After a lot of lavish set-up and characters finally revealing who they truly are, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is ready to dive into the War Between the Elves and Sauron when it returns for its third season. We will also, at long last, get to see our pal the Dark Lord create the One Ring, setting up chaos for generations across Middle-earth.
At San Diego Comic-Con, The Rings of Power cast—with Benjamin Walker, aka High King Gil-galad, moderating—and crew took the Hall H stage to reveal more of what’s to come. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay shared a teaser and offered up more details on new characters arriving in season three. First, here’s that first-glimpse video:
So, yes, a lot to unpack there, but that is definitely the One Ring. It’s really happening!
Fans previously learned that Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things) will play Celeborn, Galadriel’s long-absent husband, and Zubin Varla (Andor) is Khamûl the Easterling of Rhûn.
But at SDCC, it was revealed that Eddie Marsan will play Thrain, the older brother of King Durin IV. Andrew Richardson is Anarion, the younger son of Elendil and Isildur’s brother. And Adam Young is Marnûkh, “a mysterious Orc who may not be what he seems,” according to a Prime Video press release.
And how cool is this: Simon Pegg is going to voice the Balrog, a combustive creature not previously known to speak. Other creatures we’ll be seeing in season three include Orcs (obviously), the flying fell-beasts, and “the war elephants known as Mûmakil,” all of which appear in the new teaser.
Hall H also got an in-person visitation from a quartet of “Nazgnagôl,” or ring-servants, who will debut in season three and certainly cut a menacing presence across that first clip. They are to the Second Age what the Nazgûl or ringwraiths are to the Third Age—still very scary, but not yet in their final form as full-on ghouls.
Here’s a new, more detailed synopsis for season three: “In season three, 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-dǔm, 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… Now, all the free peoples of Middle-earth—Dwarves, Elves, Men, and Wizards alike—must find a way to come together, in a race against time to prevent Sauron from achieving his goal of utter domination of all life.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season three premieres November 11 on Prime Video with the first four episodes. Then, episodes five and six drop November 18, and episodes seven and eight arrive November 25.
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