa and Celeborn's roles are covered in The Rings Of Power Season 3 Spotlights Durin And Disa As Jamie Campbell Bower Ties Celeborn To Tolkien. All 16 episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories.
Which Season 2 storyline do you most want Season 3 to pay off: Galadriel's war with Sauron, Durin IV's rule in Khazad-dûm, or Gandalf's fight against the Dark Wizard in Rhûn?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.