The Rings of Power Season 3 Production Officially Confirmed

The Hollywood Reporter, a trade publication for the film and television industry, is reporting that Amazon Prime Video has given Season 3 of The Rings of Power the green light to go ahead with production. The season has been in pre-production for some time, but this news means the scripts have been approved, and filming is scheduled to begin sometime this spring. For Season 3, The Rings of Power production will be based at Shepperton Studios in the UK. Other filming locations are unknown so far.

With filming set to begin in the next few months, Prime Video has still not revealed any new cast members. However, The Hollywood Reporter has been permitted to reveal the basic plot of Season 3:

“Jumping forward several years from the events of season 2, season 3 takes place at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, as the Dark Lord seeks to craft the One Ring that will give him the edge he needs to win the war and conquer all Middle-earth at last.”

The War of the Elves and Sauron began with the Siege of Eregion and Sauron’s attempt to claim possession of the Rings of Power that had been forged by Celebrimbor and the jewel-smiths of Eregion. In The Rings of Power, these events occurred in the last few episodes of Season 2.

A time jump of several years will allow some time for the building of Rivendell, and perhaps also of Barad-dûr, Sauron’s fortress in Mordor. Assuming Sauron has a general he can trust to conduct the war, this also gives him time to distribute Rings of Power to mortal Men, and to return to Mordor to forge the One Ring. In light of this time jump, the speculation of teenagers being cast as Gerda and Gamli (the children of Durin IV and Disa) makes more sense.

On the other hand, the effect of the time jump on the Númenor storyline is not so clear. We ended Season 2 with Elendil riding away from the city of Armenelos, presumably to meet his son Anárion in the west of Númenor. We also ended the season with Isildur sailing back to Númenor. A time jump of several years will not allow us to pick up these storylines where we left them last season—not without flashbacks, anyway.

Although Prime Video has not yet announced any new cast members, they have announced some of the production crew. Charlotte Brändström, who directed episodes in both of the previous seasons, and Sanaa Hamri, who directed episodes in Season 2, will both be returning as directors for Season 3. They will be joined by Stefan Schwartz, who has directed episodes of The Boys and The Walking Dead.

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay will be returning as the series showrunners and executive producers. Other executive producers are Lindsey Weber, Justin Doble, Kate Hazell, and Charlotte Brändström. Matthew Penry-Davey is a producer, and Ally O’Leary, Tim Keene, and Andrew Lee are co-producers.

The press release from Amazon MGM Studios may be found here. According to Amazon, The Rings of Power has attracted more than 170 million viewers worldwide, and continues to be one of their best sources of new sign-ups for Prime membership. Amazon calls The Rings of Power “an unprecedented success”. Season 1 remains the largest TV premiere Prime Video has ever had, and Season 2 is Prime Video’s most-watched returning season by hours watched. The series has attracted generally favorable reviews from critics, though audience scores are more divided.