- 11 minutes ago
One Ring to recap them all! Join us as we revisit the essential story beats and behind-the-scenes secrets of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" before Season 3 arrives. From the rise of Sauron and the forging of the rings to Amazon's billion-dollar gamble, there's a lot to catch up on before returning to Middle-earth!
Transcript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're catching up on the story and behind-the-scenes info for The Lord of
00:04the Rings, The Rings of Power, ahead of Season 3.
00:07This means venturing into spoilers of the Amazon series leading up to this new journey, so consider this your warning.
00:12There are no friends of Mordor here.
00:18Creating Season 3.
00:20In 2017, Amazon commissioned a five-season series based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth books.
00:25In an act of magnanimity, he has chosen to honor your accomplishments.
00:30Rather than dwell upon your insolence.
00:33So before the original Greenlight in February 2025, a follow-up to Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings,
00:37The Rings of Power, was already in development.
00:39The show is still so ambitious that it's taken over two years to release Season 3.
00:43At least its predecessors had the excuse of the COVID-19 pandemic laboring production from 2020 to 2024.
00:49Now is the mighty hour come.
00:52The 2026 installment will premiere with four episodes on November 11th, with the remaining four episodes dropping in pairs over
00:58two weeks.
00:58This unusual release model, along with less marketing compared to previous seasons, seemed to signal the streamers' dwindling faith in
01:05their historic investment.
01:06The showrunners, as well as fans, remain undeniably convicted.
01:09The shadow rises to Middle-Earth.
01:15How would you like to rise with him?
01:17Foundation of Middle-Earth
01:18The Rings of Power expands on the history and lore of Middle-Earth as described in the appendix sections of
01:23J.R.R. Tolkien's books.
01:25And there was a time when the world was so young, there had not yet been a sunrise, but even
01:33then, there was light.
01:36Set during the Second Age of this world, the series chronicles the rise of Sauron to realize his Lord Morgoth's
01:41dominion over Middle-Earth.
01:43The realms gradually align against this new threat and for the creation of 19 enchanted rings to preserve the cultures
01:48of elves, dwarves, and men.
01:49So, do we proceed?
01:51No.
01:55We must make three.
01:57Three? Why three?
02:01One will always corrupt.
02:03Two will divide.
02:05But with three, there is balance.
02:08But it's only a matter of time before the all-powerful One Ring is forged in the fires of Mount
02:12Doom.
02:12We all know the fate of Sauron's sinister artifact, but Tolkien's appendices only hint at the complexities of its origin.
02:17We must decide whether to attack and bring the fight to him, or to fall back to prepare our defenses.
02:29The sword or the shield?
02:30Old friends.
02:31The immortality of some races in Middle-Earth means we learn more about our favorite characters 5,000 years in
02:36the past.
02:36Duty demanded I return to Middle-Earth.
02:40And that is all you need to know.
02:41The elf warrior Galadriel is still building her wise composure along her journey to find the supposedly dead Sauron.
02:47Meanwhile, Elrond hones his diplomatic skills by negotiating with the dwarves for minerals eventually used to forge the rings.
02:53And at the end of season 2, an amnesiac wizard finally adopts the name Gandalf.
03:07But the most ambitious characterization is with Sauron, who uses shapeshifting and cunning to orchestrate the forgery of the rings.
03:16He presents his tyrannical ambitions as noble, at least until the power of his creations corrupts him into an entity
03:21of pure evil.
03:21They could no longer distinguish me from the evil I was fighting.
03:25Names heard in passing.
03:27Paired with these legacy characters are names whose legacies were once just alluded to in Tolkien's work.
03:31Be strong again, father.
03:34Take it off.
03:36I beg you.
03:41A dwarf should never beg.
03:46Season 2 saw the ascension of the dwarf king Durin IV,
03:49whose father sacrificed himself to the Balrog unleashed by excessive mining and Khazad-dûm.
03:55There was also the fall of the ringsmith Celebrimbor,
03:57who was manipulated by Sauron into completing the rings and then killed in the siege of Eregion.
04:02You are wrong.
04:04I am the creator.
04:07I am the master.
04:10No.
04:13You are the...
04:17Prisoner.
04:17Meanwhile, in Numenor, Queen Regent Midiel is overthrown on false accusations of knowingly aiding Sauron in disguise.
04:24Ar-Fadazan's campaign against the elves and faithful who support his captive could mean the end of the kingdom.
04:29Season 3 is set to capture the aftershock of civilizations collapsed by one common evil.
04:33Greed.
04:34And sometimes the winds blown against us are just too strong.
04:41Unsung heroes and villains.
04:43History is often made by people who don't even make the history books appendices.
04:48This village needs a healer.
04:51Characters exclusive to the Rings of Power include the elf warrior Adandir,
04:54grieving his human lover's death as he adopts her son Theo.
04:57The Harfuts, Nori, Brandyfoot and Poppy Proudfellow have left Gandalf to aid those displaced by the tyrannical dark wizards.
05:03And the corrupted elf Adar, who led the conquest of the Southlands to establish Mordor,
05:08was killed by his own orcs after finding redemption.
05:11It's too late.
05:13It is never too late.
05:16Not even for me.
05:18And not for you, my son.
05:24It's too late.
05:26This solidifies their loyalty to Sauron, who no longer needs to hide behind personas like exiled Prince Halbrind or Lord
05:32of Gifts Annatar.
05:34The Nine Rings of Man alone can give him the power to spread his dreadful name across Middle-earth.
05:38Do you wish to heal me?
05:40I wish to heal all Middle-earth.
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05:52What will they do when you tell them that you are my ally?
05:56When you tell them that Sauron lives because of you!
06:01The journey ahead.
06:02Season 3 of the Rings of Power jumps forward five years after Sauron's conquest of Eregion.
06:09The Dark Lord is on the brink of Crofton and of Pearl.
06:13One ring.
06:15To throw evil.
06:17Middle-earth is at war, with Elrond sheltering elves in the new settlement of Rivendell.
06:22Now, Arandir is as obsessed as Galadriel with revenge, which could complicate his commitment to his human ward Theo.
06:27Elsewhere, the nobleman Isildur returns to Numenor divided, and King Durin IV faces his own succession dispute while fortifying Khazad
06:35-dûm against the Balrog.
06:36We have troubles of our own, my love.
06:41Your father's passing has left us in a tangle.
06:44Even Sauron finds his authority challenged when the orc Marnuk seemingly aligns with the elves to save his people from
06:51constant war.
06:51As if the stakes weren't high enough, the Dark Lord is now all-in on forging a single ring to
06:56rule them all.
07:04New threats.
07:05Fans are eager to see Galadriel reunite with her long-lost husband.
07:08Played by Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell-Bower, Celeborn represents crucial development in the future Lady of Lorien.
07:15Celeborn, where were you?
07:17Trying to get back to him.
07:19Otherwise, the most important new characters of Season 3 bring peril.
07:22With the Harfoots reportedly sidelined, wizard-in-training Gandalf independently explores his past in his chaotic homeland of Rune.
07:28As in not yet a good deal, death might well be the price of saving it.
07:33There, the rise of a dark wizard played by the legendary Ciaran Hines could force Prince Kamul, the Easterling, to
07:38ally with Sauron.
07:39J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumous, unfinished tales of Numenor and Middle-earth alludes to this giving way to the Nazgûr,
07:45the Ringwraiths.
07:46J.R.R. He's got all me scurrying Middle-earth.
07:50While that affirms the showrunner's eye for detail, expanding on Tolkien's lore is a delicate process.
07:55Schism and Myth.
07:56Familiarity with Tolkien's lore won't help much in predicting the rings of power.
08:00J.R. Give me one reason, elf.
08:02J.R. I will give you nine.
08:06Literary research is still more reliable than Peter Jackson's films.
08:09Even with New Line Cinema co-producing the Amazon show, story and creative references to the Warner Brothers series are
08:15heavily restricted.
08:16But the biggest statement about the show's independent storytelling is the drastic liberties taken with Tolkien's lore, particularly with regard
08:23to timeline.
08:24J.R. I tell you, this could be the beginning of a new era for our people.
08:28For instance, Sauron was supposed to have created his One Ring before the war we see underway in Season 3.
08:33Galadriel and Celeborn's separation and anthropomorphic Balrog and other elements are also invented for the show.
08:38Liberties like these promise more surprises than ever in Season 3 and potentially more controversy.
08:43J.R. Keep it.
08:46J.R. Talking about friendship.
08:49Folly of Greed
08:49Amazon's roughly $1 billion investment premiered in 2022 to then-record viewership for Prime Video.
08:55J.R. Is it not possible the other commanders are right and our enemy is no more?
09:00Night is closing in.
09:02J.R. How long can living flesh endure where even sunlight fears to tread?
09:06Less than half of those who started Season 1 of The Rings of Power finished it.
09:09Two years later, Season 2 saw a dramatic drop in viewership.
09:12This was partly because Amazon scaled back the show's marketing budget in response to these numbers, while reportedly tightening their
09:18belt on production costs.
09:19You see, now I was foolish to place trust in such low company.
09:24This trajectory continues for Season 3 as the studio's licensing agreement imposes a $20 million fine for each season they
09:31cancel.
09:32Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay face steep pressure to engage audiences with this installment if they hope to
09:37produce the last two.
09:39They're also more dependent than ever on positive word of mouth.
09:41You know bad things are coming, and you're hoping they don't.
09:45That's like the best riptide you can have as a viewer.
09:48Before we continue, be sure to check out WatchMojo's 24-hour livestream.
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09:56Always on, always live.
09:58Are you not entertained?
10:00Return of the audience?
10:02The Rings of Power has had a mostly strong reception for its cinematic spectacle and epic storytelling.
10:06Save it.
10:08For our enemies.
10:11For they do not know what they have begun.
10:14The backlash, however, is arguably more vocal.
10:17Many Tolkien fans feel that liberties like the compressed timeline are contrived and disjointed.
10:21Critics in general observe uneven pacing and tone as if the whimsical fantasy is overly influenced by Game of Thrones.
10:27All others look on you with doubt.
10:32I alone can see your greatness.
10:39I alone...
10:41I can see your light.
10:43The consensus that Season 2 flowed better suggests that J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are receptive to the criticism.
10:49There's hope that Season 3 will be more cohesive when the showrunners are writing most of the eight episodes.
10:53Either way, the skeptical press overlooks that the Rings of Power has a dedicated fanbase,
10:57ready to return to Middle-Earth on November 11, 2026.
11:08Are you looking forward to returning to the Rings of Power?
11:11Join our fellowship in the comments below.
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