Immediately, The Rings of Power season 3 wrong-foots its audience with talk of time jumps and multiple years that take place off-screen. But don't fret: despite being complicated, the Lord of the Rings timeline in the latest season doesn't require a Sauron-like gaze upon it to unlock its mysteries.
Below, we will provide the answer to when The Rings of Power season 3 takes place in line with previous seasons, as well as other key events in The Lord of the Rings universe.
For our verdict, we have The Rings of Power season 3 review. There's also an explainer on the reveal of the Dark Wizard's identity.
When is The Rings of Power season 3 set?
The opening of The Rings of Power season 3 makes it abundantly clear – it is set five years after the events of the second season, which saw Eregion fall and Sauron claim the Nine Rings of Men as his own after slaying Celebrimbor.
While it's impossible to put an exact year on The Rings of Power season 3 due to how the Prime Video show has compressed the timeline of Tolkien's work, we know it's set around the middle of the Second Age.
The Lord of the Rings timeline, you see, is split into various ages characterized by seismic changes in Middle-earth: the First Age – which lasted almost 5,000 years – ended after the defeat of the original Dark Lord Morgoth.
The Second Age, again charting thousands of years in Tolkien's stories, revolves around Sauron's ascendancy and eventual fall. As explained in a Total Film interview with the showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, The Second Age won't last that long in The Rings of Power to avoid humans dying mid-storylines and other narrative headaches. Instead, it aims to capture the "spirit and feeling" of the Second Age.
The Third Age is a period that lasts from Sauron's first defeat through to the One Ring being thrown into Mount Doom (and encapsulates all of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit stories).
At a glance, The Rings of Power timeline looks like this:
- Morgoth defeated (590 First Age)
- Sauron is killed by Adar and re-emerges as Halbrand (beginning of the Second Age)
- The three rings for Elves are crafted (The Rings of Power season 1, Second Age)
- Seven rings for Dwarves and nine rings for Men are crafted (The Rings of Power season 2, Second Age)
- The Siege of Eregion (The Rings of Power season 2, Second Age)
- Sauron's rise after The Siege of Eregion (The Rings of Power season 3, Second Age – five years after the Siege of Eregion)
Explaining the need for a time jump during a Comic-Con roundtable attended by GamesRadar+, the showrunners said it would give the series a "jolt of adrenaline." They later confirmed to us that more time jumps are planned to "compress the time that's in the books."
Four episodes down – what's next? Discover that for yourself with The Rings of Power season 3 release schedule.
