Certain plans may be measured in centuries, to quote another epic fantasy work in “Dune: Part Three,” but Sauron is working on a much tighter schedule in “The Rings of Power.” The Prime Video series has spent two full seasons slowly teasing out the arrival of the Dark Lord (played by Charlie Vickers in multiple disguises), the villain responsible for much of what plagues Middle-earth by the events of “The Lord of the Rings.” Granted, this is a total breeze compared to the hundreds of years of stops and starts chronicled by author J.R.R. Tolkien in his various books and especially the appendices found at the end of “The Return of the King.” But adaptations must inevitably make some changes, and “The Rings of Power” is about to make its biggest one pay off.
That’s right, the long wait is over: We’re finally about to see the forging of the One Ring. As a result of some significant timeline shifts, this game-changing event has been left on the backburner amid all the other plot points that the streaming series needs to hit along the way. But, with Sauron (or the Elf formerly known as Annatar, or the man formerly known as Halbrand) now fully exposed for who he truly is, there’s no further point in deception from the shadows, and the real fun can begin.
That’s the main takeaway from an exclusive reveal by Empire. With Season 3 debuting later this year, “The Rings of Power” is preparing fans for an origin story that we’ve only glimpsed and heard secondhand in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” movies. According to co-showrunner Patrick McKay:
“This is the season where Sauron makes the One Ring in the volcano.”
The Rings of Power Season 3 will be ‘darker’ and ‘more dangerous’
Nothing will be the same after this. In a world as dense as Middle-earth, it’s difficult to pinpoint one singular moment revolving around any one character in particular as something that will be felt for eons down the line. Well, “The Rings of Power” is about to do exactly that in its upcoming third season.
This marks a leveling up, of sorts, as Sauron finally comes into his own. The Season 1 finale featured the rogue making his way into the land of Mordor for the first time (formerly known as the Southlands), while Season 2 further spread the rumors and reputation of Mordor across Middle-earth as a name to be feared. Season 3 is now confirmed to follow Sauron from the heart of his volcano-blasted kingdom, as an exclusive still provided to Empire shows the villain perched on a throne (made up of helmets of what sure looks like fallen Elves from the Siege of Eregion battle) in his stronghold of Barad-dûr. This “Dark Fortress” is the same tower seen throughout the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which further hints at the tone of this new season to come. As Patrick McKay explains:
“We have a full-on villain this season, in a way that was quite different before […] This third season is darker, more dangerous. No one is safe.”
Surprisingly, McKay goes on to describe the filming of this sequence as the “single most ambitious, technically challenging sequence we’ve ever done” — which is saying a lot. What can we expect from Season 3? More battles, more tragedy, and, apparently, Daniel Weyman’s Gandalf taking on a giant elephant-like Mûmak (as seen here). “The Rings of Power” continues on Prime Video on November 11, 2026.
