Prime Video’s The Rings of Power is steadily approaching its version of an iconic Lord of the Rings scene. This fantasy TV show serves as a prequel to Frodo’s adventures with Sauron’s One Ring, establishing the Second Age of Middle-earth on screen for the first time. Though not directly part of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings franchise, Rings of Power is adapted from the same source material, utilizing the appendices of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to outline Sauron’s initial rise to power and the creation of his rings.
So far in The Rings of Power, Sauron has effectively manipulated Celebrimbor into helping him create the Seven Dwarven Rings and the Nine Rings for Men. Now, going into Rings of Power season 3 (premiering November 11, 2026), the Dark Lord is ready to engage in the War of the Elves and Sauron, a devastating conflict that tears apart the region of Eriador.
Since Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings adaptation has played fast and loose with Tolkien’s canon timeline, it’s difficult to say how much of the story season 3 will cover. Still, more likely than not, this upcoming installment will end with Numenor’s capture of Sauron. This would mean that Rings of Power season 4 will finally dive into a significant moment we saw only through a flashback in Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Rings Of Power Season 4 Will Almost Certainly Show Sauron Making The One Ring
There’s really no way that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will come to an end without Sauron making his One Ring on screen, and it seems like season 4 will be the perfect time to make that happen. Whatever Prime Video conceives for this big moment will be new, since the process of making the Ring hasn’t been shown in any detail on screen, nor was it described in Tolkien’s works. Still, the intro of Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring gave us a look at Sauron lifting his hand in triumph to look upon the freshly crafted Ring on his hand.
It will be interesting to see how Rings of Power approaches this moment compared to Jackson’s film trilogy. In Fellowship of the Ring, we never actually see Sauron’s face since he is in his full armor while first beholding his Ring. Rings of Power has taken an intimate approach to the villain overall, so its version of the big moment is sure to be more up close and personal. We’re also likely to see more of Sauron’s process leading up to what we saw in Fellowship of the Ring, and this could be an opportunity for some subtle crossover with a hidden detail.
Look Out For A Key Detail Hidden By The Lord Of The Rings Movies
There’s only a quick glimpse at Sauron after he created his One Ring in Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. However, official storyboards reveal (via Collider) that the plan was initially to show the thing being made. The idea was that Sauron would use a knife to cut into his hand, thereby mixing his blood with molten gold, which would then form into the delicate circlet. The expanded scene was axed, but Sauron is still seen holding a knife as he marvels at the Ring in the film. It’s a small, leftover detail from an idea that never fully came to fruition.
Rings of Power could approach Sauron’s creation of his One Ring in any number of ways, but the series has already leaned some into the blood idea. In season 2, the villain used his blood instead of mithril to forge the Nine Rings for Men, and it’s implied that his evil essence added even further malice to these particular Rings. Since Sauron canonically puts his own will and cruelty into the One Ring, it makes sense that Rings of Power would use that blood twist to foreshadow the process that would later appear on screen.
For the sake of cohesion, it would be great to see Ring of Power adopt the blood-and-knife idea. The Prime Video series may be separate from Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, but there’s still value to keeping these two stories flowing smoothly together. Regardless, it will be thrilling to see how Rings of Power approaches such a key but relatively unexplored moment in Tolkien’s Middle-earth timeline.
- Release Date
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September 1, 2022
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
- Directors
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J.A. Bayona, Sanaa Hamri
- Writers
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Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams