That’s a wrap on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3. The news comes from a source that may surprise some but delight Stranger Things fans: Jamie Campbell Bower. The Vecna actor is trading Hawkins, Indiana, for Middle-earth as he joins Prime Video’s epic fantasy series in its third season. He’s heavily featured in a social media video confirming filming is done on the upcoming season.
The new video from the official The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power social media accounts confirms that filming on the show’s third season is done. The video takes fans behind-the-scenes of the production, including a moment where Bower, somewhat ironically, videos a sign prohibiting pictures.
The video also includes moments with the show’s returning stars, including Morfydd Clark, who plays Galadriel, Charlie Vickers, who plays Sauron, and Owain Arthur, who plays Durin IV. Prime Video announced in February that Bowers would join the cast in Season 3, and reports at the time hinted he played the show’s “most important new character.”
The identity of that character remains under wraps, but fans have their theories. Early reports describe Bowers’ Lord of the Rings character as a handsome, highborn knight who becomes Galadriel’s new love interest, now that the character who previously filled that role, Halbrand, has been revealed as the Dark Lord Sauron. The most likely candidate to fill that void would be Celeborn, Galadriel’s husband, who has yet to appear in the series except for when Galadriel revealed she believes he is dead, having fallen in battle during the war with Morgoth.
Of course, readers who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion know that this story is entirely invented by The Rings of Power writers as it does not appear in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium. Since Galadriel and Celeborn are together in Lothlorien by the time of The Lord of the Rings, reuniting them in The Rings of Power Season 3 would put the show back on the path towards Tolkien’s canon.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 Is on the Way
Galadriel and Elrond Kiss in The Rings of Power Season 2Image via Prime Video
There was one other somewhat romantic moment for Galadriel that didn’t involve Halbrand, when she shared a kiss with Elrond. Don’t expect further romance there, though. There were ulterior motives behind that kiss, and it clearly took Galadriel by surprise — she and Elrond are close friends, as depicted in The Rings of Power, but no more, which would make sense since he’d know all about Celeborn. It may also be worth noting that Elrond later marries Galadriel and Celeborn’s daughter, CelebrÃan, who becomes the mother of Arwen and her brothers.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set during the Second Age of Middle-earth, which is the period of time between Morgoth’s final defeat and Sauron’s loss of the Ring at the climax of the War of the Last Alliance. It is the era of Middle-earth that Tolkien wrote about in the least detail, allowing the writers of The Rings of Power the opportunity to invent their own stories and subplots, such as Galadriel’s meeting with Sauron in the guise of Sauron and Celeborn’s disappearance.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s first two seasons are available to stream now on Prime Video. Though it has not yet been renewed past Season 3, it is rumored that Prime Video will incur a steep financial penalty should it not follow through on the series’ original five-season plan.
Release Date
September 2, 2022
Writers
Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, Gennifer Hutchison, Justin Doble
Cast
