Spoiler disclaimer: This review contains references to character arcs, relationships, and a few broad plot developments, but avoids major twists and ending spoilers.There is a lot happening in Middle-earth, and this time, Sauron isn’t just pulling strings from the shadows. He is finally making his presence felt, building his army and getting closer to the ultimate symbol of his power: the One Ring.
But what makes the third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power interesting is that it also wants us to look beyond the Dark Lord’s ambitions. There is vulnerability, emotional conflict, unexpected alliances and, rather surprisingly, a rather complicated relationship equation involving Sauron, Galadriel, and Celeborn.Five years have passed since the events of Season 2.
Eregion has fallen, Celebrimbor is dead, and Sauron (Charlie Vickers) has emerged from his various disguises to consolidate his power. His armies have spread across Middle-earth, leaving the Elves increasingly isolated.
The Dwarves of Khazad-dm are dealing with the consequences of their own choices, while Nmenor is caught in a political and ideological conflict under Pharazn (Trystan Gravelle). The fate of Middle-earth is no longer a distant concern.
It is a war that has already begun.The season opens with a sense of urgency, and the change in scale is immediately apparent. An early battle sequence involving Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and Sauron’s forces establishes just how much the balance of power has shifted.
One particularly striking moment sees Galadriel thrown from her horse and confronted by a terrifying Ring-servant. It is a reminder that the Elves, despite their strength and immortality, are no longer fighting from a position of advantage.
The sequence also makes for an effective introduction to the season’s darker, more war-driven atmosphere. The five-year leap works in the show’s favour.
The earlier seasons spent considerable time setting up characters, kingdoms and their individual motivations. While that world-building was necessary, the storytelling could often feel scattered.
Season 3 is more interested in bringing these separate threads together. The narrative has a clearer destination, and the impending war gives the different storylines a common purpose.
It feels like the show is finally moving towards the larger conflict it has been promising since the beginning.But the most interesting developments aren’t necessarily happening on the battlefield. Sauron, for one, is a more fascinating proposition this season.
Vickers has gradually made the character his own, and there is a noticeable shift in how the Dark Lord is presented. He remains manipulative, ambitious and deeply dangerous, but there are moments when his carefully maintained exterior gives way to something more vulnerable.
This does not make him any less of a villain. If anything, it makes his motivations more interesting to examine.
The show is attempting to understand the man behind the menace without necessarily asking us to sympathise with him. Vickers handles that distinction rather well.Moving to Galadriel, her relationship with Sauron has always been one of the show’s more fascinating creative decisions.
Their history is built on deception, temptation and a peculiar understanding of each other. Season 3 takes that complicated equation a step further by bringing Celeborn (Jamie Campbell Bower) into the picture.
Now, Tolkien fans might have some strong opinions about where this is going. What do you mean Sauron, Celeborn and Galadriel have a triangle of sorts going on?
The idea is certainly audacious, and book purists might find themselves questioning the liberties being taken with established mythology. Celeborn, after all, is not some random new romantic possibility in Galadriel’s life.
He is her husband in Tolkien’s legendarium.However, as a television development, this adds an intriguing dimension to the trio. Galadriel’s past, her complicated connection with Sauron and Celeborn’s return create an unusual psychological and emotional conflict.
It is not necessarily the most conventional interpretation of these characters, but it gives the season some of its more engaging interpersonal drama.Also, Jamie Campbell Bower and Charlie Vickers have a rather interesting screen presence. There is a certain chemistry between the two, and their interactions bring an unexpected heat to the proceedings.
Bower makes for an appealing Celeborn, while Vickers has become increasingly comfortable playing Sauron’s many shades. Their scenes are entertaining, occasionally quite charged, and certainly give the audience something to talk about beyond the next battle.If there is one character who continues to be an absolute delight, it is Disa, played by Sophia Nomvete.
