Rings of Power season 3 teaser puts Sauron on top in Middle-earth
Prime Video’s Comic-Con teaser sets up Sauron’s rise, new characters and a speaking Balrog before the Nov. 11 premiere.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Prime Video has dropped the Rings of Power season 3 teaser at San Diego Comic-Con, and Middle-earth is in rough shape: Sauron, played by Charlie Vickers, is now firmly on the march.
The teaser places the new season five years after the fall of Eregion, according to Prime Video’s footage shown at the convention. Sauron’s forces have spread across the world, with only a handful of places still outside his reach.
Khazad-dûm has gone into lockdown, with the dwarves sealed away inside the mountain kingdom. The elves, meanwhile, are holding on in Lindon and Rivendell, where their three rings of power are keeping them protected for now.
That safety looks fragile. The teaser also points toward Sauron working on the One Ring, described in the footage’s setup as his greatest creation yet. In the story’s mythology as presented here, the One Ring is the piece of power that threatens to change the balance for every other realm still resisting him.
What is in the Rings of Power season 3 teaser?
The footage is not only war drums and dark magic. Prime Video’s teaser gives the first look at Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark, reuniting with her long-lost husband Celeborn, played by Jamie Campbell Bower.
Their reunion comes while the wider world is collapsing around them, with the teaser showing intimate moments between the pair against a much darker Middle-earth backdrop.
The Comic-Con panel also revealed several new season 3 characters. Eddie Marsan will play Thrain, the older brother of King Durin IV, played by Owain Arthur. Andrew Richardson joins as Anarion, the younger son of Elendil, played by Lloyd Owen. Adam Young will appear as Marnûkh, described at the panel as a mysterious Orc.
The biggest noise from the depths may belong to the Balrog. The panel announced that the creature will speak for the first time in the series, with Simon Pegg providing the voice.
More Balrog in the story puts Khazad-dûm under an even darker cloud. The teaser’s setup already has the dwarven kingdom cut off from the outside world, and the creature’s expanded role points to trouble beneath the mountain.
The teaser also features the Nazgnagôl, described by Prime Video’s footage coverage as early versions of the Nazgûl. Their appearance adds another familiar shadow to a season already centered on Sauron tightening his grip.
When does Rings of Power season 3 premiere?
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 premieres Nov. 11 on Prime Video.
The new teaser sets up a season built around Sauron’s advance, the surviving strongholds of elves and dwarves, and a growing roster of characters pulled into Middle-earth’s next disaster.
This story draws on original reporting from Mashable.