The third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is poised to premiere: the first four episodes will stream on Prime Video from November 11, 2026, but what happened in the episodes that came before? If that question is swirling in your mind right now, you’ve landed on the right article because we’ll attempt to walk through the key moments of Season 2 as we look ahead to Season 3. Here is what we should remember.
What Happened in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2? A Recap of the Highlights Ahead of Season 3
Sauron’s Deception: How the Rings of Power Were Born
The second season was heavily shaped by Celebrimbor‘s manipulation by Sauron. Disguised as Annatar, sent by the Valar to aid Middle-earth, Sauron manages to convince Celebrimbor to work for him, leveraging his ambition and pushing him to forge the rings he needs. It begins with the Seven rings destined for the Dwarves, but once they start showing side effects—greed and corruption—Celebrimbor wants to stop, yet he cannot because Sauron keeps pulling the strings. At that point, he is pressured to continue with the nine rings for the rulers of men, and to further Sauron’s goal he crafts a truly illusory bubble around Celebrimbor. While Eregion is under siege, the elf presses on with his work, convinced that everything around him remains unchanged, even as outside those walls his city is crumbling, largely due to Sauron. Once the deception is uncovered, Celebrimbor entrusts the nine rings of men to Galadriel and confronts Sauron, meeting a tragic end.
The Greed of King Durin
The seven Rings were distributed to the Dwarves, including King Durin III, the father of the prince Durin, who could not resist the lure of greed. Enslaved by the ring, the king chooses to dig deeper and deeper in search of mithril, despite his son’s warnings. At the start of the season, the survival of Khazad-dûm is at risk, and despair drives the king to accept that ring. At first, the gift seems to bear fruit, but the malevolent influence of Sauron takes hold, stoking paranoia and obsession and pushing him beyond any limit. His son tries to stop him, but the king goes too far, awakening a dark entity—a Balrog. Realizing his actions and regaining his clarity, the king offers the crown to his son, proclaiming him the new ruler, and hurls himself at the Balrog with his axe. Through his sacrifice, he saves his people.
What Happened to Numeron
The crisis in Numeron becomes increasingly palpable. Introduced as a realm led by Queen Miriel, heir to her father, power flips and ends up in the hands of Pharazôn, Miriel’s cousin who fuels prejudice against the Elves, which Miriel had helped by offering ships and weapons, plotting a coup. Once in power, Pharazôn even condemns Elendil, who refuses to recognize him as sovereign. The captain must face the Trial of the Abyss, but Queen Miriel steps forward to take his place and miraculously survives the monster. The people are once again split in two, but Pharazôn’s manipulation pushes Elendil and Isildur to flee with the sword Narsil, entrusted to him by Miriel, who has chosen to stay and fight for her people.
The Stranger’s Identity Revealed
If in the first season the Stranger plummeted from the sky without remembering who he was, in the second season we finally see him drawing nearer to the truth. Together with Nori, he traverses the Rhûn region where he encounters a community of progenitors of the Hobbits, the Stoors, and learns that they are threatened by masked predators. But that is not his only meeting: in Rhûn he also meets the legendary Tom Bombadil, who becomes his mentor and explains that his destiny is to confront Sauron and another corrupted wizard. To fulfill his mission, he must recover his magical staff, but he sacrifices that quest to save Nori and the Stoors from the Dark Wizard. That act of altruism is later rewarded by the staff reappearing among the village ruins. At that moment he fully unlocks his powers, leading to a major revelation: bidding farewell to Nori, who decides to stay in Rhûn, the Stoors refer to the Stranger as the Grey/Grand Elf and from there the name Gandalf is born.
The Siege of Eregion
One of the most critical moments of The Rings of Power Season 2 is the siege of Eregion by Adar and his orcs. While Sauron sabotages the city’s magical defenses from within, Adar takes advantage to press the attack. Elrond, meanwhile, joins the clash, certain of the dwarves’ support, but due to King Durin III’s madness, his friend Durin cannot keep his word, leaving the Elves to fight the orcs alone. Eregion is laid low as Adar decimates elf after elf. When he comes into possession of Galadriel’s ring (Nenya), Adar seems to free himself from his pain, understands his mistakes, and seeks a truce, but it is already too late for him. Sauron has already manipulated his orcs, steering them to his side, and drives his army to betray and kill him. And that is how Sauron comes into possession of the orc army.
The Duel Between Sauron and Galadriel
The season finale revolves around Sauron and Galadriel. She had fought to protect the nine rings obtained by Celebrimbor to the end, but Sauron is too powerful, too manipulative. Wounded and weakened, driven by despair, Galadriel decides to leap into the void, but Sauron still manages to seize the rings, leaving her writhing at the bottom of the ravine. Elrond comes to her aid and, thanks to the dwarves’ late arrival, they manage to escape and find refuge in a hidden valley: Rivendell.
Comments