The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has frequently come under fire, with many creative decisions in the first two seasons proving an issue for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's work.
Comparisons to Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies were inevitable, and following them was never going to be easy for the Prime Video series. While the critical response has been positive (Season 1 holds 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Season 2 slightly ahead at 85%), the audience scores—38% and 58%—tell a different story.
Ahead of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's Season 3 premiere, co-creator and co-showrunner Patrick McKay has broken his silence on the backlash from fans.
While he acknowledges the unhappiness they've expressed with the series, it doesn't sound like he and co-showrunner J. D. Payne are going to allow the online chatter to impact their five-season plan for the pricey streaming title.
"We would be bad at our job if we didn't care somewhat what people think of it, but that doesn't mean that they're suddenly in charge," he said. "We listen to what people say, and we want people to love it, but we are our hardest, harshest critics."
"What's working and what's not working, we're going to learn from," McKay continued. "We're getting more confident in our storytelling, and in season 3, we feel like the show has hit its stride."
A five-year time jump in Season 3 is meant to make The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power feel more like classic Middle-earth storytelling, and McKay has said the idea behind that was to both move the story forward and attract new and lapsed fans. Whether it will pay off remains to be seen.
Amazon has spent a lot of money on the show and is thought to be committed to its original five-season plan...even if it would rather move on at this point. Still, as the war with Sauron intensifies, Season 3 certainly looks pretty exciting.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3, Middle-earth is at war. Five years have passed since the fall of Eregion. Sauron’s armies have marched across the whole of the world, conquering all in their path.
Only a few isolated pockets stand between the Dark Lord and total victory – Khazad-dûm, where the Dwarves are now sealed deep within their mountain halls, and the elven realms of Lindon and Rivendell, which are protected by their Three Rings.
But deep in the land of Mordor, in his newly completed tower of Barad-dûr, the Dark Lord toils day and night, obsessed with harnessing a power that will bring the last of his enemies to their knees: One Ring to rule them all...
The first four episodes of Season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere on November 11, 2026. Then episodes five and six will be available to stream on November 18, while the final two episodes of the season will be released on November 25.