Just like season 1, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 ended with many seismic shifts for the world of Middle-earth. That makes sense, because there was one lot covered in the second season of The rings of power; between a fierce battle, a political coup, the growing concern for the orc babies at home, and Tom Bombadil bomba working his way through the story, there are a lot of topics to pick up on in a third season premiere alone.
Prime Video has been a bit tight-lipped about what exactly we can expect from season 3 of The rings of power – but obviously, given the extent to which JRR Tolkien wrote about it, we’re not completely in the dark. Here’s everything we know so far The rings of power season 3.
(Ed. remark: This post contains spoilers for the end of The rings of power season 2 so we can talk about what could happen in season 3.)
Will there be a season 3 of The Rings of Power?
Prime Video has not yet formally confirmed whether the Lord of the Rings show will return for a third season. But unlike other shows on the bubble, The rings of power exists in a strange space: the show cost Amazon a cool billion before they even got to the first season. And the show is rumored to have a five-season plan. So it seems safe to assume that Prime Video shall wants to continue the show even though it hasn’t formally announced it. It’s… never Great not to hear formal plans taking shape. But many producers and crew seem hopefuleven though showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay have been more cautious about future opportunities.
When will The Rings of Power season 3 premiere on Prime Video?
It will take a little time! The gap between the first and second seasons was almost exactly two years, and that’s when production on season 2 began before season 1 had even premiered. The showrunners for The rings of power have begun in a sense – possibly just writing and sketching; in August 2024 they said: “All we can say is: we are working on it. We are cooking. Let’s cook!” – but it seems much earlier in the process than Season 2 at the same time in 2022. So if Season 3 gets the green light, we might be looking at an even longer gap between seasons.
What would season 3 of The Rings of Power be about?
Given the five-year plan for the show and the known endpoint (give or take a few licensing rights) for the story, we can guess that the next part of the show will more or less follow the lore that Tolkien wrote. After the fall of Eregion, Sauron occupies the city and begins to threaten Lindon. His orcs and the elves begin to fight more seriously. The timelines are different (about a few hundred years), but Númenor begins to spread and become more involved in the conflict elsewhere in Middle-earth.
Again, the pace of Tolkien’s writing is different. But it provides the big picture for guessing where the show might pick up Season 2’s dangling threads: With Isildur returning to Númenor, Pharazôn firmly in power, and the village of Arondír under Númenórean martial law, it seems like the The city is firmly in its expansion era.
Meanwhile, both the elves and the dwarves have suffered losses that have put them behind. After a battle with Sauron in the season finale, Galadriel is more ready than ever to push back against the Dark Lord. And with Elrond and the High King supporting her, the elves are in a place to act and fight. It’s hard to say whether the dwarves will do the same; After King Durin’s death at the hands of a balrog (not to mention the introduction of the dwarven rings), Moria seems poised to have a lot on its hands that could prevent it from contacting the outside world. I dare say they may even be digging too eagerly and too deeply – if they haven’t already.
Plusthe Stoors now march towards the Harfoots (perhaps to find some sort of promised land?), while the Stranger ventures off to find himself (or another Istari) or whatever. All that and now we have 19 Rings of Power in circulation in the world, all of which are made of except the One Ring. With the nine rings for the human kings in hand, Sauron will likely tour the leaders of the humans, tempting them to take the Rings of Power as well.
What should I do while I wait for The Rings of Power season 3?
While Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings spinoff may take a while, you’ll have no shortage of Lord of the Rings media to get started with. There’s the books and the original movie trilogy – never a bad time. On the horizon we have The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrima feature-length anime set in Middle-earth; it’s due in theaters on December 13. And it’s coming out in 2026 The hunt for Gollumwhich may be a secret Aragorn film!
If you get really desperate, there’s also the Lord of the Rings: Gollum game, although possibly the less said about that the better.
$42
Written by Susana Polo and several Polygon contributors, Year of the Ring includes our year-long editorial package revisiting Tolkien’s work and Peter Jackson’s epic film adaptation. Although the book won’t arrive until November, you can save 7% if you order in advance.