The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 Premiere Review
In the first half of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s eight-episode third season, a four-part premiere, we are immediately given some incredibly solid storytelling. The War of the Elves and Sauron kicks into high gear, and Sauron sets in motion his plans to forge the One Ring, finally getting us into the meat of the story this show has been promising since it began. A five-year time jump has changed many of the characters, and so much happens that it is almost hard to keep up.
The elves have their hands full. Galadriel, who warns that a master ring would allow Sauron to “govern their minds, their thoughts, and their very actions,” ends up on an unexpected journey north with Arondir and Marnukh. Her reunion with Celeborn in “Gundabad” is the highlight of the elf storylines. The flashbacks showing how they fell in love are lovely, and Morfydd Clark and Jamie Campbell Bower have a beautiful chemistry.
On Numenor, Earien’s arc comes full circle. Having helped Pharazon usurp Miriel’s throne, she has spent five years secretly working with the Faithful, and when she is found out, she takes her own life rather than betray them.
Elsewhere, Sauron is handing out the Nine Rings of Men and expanding his reach into Rhun, where Gandalf has found himself. The Dark Wizard is finally revealed as Pallando, one of the two Blue Wizards of the Istari, and the series seizes the chance to build a character the books barely touch, weaving his story into Gandalf’s.
But it’s the character of Marnukh who is the best idea in these episodes. Sauron enslaves orcs, and while they may be violent, they are still beings who are never permitted to choose how they live. Letting one of them defy the Dark Lord might seem to counteract the lore, but it is just as arguably a bold and sensible extension of it. It shows how far Sauron’s dominion reaches, and the friendship it produces between Marnukh and Arondir captures what Tolkien’s stories are always about. Arondir’s own end is among the show’s most heartbreaking. “I will not run from the Shadow,” he says, and he does not.
Whether any of this will persuade the series’ detractors, I cannot say. But it is hard to imagine The Rings of Power making a better case for itself than it does here.