“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” returns on November 11 for Season 3, and the long-awaited forging of the One Ring is finally on the horizon. The upcoming chapter arrives more than two years after the Season 2 finale, continuing the increasingly familiar trend of lengthy waits between installments of major streaming series.

Amazon is also changing the release strategy for Season 3. Four episodes will premiere at once, with the final four arriving in two weekly pairs on the following Wednesdays. That means viewers will be dropped into a substantial amount of Middle-earth mythology immediately, even if they remember every major plot twist from Season 2.

For anyone struggling to keep track of the characters, kingdoms, conflicts, and rapidly expanding mythology, a refresher is essential. Season 2 left behind several major developments that will shape the next chapter, so here’s a look back at the most important events — along with what fans can expect when “The Rings of Power” Season 3 begins.

The first two seasons unfolded with relatively little separation between them, but Season 3 will take a noticeably different approach. Early updates on “The Rings of Power” Season 3 revealed that the story would move “several years forward from the events of Season 2.” Showrunner J.D. Payne later told EW that Sauron has spent five years in this particular era of Middle-earth attempting — and failing — to create the One Ring.

For immortal figures such as Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), five years barely registers against lifetimes measured in centuries or longer. The same cannot be said for the show’s mortal characters. Isildur (Max Baldry) and Kemen (Leon Wadham) will return older and more seasoned, while figures including Elendil (Lloyd Owen) and Ar-Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) will feel the passing years far more sharply within their limited lifespans.

The most dramatic consequences of the time jump, however, may involve entire storylines rather than individual characters. Season 2 ended amid catastrophic upheaval: a Balrog was awakened, an Elven stronghold was destroyed, and power shifted across several realms. After events that explosive, Middle-earth cannot simply look unchanged five years later. The passage of time will be one of Season 3’s defining forces.

Sauron has always been evil, but “The Rings of Power” has spent its first two seasons exploring the darker figure’s more complicated motivations. That interpretation is not entirely without precedent in Tolkien’s work, where Sauron can display ambition, persuasion, and even traces of internal conflict. Still, the character’s descent has steadily made one fact unavoidable: he is becoming the Dark Lord in every sense of the name.

Season 2 pushed that transformation into the open. Over eight episodes, Sauron’s Annatar disguise collapsed, revealing a ruthless figure determined to seize control, destroy opposition, and use the Rings of Power to dominate those around him. He also murdered Adar, the series’ original Orc leader, removing one of the few figures capable of challenging his growing authority.

Season 3 is unlikely to continue the mystery-box version of Sauron. The Annatar identity is finished, and the Halbrand persona from Season 1 is no longer relevant. With his schemes exposed and his ambitions clear, Sauron now appears ready to operate as an openly malevolent force rather than a hidden manipulator.

That shift should give the series a welcome surge of intensity. Sauron’s deception has been entertaining, and Tolkien frequently portrayed him as a master of concealment, but his central purpose is ultimately domination. Now that the disguise has served its purpose, viewers can finally watch the fully realized villain drive the story toward its most dangerous stage.

The time jump also places Season 3 in the middle of the War of the Elves and Sauron. At first glance, that may sound like a repeat of the conflict seen in Season 2, when Elven forces battled Sauron’s armies. In Tolkien’s larger history, however, that confrontation was only the beginning of a much longer war.

The show has already compressed and rearranged Tolkien’s chronology. In the source material, the War of the Elves and Sauron begins nearly a century after the One Ring is forged, rather than before it. The conflict lasts eight years, with Eregion falling and Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) being killed four years after the war begins.

The destruction of Eregion is only the midpoint of the crisis. The timeline in “The Return of the King” appendices summarizes what follows with the stark statement, “Sauron overruns Eriador.” As the Elves face mounting losses, they eventually turn to the Númenóreans for assistance. In other words, Season 3 is entering a war that still has considerable tragedy and upheaval ahead.

The creation of the Rings of Power remains the series’ central mythology. Tolkien’s famous division includes nine rings for mortal Men, seven for the Dwarf-lords, three for the Elven-kings, and a final ring intended to rule them all — 20 in total. When the series began, none had been made. Season 1 concluded with the forging of the Three Elven Rings, while Season 2 introduced the remaining 16 rings destined for Men and Dwarves.

Only the One Ring remains. Promotional details for Season 3 confirm that the story will open with Sauron attempting to create the weapon he believes can turn the war in his favor and bring all of Middle-earth under his control.

Series creators J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have offered additional insight into that long-awaited storyline. McKay told Empire magazine that this is the season in which “Sauron makes the One Ring in the volcano.” He also explained to EW that Sauron has the nine rings for Men and is distributing them across Middle-earth while his armies grow stronger. Yet forging a ring more powerful than anything created before remains a personal struggle. After two seasons of buildup, the complete set of Rings of Power is finally close to becoming a reality.

In “The Lord of the Rings,” Men are the primary force standing against Sauron. That later story unfolds near the end of the Third Age, but “The Rings of Power” takes place thousands of years earlier, during the Second Age, when the Elves hold far greater influence. As Gandalf explains in “The Fellowship of the Ring,” the Elves’ power to resist Sauron was once stronger, and many Men remained their allies. The series is now depicting that earlier era.

Even during this age of Elven strength, the situation at the end of Season 2 is bleak. Adar’s forces, later absorbed into Sauron’s campaign, have destroyed Eregion. Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) and Elrond arrive with an army to defend the city, but their intervention ends in a devastating defeat. With Sauron gaining momentum, the surviving Elves retreat toward a significant new refuge that is almost certainly Rivendell.

Tolkien’s chronology suggests that the Elves will continue to endure severe losses, although enough of them survive to keep resisting. The five-year gap gives them time to rebuild their forces and prepare for another confrontation, but the series will need to explain how they recover from the fall of Eregion and the battlefield disaster. Season 3 should reveal how the immortal kingdoms have managed to survive while the war continued off-screen.

Middle-earth has already introduced several formidable threats, from the Balrog to Ar-Pharazôn and Sauron himself. One of Tolkien’s most notorious groups, however, has yet to appear: the Nazgûl. The Ringwraiths who later pursue Frodo were created during the Second Age, and Season 3 is expected to explore the earliest stages of their terrifying transformation.

The first trailer for the season showed these new additions in all their nightmarish glory — but there’s an important distinction: they won’t be called the Nazgûl at this point. The showrunners have announced that they will actually be called by the non-canon name, Nazgnagôl. J.D. Payne explained the name shift to Empire magazine: “The word ‘Nazgûl’ means ‘Ringwraith’ in the Black Speech of Mordor. But before they were Ringwraiths, we know that these were just men. So we were able to derive in the Black Speech that ‘nagôl’ could mean ‘servant.’ ‘Nazgnagôl,’ therefore, literally means ‘Ring-servant.'”

Tolkien never tells us who most of the Nazgûl are, so it will be interesting to see who ends up being given a Ring of Power in the show. But Payne revealed that the one Nazgûl who is named in Tolkien’s legendarium, Khamûl the Easterling, will be played by Zubin Varla. Payne even gave some insights into Khamûl’s motivations this season, explaining that he’s a would-be king who allies with Sauron to fight a dark wizard. “Every character stays the hero of their own story,” he said. “From Khamûl’s point of view, he is a warlord who deserves to be a king.” Khamûl and the rest of the Nazgûl, or more specifically the partially-corrupted Nazgnagôl, will arrive in full force this season.

“The Rings of Power” has taken advantage of its Second Age setting to introduce a few key characters. One unexpected addition in Season 2 takes place when Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) crosses paths with an angry Ent and Entwife. They aren’t in the show for long, but the presence of the male and female halves of the race is a good reminder that we’re in the part of Middle-earth history where Treebeard and the Ents suffer their greatest tragedy: they lose the Entwives.

The slow-burning romance between the two groups comes to an abrupt end not too far in the future of the story. While that painful episode is most likely to take place in a later season of the show, the question right now is whether or not we’ll see more of the Entish world in Season 3. If the showrunners intend to depict the tragic loss of the Entwives at a later date, there’s a good chance they’ll build up the arboreal world a bit more in the next season. But, so far, there hasn’t been any clear indicator one way or the other.

When we meet Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings,” she’s leading the Elven realm of Lothlórien with her husband, Celeborn (Marton Csokas). So far in “The Rings of Power” series, though, Celeborn has been missing in action. The Season 1 explanation for this is pretty simple. Celeborn went off to war (looking like a silver clam) and never came back again. Galadriel is distraught, but centuries later, she’s clearly come to terms with it on some level.

Now we know that Celeborn will be played by Jamie Campbell Bower of “Stranger Things” fame. But the reason he was gone for all of this time still remains unclear. While the couple split up at points, Celeborn never goes missing like this in Tolkien’s source material. It will be interesting to finally get some more details on his extended absence in this adapted version of the story.

Even if the explanation for the curious case of the missing husband is satisfactory, it won’t answer another burning question the series has neglected to address thus far. How are they going to get their daughter, Celebrían, born and all grown up (Elven aging takes a while) so she can eventually become Elrond’s wife and Arwen’s mom? Lots of explaining to do here. At least we know Season 3 will start to give us some answers.

Robert Aramayo’s Elrond has given us a very different take on the iconic half-Elven leader of Rivendell than we got used to in Peter Jackson’s films. That’s because by the time of “The Lord of the Rings,” Hugo Weaving’s Elrond is wise, highly experienced, and well-established as a leading figure in Middle-earth. In “The Rings of Power,” Elrond is young and still learning the ropes. Rivendell doesn’t even exist yet — although Season 2 ended in a sunny glade that is almost certainly going to be the spot where Elrond builds his hidden fortress.

While the Elf’s story through two seasons has mostly focused on his connections with friends like Galadriel and Durin (Owain Arthur), there have been hints at Elrond’s extremely unique ancestry as well. We can anticipate a lot more of the family-focused stuff in Season 3, especially since it’s been confirmed that Aramayo will also be playing Elrond’s twin brother Elros in “The Rings of Power.”

Don’t expect too many interactions between the two, though. The twins are Peredhil, meaning they’re half-Elven, half-human. While Elrond chooses immortality through his Elvish blood, Elros opts to live as a human king and founds the nation of Númenor, living out his lengthy but mortal life long before “The Rings of Power” story starts. Still, bringing Elros back through a flashback will at least give Elrond’s motivations more context. J.D. Payne even said (via Polygon) that losing Elros creates a lifelong sadness in Elrond, because his twin was “the person who was closest to him of anyone.”

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One of the strangest character arcs of the entire “Rings of Power” show has been that of Daniel Weyman’s Wizard. A lot of Season 1 is spent following the otherworldly character as he arrives via a meteor, is adopted into a tribe of overly cautious Harfoots, sheds his childlike innocence, and starts to learn that he has magical powers and a higher purpose.

In Season 2, he sets out in earnest to chase down that purpose — by heading east, right into the barren desert region of Rhûn (which Tolkien doesn’t say much about). There, he meets the enigmatic Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) and is further trained in his Wizarding ways. He also meets a Dark Wizard (let’s put a pin in that for a minute), and in the end, it’s (finally) revealed that he is, indeed, the Wizard Gandalf, arriving in Middle-earth.

Big sigh. It took two seasons of mystery box teasing to finally reveal that this guy really is Gandalf, even if the classic “Lord of the Rings” character isn’t supposed to show up in the Second Age and explicitly says he doesn’t go to the East in the text. So what can we expect heading into Season 3?

Since there isn’t any source material about Gandalf in the Second Age, all we have are teases from the showrunners and cast about what’s coming next. Daniel Weyman hinted (via Empire) that we should expect to see “the wizard we all love from Tolkien’s writings” this season, adding, “I found this new side to him, the side that we all hopefully recognize: the mischief, the twinkle in his eye.” Expect him to get his classic grey hat and learn how to better control his powers, too.

At San Diego Comic-Con, Weyman also revealed (via Gizmodo) that during the five-year time jump, Gandalf has been busy in his tutelage under Tom Bombadil. He’s learning from the mystic master, and as Season 3 dawns, we’ll see a version of the character who is ready to step into his role beyond just being a magic wielder. He’ll also start to be an inspiration to the people around him to rise up and resist evil. As Weyman said, “He’s learning that it’s not all about sort of wielding the staff and creating massive magic power. It’s also about that soft power touching people’s hearts.”

Gandalf isn’t the only Wizard revealed in Season 2. Once the story shifts to Rhûn, we meet a Dark Wizard played by Ciarán Hinds. The jury is still out on who the Dark Wizard is, but the showrunners have definitely ruled out Saruman as an option. That means, by the end of the season, there are only a few possibilities left. 

The character could simply be a new magic-wielding person made up for the show. But in reality, he is most likely one of Tolkien’s mysterious Blue Wizards. They were an underdeveloped part of the author’s world, sometimes showing up as bad guys and at other times appearing to be a force for good. In either case, their main stomping ground is the East, where Gandalf is right now — and, well, if the shoe fits, right?

The other thing to look out for is yet another Wizard. If the Dark Wizard is one of the two Blue Wizards, it stands to reason that the other one is out there somewhere, too. Tolkien initially named these two guys Alatar and Pallando. Alatar is the leader, and he brings Pallando along on the mission to Middle-earth. If that’s the case, there’s a good chance we’ll find a partner in crime as we learn more about the Dark Wizard this season.

Whether we meet another Wizard or not, expect the Dark Wizard we already know to have an interesting role this season. For starters, we’ll definitely get some clarity around who he is. At SDCC, the showrunners said (via GamesRadar) that we’ll find out his identity in Season 3 — and sooner than we might think. Unconfirmed reports on social media indicate that the character will, indeed, be revealed as Pallando.

Whatever his name, though, we know that he’s not a great guy. He demands blood from his acolytes, orders servants around at will, and harms innocent Halflings without a second thought. At the same time, when the Nazgnagôl were revealed before the season, Khamûl the Easterling – the only named Ringwraith — was positioned as an opponent to the Dark Wizard. J.D. Payne explained to Empire that from Khamûl’s point of view, the warlord wants to be a king — he deserves it. But his “power has been usurped by a dark wizard. Sauron offers him a way back to the top.”

Make no mistake, the Dark Wizard is a bad guy right now. But it looks like he may be squaring off against other baddies this season, too. That’ll make an interesting situation for Gandalf and the good guys as they figure things out in the Eastern regions of Middle-earth. What’s the old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

There are many areas of Middle-earth that Tolkien barely touched on — regions like the Kingdoms of Harad, Khand, and Rhûn that sit on the edge of the story and occasionally enter it, but are otherwise left out of sight. “The Rings of Power” has opted to dive right into one of those unexplored regions through Gandalf’s trip to Rhûn. In Season 2, we see hints of the desert area, but not much in the way of any serious civilization. But Rhûn isn’t just a place. It’s a powerful collection of people.

As the story unfolds around characters like Gandalf, the Dark Wizard, and Khamûl the Easterling, expect to see more of this world come into focus. We already know from the promotional material at SDCC that Gandalf is going to ride an Oliphaunt while he’s in Rhûn — a fun fact that has a surprising connection to “The Two Towers.” We know from the source material that the Blue Wizards are busy out in this area, too, as are some of the Ringwraiths and even some Dwarven kingdoms. Any or all of these could factor into the show this season.

Sauron is also at work. “The Silmarillion” says that at this point in the Second Age, “in the east and south well nigh all Men were under his dominion … To them Sauron was both king and god; and they feared him exceedingly, for he surrounded his abode with fire.” The takeaway here? Expect more from Rhûn in Season 3.

The Dwarves have been a major faction in “The Rings of Power.” Last we saw them in Season 2, they helped some of the defeated Elves escape from the destruction at Eregion. But all is not well in their home of Khazad-dûm. A Balrog is actively awake in the caverns under their feet — and in the season finale, it kills their king, Durin III (Peter Mullan).

While the Balrog remains hidden for the moment, the threat remains a major worry for the Dwarves heading into Season 3. The death of Durin III also opens up a succession crisis. His son, Durin IV, is right there and ready to ascend to his father’s throne. But in the fading moments of the season, we learn that his older brother, Thráin (who will be played by Eddie Marsan in Season 3), has also laid claim to the throne and is gathering support. Add in the introduction of Durin and Disa’s (Sophia Nomvete) recast teenage children, Gerda and Gamli (played by Amber Mendez-Martin and Lee Braithwaite, respectively), and it looks like we’re going to get a whole lot of Dwarven family drama.

Don’t forget the Dwarven Rings of Power, too. They’re forged now and in play as well. King Durin IV has them, but other Dwarf-lords will want in on the action. Tolkien says the Dwarven rings don’t have much power over their stubborn owners, but they do inflame their hearts with things like greed, wrath, and vengeance. You can count on them to supercharge any political situation and create all sorts of havoc.

The Balrog is loose in Khazad-dûm, and its effect on the Dwarves living there is going to be important. But it turns out the Balrog will impact Season 3 in its own unique way as well. At SDCC, the studio revealed that the Balrog will get a voice through actor Simon Pegg. That means, for the first time, we’re going to hear dialogue from the demon. Who will he be talking to? Why the Dark Lord himself, of course.

As McKay explained at the Comic-Con Hall H Panel, “The Balrog is a character, so he should have a voice. Every season we want to show a different side of him. He should have a scene with Sauron this season. Balrogs know how to live in fire. Sauron goes to the Balrog to learn this power.”

Remember the bit about Men worshiping Sauron because he surrounds his abode with fire? And then, of course, there’s the whole forging of the One Ring in the piping hot Cracks of Doom. Look out for some red-hot scenes between these two terrifying individuals in the upcoming season.

The island nation of Númenor has been a fascinating corner of the “Rings of Power” story. The isolated but powerful human kingdom has slowly devolved into chaos over the first two seasons. Its king, Tar-Palantir (Ken Blackburn), dies in Season 1, setting off a political crisis that drags on through Season 2. Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is the natural heir to the throne, but her cousin, Pharazôn, immediately starts plotting a takeover. Miriel is supported by a pro-Elvish faction called The Faithful, while Pharazôn is backed by a human-centric group called the King’s Men. 

By the end of the season, all hell breaks loose on the island. Miriel is overthrown and locked up. Her hero and friend, Elendil, flees the capital city as Pharazôn’s political coup turns into an all-out takeover of power. The drama on Númenor is far from over, too.

Last we saw, Elendil is in exile but still loose on the island. His son, Isildur, is trying to get back to the island and doesn’t know what’s going on. His daughter, Eärien (Ema Horvath), is breaking bad and scheming with the King’s Men. And his younger son, Anarion, remains missing (but is confirmed to arrive this season, played by Andrew Richardson). Suffice it to say, things are a hot mess for this Second Age branch of the family tree that will eventually connect to Aragorn himself.

With so much in flux as Season 2 ended, the five-year jump into Season 3 will be interesting. One thing seems likely, though. Númenor has been on the periphery of the story for the first two seasons. It should shift to front and center in the coming episodes.

By the Season 2 finale, Pharazôn is so in control of Númenor that he starts sending out ships to colonize Middle-earth and plunder the mainland for everything it’s worth. This is a critical part of the setup for the final act of the Second Age story. In the source material, the Númenóreans start as friends, settling along the shore and building mutually beneficial relationships with the local people living on the mainland.

Under Pharazôn, some Númenórean settlements, like Pelargir (an early version of Gondor which we saw in Season 2), become safe havens for the Elf-friendly Faithful Númenóreans. But most of them become tyrannical centers of Pharazôn’s power, enslaving people and stealing resources at will. This also sets the stage for the usurper to eventually fight directly with Sauron’s armies coming out of Mordor, triggering a string of Atlantean events that don’t end well for their island.

All of the pieces are in place for the colonizing chaos to kick off in Season 3. Pharazôn’s son, Kemen, is leading corrupt forces on the mainland. Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) is also hanging around the area and could get involved. This might feel like a side story compared to some of the bigger stuff going on, and at this point, it kind of is. But Season 3 will keep laying the groundwork for the upcoming face-off between Sauron and Númenor. And when that begins? It’s going to be headline news.

One group that hasn’t gotten much attention in the lead-up to Season 3 is the Halflings. Season 1 introduces us to the Harfoots, one of the three groups that ultimately come together to create the Hobbits we know and love. Season 2 brings another of those groups, the Stoors, into the story as well. Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards) discover an enclave of the half-pint hold-dwellers during their adventures with Gandalf in Rhûn. By the end of the season, they lead the group back into the West, literally in search of greener pastures and to link up with their own Harfoot community.

If you were looking forward to more proto-Hobbit fun, though, it likely won’t come in Season 3. When asked about their involvement in Season 3, J.D. Payne hinted at a change: “It was time for them to take a little bit more of a backseat,” he said, adding, “I will also say: never count a Halfling out.”

While that technically leaves the door open, it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll see Nori, Poppy, and company until Season 4 at the earliest. There’s a silver lining to their absence, though. Throughout the first two seasons, “The Rings of Power” has juggled a lot of disconnected storylines. It’s been a lot to keep track of. In Season 3, many of these are coming together, and trimming off side quests with Harfoots and Stoors seems like a smart way to rein things in and focus on the bigger stories unfolding.