Our journey back to Middle-earth is getting underway! This week, Prime Video revealed the first full-length trailer for the third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and it's given us plenty to ponder. The streamer's sweeping epic fantasy series was always impressive in scale and scope, but season 3 seems set to eclipse everything that's come before. Sauron stands on the cusp of total domination, with dangerous new lieutenants and his eye set on forging the One Ring. An alliance of Elves, Men, and Dwarves will stand against him, though how it will all shake out, we'll just have to wait and see.
While there will be plenty of returning faces in The Rings of Power season 3, like Sauron (Charlie Vickers), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo), and Elendil (Lloyd Owen), there will also be some very notable new characters entering the mix. These range from key figures from J.R.R. Tolkien's lore to original characters created for the series. We've now gotten glimpses of all of them, which makes this a perfect time to do a quick run down.
Here are six characters come in The Rings of Power season 3 you'll want a grasp on before the show premieres on November 11.
1. Celeborn
The buzziest newcomer this season is the Elf Celeborn, Galadriel's long-lost husband played by Jamie Campbell Bower of Stranger Things fame. Far from his time as the villainous Vecna, Bower's role in The Rings of Power will be a romantic one as he reappears in Galadriel's life, bringing back a glimmer of the light she once had before she became obsessed with killing Sauron.
Celeborn's inclusion in the show is more than a little intriguing. He and Galadriel are never separated in Tolkien's books, which raises huge questions about where he's been for the past two seasons and why he is only now returning. Knowing how wide Bower's range is as an actor, I wouldn't be surprised to learn there's something nefarious afoot.
2. Thrain
Played by Eddie Marsan, Thrain is the older brother of Durin IV (Owain Arthur). Season 3 will see Durin ascend to the throne of Khazad-dûm previously held by his father, Durin III (Peter Mullan). Sauron will bring the fight to the Dwarves in season 3, in an attempt to exert his influence over the people of Khazad-dûm and their valuable mythril mine. We see Thrain and Durin conferring in the trailer about the best way to oppose the dark lord. If there's one thing I know, it's that having more of Durin's family in the show can only be a good thing, since they tend to be pretty compelling.
The big question about Thrain going into season 3 is, if he's the oldest, why was Durin the next in line to the throne and not him? Are there any lingering resentments a certain Dark Lord might be able to exploit? I'm nervous to find out the answers.
3. Anarion
Speaking of brothers, our next character is also a sibling to a well-esablished figure. Anarion, played by Andrew Richardson, is the younger son of Elendil and brother to Isildur (Maxim Baldry). That makes him a Númenorean, with the long life and vitality that entails. The island nation went through some turmoil in the show's second season, with loyalties divided as Ar-Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) made his play for power.
Season 2 ended with Elendil fleeing the Númenorean stronghold. Did he take his son Anarion with him? And if not, how will Anarion come into the picture? What is his relationship with Isildur like? We know so little about him, but it's already clear that's plenty of room for the show to explore.
4. Marnûkh
Of all the characters joining The Rings of Power for its third season, the most mysterious by far is Marnûkh, played by Adam Young. I'm not kidding. The Prime Video press release announcing this character only states that he's a "mysterious orc who may not be what he seems."
That doesn't give us very much to go on, but the trailer thankfully provides just a hair more. In it, we see a very brief scene where Marnûkh is standing with the Silvan Elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), telling someone off screen that, "Sauron's victory is close at hand," before uttering the soon to be infamous phrase, One Ring to rule them all."
This makes it seem like Marnûkh will be the one who brings news of the One Ring to the Elves and their allies, no doubt setting in motion a desperate race against time to defeat the Dark Lord before he can complete and wield his greatest weapon. I almost get the feeling that he's going to be this show's version of Gollum, a sort of untrustworthy guide toward the land of Mordor's dangers.
With his motives intentionally left very mysterious, however, it seems safe to assume that some sort of revelations about Marnûkh will play out during season 3. Keep your eye on this one.
5. Khamûl the Easterling
Khamûl the Easterling is a warlord out of the far eastern land of Rhûn, which never properly appeared in The Lord of the Rings but has been featuring more and more in The Rings of Power. Played by Zubin Varla, Khamûl actually does derive from Tolkien's works...though in a different form. He's one of the only Nazgûl who is named, and serves as the second-in-command to the Witch King of Angmar.
Obviously, that is in the far future, though. In The Rings of Power season 3 we're going to see how this warlord came to ally himself with Sauron, and almost certainly how he became one of the Nazgnagôl — the earliest incarnations of Nazgûl, who will appear this season.
6. The Balrog
While the Balrog isn't technically a new character, since it's one of the most iconic creatures from The Fellowship of the Ring, we're going to be seeing a very different side to this ancient being in The Rings of Power's third season. While previous appearances have always portrayed the Balrog as an incredibly powerful, malign entity who is content to simply crush its foes, this time around it will actually speak.
Yes, you read that right: the Balrog will have dialogue in The Rings of Power season 3. If I had my guess, it'll be during the encounter we've seen in the trailers, where Sauron approaches the Balrog in the depths below Khazad-dûm, no doubt with some offer of alliance.
The Balrog is voiced by Simon Pegg, and if your initial reaction to that is uncertainty about whether or not the guy from Sean of the Dead can convincingly play one of the most recognizable monsters in fantasy history, I invite you to check out his voice work on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, where he played the main Skesis antagonist. He totally disappears into the character in a way that I could very much imagine him utilizing again as the Balrog.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres November 11 on Prime Video. We'll be covering it extensively, so make sure to check back for more. If you want to start planning out your watch parties, you can find a full breakdown of season 3's unusual release schedule here.
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