Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Season 3 Tries Too Hard to Copy Peter Jackson’s Trilogy

Nov 10, 2026 - 14:12

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Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Season 3 Tries Too Hard to Copy Peter Jackson’s Trilogy

Published Nov 10, 2026, 3:01 AM EST

Prime Video's LOTR prequel series remains infuriatingly inconsistent

The Lord of the Rings takes place in the Third Age of Middle-earth, a time when the realms of Men and Elves are in decline, though a few hints of the world’s old glory remain. Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set thousands of years earlier, in J. R. R. Tolkien's Second Age, but spiritually it has more in common with that fallen time. After two slow seasons setting up Sauron (Charlie Vickers) as the Dark Lord of Middle-earth, co-showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne are using a five-year time skip as a sort of soft reboot to refocus on the One Ring itself. But the closer the show’s plot and action gets to The Lord of the Rings, the more it feels like a pale imitation of Peter Jackson’s already-perfect movie trilogy.

There are several scenes in Rings of Power season 3 that have direct parallels to key moments in Jackson’s films. The elves Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) travel into enemy territory with an unreliable guide who doesn’t like elf food and pits the friends against each other, just like Gollum does with Frodo and Sam. Galadriel finds herself hiding in a hedge from a Nazgnagôl, the still-living precursors to the Ringwraiths that would put Frodo and his Hobbit friends in the exact same position. At one point, Galadriel evokes the power of “fellowship” as something that can provide hope against Sauron, and it feels almost as hamfisted as Elrond name-dropping the title of The Fellowship of the Ring in Rivendell.

Prequels always have difficulty justifying their existence since it’s a foregone conclusion how the story will end. Last season, Rings of Power leaned into that inevitability in the same way as the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, building a Shakespearean tragedy from the corruption of the dwarf king Durin III (Peter Mullan) and the elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). There’s still some of that in season 3 as the island kingdom of Númenor and the dwarven stronghold of Khazad-dûm inch closer to their dark fates. But the show also spends too much time taking the same approach as Solo: A Star Wars Story, providing unnecessary origins for everything from the construction plans of Lothlorien to the origins Gandalf’s hat.

Rings of Power has epic moments and hollow plotlines

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There are times that Rings of Power manages to be just as awesome, epic, and heartwarming as Jackson’s films. This season sees Sauron closer than ever to achieving domination over Middle-earth. He’s begun to distribute the nine rings “for mortal men” he acquired from Celebrimbor at the end of season 2, deploying his terrifying lieutenants to further strengthen his hand. The family drama in Khazad-dûm continues to be a highlight of the show as power couple Durin IV (Owain Arthur) and Disa (Sophia Nomvete) try to protect the kingdom from the rule of Durin’s weaselly older brother Thráin (Eddie Marsan). The rogue orc Marnûkh (Adam Young) may be a Gollum knockoff, but he’s a surprisingly compelling and funny character. Sauron’s conversation with the Balrog (an unrecognizable Simon Pegg) is one of the most dramatic moments of the whole season.

Unfortunately, there are entire plotlines that feel hollow, even as they build up key characters in the war against Sauron. Gandalf spent two seasons hanging out with the Harfoots, and they’re entirely absent in the first seven episodes of season 3. It makes all that previous time feel a bit pointless and also means season 3 is much more dour without the charm and humor the proto-Hobbits added. Instead, Gandalf is mostly focused on the complex cosmology of Tolkien’s Istari as he tries to figure out his role in the war and how to deal with the Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds), who continues to feel like a bland imitation of Saruman.

The sections in Númenor remain the worst part of the series. The costumes and set designs are stunningly detailed, but the intrigue-driven conflict between the new king Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) and the deposed queen Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) remains a shallow riff on Game of Thrones. Diplomat supreme Elrond (Robert Aramayo) has a strong lore connection with Númenor, which was founded by his brother, but he just doesn’t have the same chemistry with anyone there that he has with Durin. I found myself relating to the haughty Elven High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), who understands the trip to Númenor is important but would rather be anywhere else on Middle-earth.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Elrond laments the failings of Men. They may be capable of greatness, but they are fundamentally unreliable. Rings of Power is much the same way. If you accept its flaws, you can find some moments to love. It’s not going to change the world like Jackson’s films, but it might be enough for those who long for more of Middle-earth’s magic, even if it’s just fleeting glimpses of it.

The Rings of Power season 3 premieres Nov. 11 on Prime Video.