The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 continues Sauron’s dark quest.
Prime Video’s TV show library is filled with high-profile original series. The streaming service is also the home of multiple beloved fantasy shows, like the live-action The Wheel of Time and the animated shows The Legend of Vox Machine and The Mighty Nein. That said, given how it comes from one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, and it stands as the most expensive TV show to date, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is easily Prime Video’s biggest fantasy series and one of the streamer’s overall biggest shows. Now, it is coming back for more.
At the 2026 San Diego Comic-Con’s Prime Video Presents Blade Runner 2099 and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power panel, where ScreenRant is in attendance, the first trailer for The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 was unveiled.
The new footage from the Prime Video fantasy series’ return — The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 debuts on November 11 — continues Sauron’s quest to forge the One Ring. Orcs, dragons, and more appear in the new trailer. Galadriel’s dynamic with Celeborn, her long-lost husband, played by series newcomer Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things), is also set up. The Rings of Power season 3 will also introduce the Second Age’s Nazgnagôl, who precede the Nazgûl, aka the Ringwraiths, who only come in the Third Age.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 ended with many major events. Eregion fell, major characters like Celebrimbor and Adar were killed off, The Stranger was finally confirmed to be none other than Gandalf, a role first played by Ian McKellen in the Peter Jackson movies, King Durin III died in a sacrifice to seal away the Balrog, Sauron got hold of the Nine Rings of Men, and more. It was an eventful finale, and based on the new season 3 trailer, the Prime Video fantasy series is building on it in a major way.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 takes place five years after the fall of Eregion. Sauron’s armies have nearly conquered all of Middle-earth, with all that is left being the dwarves’ home of Khazad-dûm and the elves’ Lindon and Rivendell. As the few left try to resist the Dark Lord’s might, Sauron continues to deal with his biggest goal, which is to forge the One Ring. Parallel to that, an unlikely alliance begins to form, as the season 3 trailer teases that an orc will work with Galadriel and Arondir against Sauron.
At the panel, ScreenRant learned about how season 3 is apparently very rooted in Sauron’s psychology, as he has spent all these years trying, and failing, to forge the One Ring. After his big season 2 reveal, Gandalf spent those 5 years training with Tom Bombadil. Tar-Míriel is now in exile after the coup in Númenor, rallying the resistance, and the dwarf lords are looking for the rings that Durin has hidden. The latter will also see the arrival of his older brother, Thrain, played by Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky). Additionally, Durin’s children are now teenagers, which changes their dynamic.
Besides Campbell Bower as Celeborn and Marsan as Thrain, season 3 also adds Andrew Richardson as Anarion, Elendil’s son and Isildur’s brother; Adam Young as Marnûkh, an intriguing orc; Zubin Varla as Khamûl the Easterling of Rhûn; and Simon Pegg will voice the Balrog, who Sauron faces off in season 3 and must learn from. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s executive producers also teased that Númenor’s story is big this year, as it “feels like the Cold War… it’s an intense season.” As for the Nazgnagôl, they are hunting the three Elven rings so that Sauron can reverse-engineer them to make the One Ring.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 debuts with its first four episodes on November 11. After that, the Prime Video fantasy series will release two batches of two episodes in the following couple of weeks, totaling eight, like in previous seasons. With Sauron forging the One Ring in the trailer, his Ringwraiths showing up in Khazad-dûm, and the Dark Lord’s armies turning Middle-earth into ashes, all the remaining groups will need to join forces to stand a chance in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3.
- Release Date
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September 1, 2022
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
- Directors
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J.A. Bayona, Sanaa Hamri
- Writers
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Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams