Set thousands of years before Peter Jackson’s movies, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power adapts the Second Age of Middle-earth, which Lord of the Rings covered in just a few pages of its appendices. Prime Video’s series fills in the gaps with original characters and invented storylines, making it one of the most debated fantasy shows on TV.
With The Rings of Power season 3 arriving on Nov. 11 on Prime Video, the fantasy series has plenty of threads to pull together.
Spoilers ahead for seasons 1 and 2 of Prime Video's Rings of Power.
Darkness gathers in Rings of Power season 1
Season 1 opens with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) still hunting Sauron years after the death of her brother, Finrod. When Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) calls off the search, she defies him, jumping from a Valinor-bound ship just before it enters. Encountering a mysterious castaway called Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) at sea, Galadriel ends up in Númenor with him. Here, she wins the trust of Queen Regent Míriel. Securing her assistance, she heads back to Middle-earth in pursuit of Sauron’s rising forces, with Halbrand in tow.
Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) is shown uncovering this dark plot in the Southlands before Galadriel and her backup arrive. Adar (Joseph Mawle) leads an army of Orcs in the area as the human villager Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) fights to protect her son, Theo. Elrond (Robert Aramayo) visits his friend Durin IV (Owain Arthur) in Khazad-dûm, where mithril has been discovered. He needs the Dwarves’ help to stop the Elves’ light from fading, and mithril is key.
Meanwhile, the Harfoots Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards) find a stranger (Daniel Weyman) who has fallen from the sky.
The finale pulls the strands together. Halbrand is revealed as Sauron, Galadriel's friendship with him revealed as problematic, to say the least. The volcano Orodruin erupts as per Adar's plan, and the Southlands become Mordor.
Míriel is left blinded, and Pharazôn contemplates his duplicitous rise to power in Númenor. The season ends with Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) beginning to forge the first Rings of Power. They are the solution to Elrond's problem, despite being planned by Sauron all along.
Galadriel is a warrior from the start
Overall, The Rings of Power season 1 is a platform to tell the story of the Second Age with Galadriel as the main character. It's a wise choice of focal character in many ways — J.R.R. Tolkien wrote many different versions of Galadriel throughout his life, and some later than The Lord of the Rings was written. Though this work was only published as drafts in The History of Middle-earth, it remains a beloved testament to the scope of Middle-earth. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay dived into this deep lore, resulting in the show's opening scene of Galadriel as a child in Valinor.
She appears a little different to her Elven peers, making toy boats on her own. Even as a child, Galadriel has a military instinct in this LotR story. This opening scene sets up the glorious light of the Blessed Realm, where the Elves can remain immortal in peace. This foreshadows the moment Galadriel is on a boat, per Gil-galad's demand, being ferried away from Middle-earth to discontinue her military career and retire back in the light of Valinor. But just as Galadriel's self-made paper boat is crushed by rocks thrown by bullies, neither is Galadriel's ferry to Valinor meant to be. She jumps.
The Harfoots and Southlanders carve their own path
Nori and Poppy are wandering Harfoots, who encounter the burning Stranger in a crater, obviously a Wizard, from his first moments on screen. The show follows the Stranger's uneasy integration into Harfoot life and acceptance. He is followed by three cruel witches who burn the Harfoots' wagons and orchard, making it all the more disconcerting to hear them salute the Stranger as Sauron. Perhaps Galadriel's target, Sauron, is with the Harfoots, despite his seemingly kind and bumbling nature.
In the Southlands, Arondir and Bronwyn's star-crossed romance plays out in longing glances as Bronwyn's son watches with resentment. Elves are despised by the Southlanders as they watch over them to prevent them falling in with Morgoth's forces like their ancestors. And indeed, some Southlanders choose to join Adar, leader of the Orcs, as he invades their home. Arondir, Bronwyn and Theo lead the charge as Adar invades towards the end of season 1.
Galadriel proves to Númenor and Lindon that Sauron is back
Fast-forward a few thousand years from Galadriel's childhood escapades, RoP shows her scaling a glacier with a small company of Elves to seek Sauron in the frozen north. Galadriel is pushing the Elves far beyond their comfort zone, and they mutiny, believing her search for Sauron a wild goose chase. They return home, and High King Gil-galad neutralizes Galadriel's loose cannon energy by sending her and the company to Valinor, dressing it up as a reward for service, but not before a reunion between old friends Galadriel and Elrond.
After jumping from the boat and ending up on a raft with Halbrand, eventually drifting into the path of Númenóreans, Galadriel ends up being guarded by Elendil, one of the show's main characters. While Halbrand brawls with islanders, trying to get himself a guild crest so he can stay in Númenor as a smith, Galadriel and Elendil ride to a library. Here, Galadriel realizes that the mark of Sauron is a map of the Southlands, where Halbrand said Orcs had landed.
With a little help from Elendil the Faithful and the petals falling from the White Tree at just the right moment — a sign from the Valar — Queen Míriel finally agrees to help shipwrecked Galadriel get back to Middle-earth. This stirs dissent in Númenor, where opinion is divided between loyalty to Elves and suspicion of them. Season 1 sees Elendil and Míriel stepping into their faith in the Valar and Elves increasingly, as the opposition from Pharazôn grows.
The Númenóreans' faith is tested
Lending Galadriel an army proves to be a test of faith for the Númenóreans, given season 1 ends with this army on Middle-earth, in the Southlands, fighting Orcs as a great cloud of fire balloons towards them. Riding into the Southlands just in time to assist the locals in their fight, not even all the Númenóreans, Galadriel and Southlanders combined can stop the Orcs' plan.
Led by Adar, the Orcs have arranged for an old hilt to plug into an ancient mechanism that triggers water running through tunnels all the way into a volcano. This volcano, of course, turns out to be Mount Doom. As it erupts and ash settles over the Southlands, season 1 confirms that this is now Mordor.
Galadriel wakes with Theo and eventually finds where the Númenóreans are camped. Her and Míriel vow their fight is not over, to Elendil's anguish—he believes he has lost his son, Isildur. Galadriel rides with the injured Halbrand to Eregion, where he can receive urgent treatment.
Durin comes to the aid of the Elves
In Lindon, while Galadriel is lost at sea and on her travels, Gil-galad must contend with the darkness rising in Middle-earth in his own way. The Elves' land is degrading, and their days on Middle-earth are numbered unless they can find a way to sustain themselves. Only in Valinor can the Elves remain immortal without fading into spirit.
Put to work with the great Elven-smith Celebrimbor, Elrond has to win back the affection of his old friend, Durin, to help. Celebrimbor builds a great forge and, along with Elrond, realizes that mithril can halt the decay of the Elves and their realm. A made-up bit of lore for the show's own purposes, mithril originates in a great jewel called a Silmaril.
After a rocky start, Durin agrees to help Elrond despite the grievances of his father, who has a bad feeling about helping the Elves. Mining mithril proves dangerous, but with just a small amount, Elrond and Celebrimbor manage to make good use of the forge. Celebrimbor decides to make rings to harness the mithril's power but struggles to get the process right.
Wandering into the forge, Halbrand proves useful and joins the task force, suggesting that using mithril as part of an alloy would make it go further. Season 1 ends with the creation of the three Elven-rings to this co-created recipe, just as Galadriel background checks Halbrand's identity. Her mounting suspicion proves wise — he is no Southlander, but Sauron himself, the very evil she was searching for all along.
The Rings of Power season 2 recap
The Rings of Power season 2 opens with a flashback to Sauron’s betrayal and murder, courtesy of team Adar, setting up the villain to return in a new form. Calling himself Annatar, he wins over Celebrimbor and the Elves of Eregion without the other Elves' knowledge after having ditched Eregion when Galadriel broke his Halbrand cover. The Rings of Power are made for Elves and Dwarves under his influence.
Durin IV is torn between his father, increasingly corrupted by a ring, and his friendship with Elrond. In Númenor, Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) rises to power, leaving Míriel and Elendil’s loyalists in danger as Isildur drifts further from his father, Elendil.
Meanwhile, Nori travels with the Stranger to Rhûn to help him find out who he is. Here, the Stranger meets the ancient Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) and learns his name: Gandalf. They also come across a menacing Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds) and his acolytes. This identity remains a question for season 3. Adar makes a fragile alliance with the Elves, which ends with his untimely demise. He is betrayed by the very Orcs who raised him up as "father."
The finale is brutal — the Balrog awakes in Moria, Eregion falls to the Orcs, Celebrimbor is tortured and killed, and Sauron seizes the Nine Rings meant for Men. Adar’s Orc forces defect back to Sauron, empowering him further. Galadriel faces Sauron in a duel and escapes with the Elven rings, with the Elves retreating to a hidden valley that will become Rivendell.
The Stranger steps up
Nori sets off on a journey with the Stranger and is soon joined by Poppy. They are following the stars the Stranger knows, the only understanding he appears to have from the time before he fell to Middle-earth. They are soon joined by Poppy, who saves them from wandering in circles, and it is both of them that the Stranger defends from the tribe of Gaudrim stalking their movements. They are sent by the Dark Wizard, who also controls the three witches. The Stranger sends the Gaudrim packing with gale-force winds, but they can barely control them, and Nori and Poppy get blown away.
Nori and Poppy are found by Merimac, who calls himself Nobody and looks like a Harfoot but calls himself a Stoor. Finding themselves with the Stoors, Nori and Poppy are held in suspicion. They hate the Dark Wizard, who terrorizes those around him, while Nori and Poppy say they are friends with someone who sounds a lot like him. Meanwhile, the Stranger stumbles across the legendary LotR character Tom Bombadil, who teaches him how to harness his powers.
Finally finding the Stranger, the Dark Wizard tries to get him to join his side. The Stranger doesn't like the wizard's power-hungry attitude and refuses, leading the wizard to attack Nori and Poppy in revenge. They are with the Stoors, who the Stranger saves, firmly correcting their belief that Nori and Poppy are teamed with the Dark Wizard. Poppy has grown close to Merimac, and they leave, along with Nori, searching for greener pastures after the destruction of the Stoors' home. The Stranger knows he must go back to Bombadil to continue his training. A Stoor calls him "Grand-Elf," and the Stranger finally realizes his name: Gandalf, of course.
Sauron deceives Celebrimbor
Galadriel busted Sauron's cover at the end of season 1 and told Celebrimbor and Elrond not to treat with him, so Sauron knows he will have to work hard to win back Celebrimbor's trust. After all, Sauron still needs to work with Celebrimbor to carry out the rest of his plan to take over Middle-earth, as it requires more rings than just the Elven Three. Halbrand rides to Eregion and asks to see Celebrimbor, standing outside in the rain, injured, until he eventually gets the pity vote. Mirdania negotiates on his behalf, and Celebrimbor lets him in.
The messengers sent by Gil-galad to warn Celebrimbor about Sauron are all waylaid. As such, Celebrimbor is frustrated by the lack of news about the rings he made and whether they have helped the Elves avoid their fading. Halbrand brings news and flattery, and Celebrimbor is immediately grateful. His friendship is sealed by an impressive show of magic from Sauron as he transforms from Halbrand into an Elven figure calling himself Annatar. Celebrimbor believes what he is told — this is a messenger sent from the Valar, and together, they must continue their work, making rings to help not just Elves but also Dwarves and Men. It takes a little persuading from Sauron on an ongoing basis, but deception and manipulation are what he does best.
Adar rises and falls, Galadriel and Sauron clash
Adar is spying on the Elves and reading their messages to each other, planning his next step. Having taken over Mordor, he finds out that Sauron is back and is determined to kill him more permanently this time. Proceeding with this doomed effort, Adar finds out that Sauron is in Eregion and plans to invade. While Elrond, Galadriel, and their company of Elves journey to Eregion to warn them, Galadriel ends up captured by Orcs. They take her to Adar. The two have a lot in common, strangely, and Adar uses this common ground to ask Galadriel for her help in defeating Sauron. After all, they share the same goal. But this negotiation goes south, and Adar reveals his plan to attack Eregion, which Galadriel can't agree to.
Later, Galadriel sits in a cage, but Elrond sets her free, slipping her something she can pick the lock with. The fight begins. Elrond was relying on Durin's help, but no help appears to be coming, and Eregion is falling rapidly to the Orcs. This is all a part of Sauron's plan. He wants Adar to attack Eregion, as he has no army and wants to defeat the Elves. For a while, he has held Celebrimbor under a spell so he can't see or hear the war as he finishes making the rings. Adar's forces batter Eregion but turn on Adar and kill him, rejecting his increasingly ruthless leadership and turning to Sauron, believing him the lesser of two evils.
Galadriel goes to find Sauron but is too late to stop Celebrimbor chopping his own thumb off to escape Sauron's lock. The Dwarves have already been given their rings, but Galadriel secures the Nine from Celebrimbor. Sauron wants these back and fights her for them, winning them. He asks her to join him again, as he did at the end of season 1, but she jumps off the cliff to escape with her Elven-ring, Nenya, finishing the season hiding with the remaining Elven forces in a glade that will become Rivendell.
Final thoughts on The Rings of Power seasons 1 and 2
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been divisive since its first episode, mostly because it condenses centuries of Second Age history into a single story. Season 2 has leaned further into Tolkien’s lore, with Celebrimbor’s fall and the Eregion siege among its strongest material. It is still hotly debated whether the show stretches Tolkien’s logic too far, but its scale and ambition are hard to ignore.
Season 3 continues The War of the Elves and Sauron, following a five-year gap from the end of season 2. Galadriel is recovering, Sauron is on the march, and Galadriel's husband, Celeborn (Jamie Campbell Bower), finally enters the story. Catch up with every Show Snob recap of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and look out for the new season on Nov. 11, with the first four episodes airing that day. Check back for more from Middle-earth.
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