The Rings of Power season 2 episode 1-3 preview, release date, time, and what to expect

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 is nearly here! Within the next few hours, we'll be watching the first three episodes of The Rings of Power season 2.

It's been a long time since the first season. We shared a little bit about what happened at the end of season 1, what's next in season 2, and what time, exactly, you can dive in and catch up with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Sauron (Charlie Vickers), Elrond (Robert Aramayo), and the rest of these great characters and cast.

The Rings of Power season 2 episode 1 release date and time 

You don’t have to wait too long to dive in on The Rings of Power season 2! Prime Video is releasing the first three episodes of the season on Thursday, Aug. 29! That’s what the streamer did for the first season of the series, too, and it worked out pretty well for Prime Video. 

The first three episodes will be available to stream at 3:00 a.m. ET / 12:00 a.m. PT on Thursday, Aug. 29, according to Prime Video.

This is a tough one for The Rings of Power fans. Obviously, fans have been waiting two years for this season, so many people will want to stay up to watch the first three episodes of the season. The challenging part is that fans will have to stay up super late. If you live on the West Coast, staying up until midnight on Wednesday night isn’t a problem, but watching three-plus hours of TV puts bedtime after 3 a.m. PT. 

For those on the East Coast, it’s even harder! A 3 a.m. ET start to your Rings of Power season 2 binge-watch puts the end somewhere after 6 a.m. ET. 

If you live in the UK, though, you can start watching the first three episodes of the season starting at 8:00 a.m. BST.

We still don’t have episode titles for The Rings of Power season 2, but we’re expecting to find them out soon! 

What to expect in the first three episodes of The Rings of Power season 2 

We’re expecting not much time will have passed from The Rings of Power season 1 ending before the beginning of season 2. At the end of the first season, the biggest reveal was that Galadriel discovered that Halbrand is actually Sauron. 

The early episodes should explore the fallout of that revelation, including the creation of the three rings made by Celebrimbor, using Sauron’s advice. After spending time with Halbrand/Sauron for the first season and being deceived, Galadriel should have a restored vengeance to eliminate Sauron once and for all. 

Speaking of Sauron, in the final glimpse we get of him in the season, he’s heading for Mordor. He has a kingdom to claim, after all. 

And, that’s only made possible by Adar’s plan to destroy the dam using the coveted sword. The water runs into Mount Doom, causing an eruption of the Volcano, which creates the land of Mordor, Adar and the orcs’ new kingdom. 

At the end of the first season, we also left Arondir, Elendil, and the Men of Numenor suffering heavy casualties following the eruption of Mount Doom. Arondir stays behind, while Elendir and Miriel return to Numenor. Isildor is nowhere to be found. 

Last we saw of Nori and the Stranger, they are leaving the Harfoots and making their way toward Rhûn. We don’t know why exactly, but one of the servants of Sauron mentioned that’s where the Stranger, who is Istar, will regain his control over his powers. 

We also know that Sauron will, somehow, gain the favor of Celebrimbor based on the trailers, likely as Annatar. There are many more rings to be made, including the seven for the Dwarves and nine for the Kings of Men. That’s not a spoiler; we all know that’s where this story is headed. 

So far, we’ve seen about five minutes of season 2 action in the new trailers for The Rings of Power. Overall, it’s hard to gauge where all of this war is going to take place, but I’m assuming it will be later in the season. There’s more ground to cover to bring all of these characters back together again, and it starts with the forging of the rings. That’s expected to happen early in the season, although it’s hard to say if that will happen in episode 1-3. 

In the first trailer, which was released at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, we see Galadriel admitting that Halbrand was actually Sauron to Gil-galad and Elrond. 

"War is coming to Middle-earth," Sauron says in the first clip of the official trailer for The Rings of Power season 2.

In the second trailer, we clearly see Elrond speaking of Eregion and holding the city. It looks like Celebrimbor’s city will be attacked, but by whom? Clearly, Adar and the orcs could be responsible. 

We also see a lot of the dwarves in the season 2 trailers, and it looks like our grumpy cave-dwellers will continue to delve even further into the earth. There’s a very clear shot of the Balrog. It looks like there’s a battle taking place at the gates of Khazad-dûm. 

Most importantly, we see Galadriel taken captive by what appears to be orcs. We don’t know if they are loyal to Sauron or Adar, but we should find out soon. It also appears that there’s a possible truce between the Elves and the orcs to team up to stop Sauron, but the wheels of Sauron’s plans are already well in motion.

We also see Galadriel and Sauron will meet again in The Rings of Power season 2. All I know is I can’t wait! 

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the new dark wizard from the teaser! There were Ents and spiders! And, of course, THE Tom Bombadil, ladies and gentlemen. 

As I said, I can’t wait! Only a little bit longer until the first three episodes of The Rings of Power season 2 are now on Prime Video.