Her warmth, conviction and personality bring a welcome change of energy to a show that can sometimes take itself a little too seriously. Nomvete understands the balance between humour and emotional sincerity, and Disa remains one of the season’s most enjoyable characters.
Her presence also gives the Khazad-dm storyline a much-needed human (or, rather, Dwarven) touch.Adam Young is another pleasant surprise. As Marnkh, an Orc with a history connected to Sauron’s forces, he brings an unexpected emotional dimension to a character who could easily have been reduced to another creature in the Dark Lord’s army.
His association with Galadriel and Arondir also creates an unlikely alliance, and the show finds some of its more interesting character moments in this shift of loyalties. Young manages to make Marnkh memorable without turning him into an overly sentimental addition to the story.The Nmenor storyline deserves attention, too.
The conflict between Pharazn and those who remain loyal to the old ways gives the season a political dimension that complements the larger war. Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and his son Isildur (Maxim Baldry) also find themselves on increasingly different sides of the moral argument.
The passage of five years has changed Isildur, making him more hardened, while Elendil continues to hold on to his sense of duty and compassion. It is an interesting contrast, even if the show does not always give every political development the dramatic weight it deserves.However, with Sauron’s quest for the one ring being the central conflict, not every storyline is equally compelling.
The Dwarven politics have their moments, but the interpersonal relationship and developments, though effective, can feel melodramatic. Gandalf’s (Daniel Weyman) journey also has the ingredients for something more substantial, particularly when it comes to his attempts to influence those drawn towards darkness.
Yet, the writing does not always make the best use of that potential.This remains one of the larger challenges for The Rings of Power. Its world is enormous, its mythology is dense, and its ambitions are understandably cinematic.
The production design, costumes and visual effects continue to give Middle-earth an impressive sense of scale. The battle sequences are particularly effective, and there is a palpable sense of danger that was not always as consistently felt in the earlier seasons.
However, spectacle can only take a story so far. The emotional investment has to come from the characters, and that is where the show is occasionally uneven.
There is also the inevitable question of how much creative freedom a Tolkien adaptation can exercise before it begins to alienate the very audience it hopes to impress. The Second Age offers plenty of room for interpretation, but some of the character dynamics introduced here are bound to invite debate.
The Galadriel-Celeborn-Sauron equation is one such example because Tolkien’s Galadriel and Sauron were never written as characters in a romantic drama. Their conflict in the books is fundamentally about power, temptation, resistance and the preservation of Middle-earth.The series takes those themes and gives them a more personal, emotionally accessible dimension.
It might make for entertaining television, but it is also a reminder that this series is not always interested in following the expectations of readers familiar with the mythology.The larger departures are not restricted to relationships. Tolkien’s chronology places Sauron’s forging of the One Ring around Second Age 1600, while the fall of Eregion takes place almost a century later.
The series has reversed this sequence, using the destruction of Eregion as a stepping stone towards the One Ring’s creation. It is a substantial restructuring of the mythology, but one that allows the show to build its central conflict around Sauron’s next great ambition.And perhaps that is where Season 3 finds its identity.
It is not a flawless retelling, nor does it always get the balance between spectacle and storytelling right. But it is more confident about the kind of fantasy drama it wants to be.
It has a more focused central conflict, a compelling performance from Vickers, and enough interesting character developments to keep the sprawling narrative engaging.For all its talk of wars, rings and the fate of kingdoms, the season’s most enjoyable moments often come when the characters are allowed to be complicated, vulnerable and, occasionally, a little messy. Disa remains a favourite, Marnkh is an unexpected addition, and the chemistry between Vickers and Bower adds an entertaining spark to the proceedings.The Rings of Power Season 3 may not win over every Tolkien purist, but it is a more assured chapter in the series, one that finally brings its many moving pieces closer to the war that has been looming over Middle-earth.The first four episodes of the series will premiere on November 11 on Prime Video, followed by two episodes following Wednesdays till November 25.- Ends