I know I’ll be watching Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3, as it’s just been renewed, and I think I also know how it might start. The Rings of Power season 2 ended during Sauron’s war against the Elves, with Sauron having just sacked Eregion. This event was a mere footnote to fantasy pioneer J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1954 The Lord of the Rings novel, listed in the appendices. However, The Rings of Power season 3 will dive deeper into this war.
The Rings of Power season 3 “takes place at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron,” which was described in slightly more detail in The Silmarillion, but much more fleshed out in Unfinished Tales (via The Hollywood Reporter). The time jump between seasons 2 and 3 will last “several years.” I don’t know what the show plans to skip, but I’m guessing the six years during which Sauron gradually overran Eriador. Judging on how seasons 1 and 2 both started with a flashback, I think season 3 will also start with a flashback, and I think I know which one.
Elrond Would Make Sense As The Subject Of The Rings Of Power Season 3’s Flashback
Each Season Has Opened With A Major Character Flashback
I believe The Rings of Power season 3 will open with Elrond flashing back to his childhood the way Galadriel flashed back to her childhood in the opening of season 1. This is amazing for many reasons. First off, Elrond is one of the best characters in The Lord of the Rings, and The Rings of Power has an unprecedented opportunity to tell his story the way the movies couldn’t. Peter Jackson’s incredible movies covered the Third Age. The Rings of Power can show Elrond’s Second Age development, so I welcome a season 3 Elrond focus.
Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne actually commented on opening seasons of their show with flashbacks in a Reddit Q&A. Speaking in the fall of 2024, McKay said “at this time, as we’re thinking about the story, we have a flashback that would start season three,” confirming that “we actually like the idea that each season might start with a different slice of Middle-earth focused on a different character than it was last time.” Rings of Power’s Sauron and Galadriel already had their time in the flashback limelight. Now, it’s Elrond’s turn.
What Elrond’s The Rings Of Power Season 3 Flashback Could Be About
An Elrond Flashback Could Show Fan-Favorite First Age Elves
Season openers combine the plot devices of immortality and flashbacks to show fan-favorite lore.
That’s why more flashbacks can only be good news, allowing lifelong LotR fans the chance to see high-budget adaptations of some of the books that changed their lives for the first time. In the Q&A, Payne confirmed what was obvious on screen. Season openers combine the plot devices of immortality and flashbacks to show fan-favorite lore. To this end, the show is going through its biggest Tolkien characters, making Elrond next in line. An Elrond flashback could show fan-favorite First Age Elves Maedhros and Maglor kidnapping Elrond in the Third Kinslaying.
A Flashback To Elrond’s Childhood Would Be A Perfect Foil For His Present-Day Self In Rivendell
Season 3 Will Show Elrond’s Rise To Power
Season 3 will likely end with him as a leader. The time jump between seasons 2 and 3 should cover Sauron’s rise, but also its resistance, and can open with the one bright light in this darkness. During this time, Elrond established Rivendell, which is where season 2 left him. Finally, he may be starting to look like the Lord of Rivendell of the movies. Opening season 3 with a flashback to Elrond’s difficult past could immediately cut to his rather more impressive present-day in Rivendell, creating a moving, powerful display of how far Elrond has come already.
Power is loneliness for Elrond, ever stripping him of his family, so his rise to power in season 3 will break him and isolate him.
