5 The Rings Of Power Season 3 Theories That I’m Fully Convinced By

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is shaping up to be a surprising series, but there are some theories I am fully convinced by. Amazon Prime Video’s show aired in 2022 to critical acclaim and managed to get consistently high ratings in both its seasons, despite polarizing Tolkien fans with its dubiously faithful adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. The show contains some of Lord of the Rings’ best characters and its own original characters, but they were sometimes more closely linked than they first appeared. The original characters turned out to be Tolkien characters, and this trend could continue.

Many complained about the show’s approach to Tolkien’s lore. It teased mystery around the identities of its original characters, inviting speculation on which Tolkien character they may turn out to be. I enjoyed this approach. I know the books well enough to know that Lord of the Rings’ Second Age is not described in a precise enough way to warrant one exact, faithful on-screen adaptation. So much dialogue and plot had to be invented that the mysteries would only have been replaced by other original material if they did not exist. So, I’m happy to develop and share my top theories.

5. Rings Of Power Season 3 Will Open With An Elrond Flashback

Elrond Will Get More Important In Season 3

I know enough about The Rings of Power season 3 to speculate with a reasonable amount of confidence that it will open with Elrond having a flashback. Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne did a Reddit Q&A where they shared that “Each season might start with a different slice of Middle-earth focused on a different character than it was last time” and that “We have a flashback that would start season three,” although this could be subject to change.

Galadriel’s flashback opened season 1 and Sauron’s opened season 2. An Elrond flashback opening season 3 would follow the pattern of Lord of the Rings’ most powerful characters opening seasons with a flashback. A Gandalf flashback wouldn’t make sense, since the whole point of his arc is rediscovering his forgotten past. Gil-galad has nowhere near as much Tolkienian importance as Elrond. Elrond, however, should become more important in season 3 as he rises to power in Rivendell.

4. Kemen Will Become A Rings of Power Ringwraith

Kemen And Ar-Pharazôn Will Become A Focal Point

The Rings of Power will depict Lord of the Rings’ fall of Númenor, and this focus on Kemen and Pharazôn could entail Kemen’s descent into Ringwraith status. Cast, crew, and multiple scenes have foreshadowed Rings of Power’s imminent Númenor arc, which will adapt The Silmarillion’s “Part IV: Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor.” While the show has full rights to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, it has been acquiring one-off rights to other texts as needed and can turn to the rough Second Age outlines in LotR’s appendices anyway.

Kemen is gloriously demonic, recalling villain greatness like Game of Thrones’ Joffrey Baratheon. Sauron must give out his Rings of Men next in the show, and then forge Lord of the Rings’ One Ring. The Númenor arc must follow, in which Sauron gets (willingly) kidnapped by Pharazôn and taken to Númenor, which he will gradually corrupt. We know that three of the rings were given to Númenórean lords. It wouldn’t be a huge timeline scramble for Rings of Power to have Sauron retain a ring or three until he gets taken to Númenor, where he could then dish them out to power-hungry pawns like Kemen.

3. Theo Will Be Théoden’s Ancestor In The Rings Of Power

Theo’s Mysterious Parentage Grants Him Possible Special Importance

Theo is a bit of a mystery in Rings of Power, with an unfortunately dead mother and an unknown father, but my money is on him being Théoden’s ancestor. Rings of Power making Theo a LotR character would frustrate some. However, I would argue that Rings of Power has to fill its five seasons with something, and if it’s going to invent characters around its key pillars, which is inevitable, it may as well make them relevant.

Theo being Théoden’s ancestor does not have to dance on the grave of lore. Eorl founded Rohan, according to Lord of the Rings’ appendices, and Théoden was his descendant. Theo could be Eorl’s forefather in Rings of Power, which would explain the show’s choice of names for him and his mother (Bronwyn links to Éowyn). It would also enrich Bronwyn’s use of alfirin, which grows on Rohirrim graves in Lord of the Rings. Theo’s attraction to dark magic is more satisfying if he gets to win against it.

2. Rings Of Power’s Nori Will Found The Shire

Harfoots Will Have A Wider Significance

I’m convinced that Nori will found the Shire in Rings of Power, as her path leads her west, along with the Stoors. The Hobbit species was formed from Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides as they all migrated westward from Rhovanion. Nori finished season 2 out east in Rhûn, having left the Harfoots in Wilderland. She discovered the Stoors there and will bring them back west with her. She will unite two of the three tribes needed to form the Hobbit species.

Rings of Power may introduce the Fallohides too. Either way, Nori, the adventurous leader that she is, may end up leading both Stoors and Harfoots even further west than Rhovanion. This is because Lord of the Rings’ Sauron will be peaking in power right up until the fall of Númenor, so his threat may well push the Hobbits further west. As he expands from Mordor, Sauron’s violent forces could be wreaking all kinds of havoc beyond its borders.

1. The Dark Wizard Is A Blue Wizard In Rings Of Power

Rings Of Power’s Villainous Wizard Is A Blue

The Rings of Power’s Dark Wizard is a Blue Wizard, which was all but confirmed by the showrunners in their Reddit Q&A. It remains a theory rather than a fact by virtue of the showrunners’ diplomatically ambiguous wording. The showrunners were asked if they could rule out Saruman being the Dark Wizard. They refused to give black-and-white answers but said “It’s just very hard to imagine that the Dark Wizard would be Saruman,” and that:

We know there are five wizards talked about in The Lord of the Rings. One of them is Saruman, one of them is Gandalf, one of them is Radagast, and then there are two others. It is our expectation that he will be one of those two others.

The showrunners have either not yet finished deciding if the Dark Wizard is a Blue Wizard or are resisting explicitly confirming his identity to avoid issuing spoilers. Indeed, the Dark Wizard’s identity is a hugely entertaining mystery waiting to be unraveled in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3, and I wouldn’t blame them for keeping it under wraps for both their sake and viewers’ sake. Either way, they seem adamant that he is not Saruman, and he certainly doesn’t seem like Radagast, leaving him a Blue Wizard.