The Rings of Power season 3 brings an iconic moment from J.R.R. Tolkien's world to the screen as Sauron forges the One Ring. It's an epic sequence that we've glimpsed in the trailers and promotional material for the series so far, and according to one of the showrunners, it's a sequence they've been building up to for three years.
"It's really interesting because what you're talking about is a sequence that, in some ways, took three years to film, right? Because of the writing of it and beginning to think about what these specific visual moments would be," co-showrunner Patrick McKay tells us of adapting the sequence.
"I mean, that starts on the page. It was like four pages of prose describing what he went through, and then you know you bring in your department heads. And then they all have different ideas of what he should be wearing, how should it break down over the course of the sequence, that's multiple garments. How should injuries accrue? You know, and then also what is the kind of magic? And all of these pieces are coming together."
Some of the most essential department heads were prop masters John Hajdukiewicz and Tina Jones, who designed the new version of the ring. At a recent event celebrating the behind-the-scenes work on the show, they explained how when it came to creating it, they quickly realized they had to make it as recognizable as possible.
"Lord of the Rings fans need to be able to connect with that ring," Jones tells us. "So we couldn't change it, we realized that we couldn't change the design. It had to be instantly recognizable to everybody who had watched Peter Jackson's [movies] and knew exactly what that ring was."
One change they did make, however, was to make it slightly larger. "When we got the dimensions of the original one against the gauntlet and just generally, it looked quite insignificant," Hajdukiewicz continues. "We wanted it to be very plain, but have some, you know, in our minds we thought, 'Well, if you actually pick that up, it would be really heavy,' it would have its own mass. And so we beefed it up slightly [and] rounded it very slightly."
The result comes together in the fires of Mount Doom as Sauron star Charlie Vickers forges the iconic ring, which will have huge implications on this story going forward. It's a performance that McKay tells us was "amazing" to watch.
"I remember we first had a meeting I think for like an hour just talking him through what it was going to be," the co-showrunner recalls. "He spent so much time. He's actually an exceedingly prepared actor. He does a lot of work outside of the rehearsal process, figuring it out and thinking about psychology. And then one day you're there, you're on a partial volcano built on a stage, and he's screaming into the void. And you have lighting rigs that will become lava explosions."
However, the process does not end there for McKay and his co-showrunner JD Payne. "You know you're going, 'He's amazing. I find this captivating.' But what is this going to look like? And that was the work of the last 52 weeks, and we finished a few days ago. So we're still in it."
It's clear it's been a labor of love to reach this moment, and the results will stand for themselves when fans finally get to see it. "It's the most complex sequence we've ever done, and it's something that we've never seen before," McKay smiles. "The fact that you responded to it means the world to us. We hope other people do too."
The Rings of Power season 3 begins on Prime Video on November 11 with a four-episode premiere. For more, check out our guides to the Lord of the Rings timeline and watching the Lord of the Rings in order.
