Back in February, we learned that The Rings of Power, Prime Video's fabulously expensive Lord of the Rings prequel series, would be returning for a third season. That was good news, since I wasn't sure if Amazon would want to go the distance on this series.
Season 3 is a still a ways off, but star Cynthia Addai-Robinson — who plays Míriel, the deposed queen of the island nation of Númenor — is already talking about it to Hello! Magazine about it...although there isn't much she can say at this early juncture. "For people who are familiar with the lore, Númenor has a tragic fate and so I would want for Míriel to be able to have a sense of her conviction, in between what we've seen so far and where Númenor ends up," she said. "I trust that our showrunners and the creative team are cooking up some interesting things, and for me personally, the series has already been going on five years of my life and it's been a really beautiful period to spend time with a character for that length of time. It'll be really interesting to step back into her shoes soon enough."
I'll spare you explicit spoilers, but Númenor does indeed have a tragic fate, and if the show sticks to what J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, Míriel's fate is already sealed; the show has already teased what's coming several times.
"There's clearly a love" between Míriel and Elendil
But there are other parts of the story that are new for the show. For instance, in Tolkien's books, we never hear much about the relationship between Míriel and Elendil (Llyod Owen), a Númenorean leader. On the show, they have a bit of a will-they-won't-they thing going, and fans have taken notice.
"I don't get to necessarily dictate those things, but there's clearly a love there [between them], which I think is actually really beautiful because it can transcend things that may feel a bit more straightforward with a label on it," Addai-Robinson said. "It's often much more complicated than that and I'm sure there will be some interesting things to keep track of in terms of 'Where do we see the dynamic between those two moving forward?'"
"What I think is always wonderful – especially in this day and age of audience participation – is myself and Lloyd Owen are well aware of the shipping, and we love it. It's a testament to an audience being invested in the fate of characters that they love and admire."
Last we checked in with them, Míriel had sent Elendil away to the western parts of Númenor, where he can hopefully rally those Númenoreans still faithful to the god-like Valar. Meanwhile, Míriel will stay in the capital and try and deal with the newly crowned king Ar-Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle), who resents the Valar and the elves their eternal lives.
If you're familiar with The Lord of the Rings lore, you know this story ends spectacularly badly for most of the people involved, and we'll get to see it play out onscreen! There isn't a release date for The Rings of Power season 3 set as of yet, but the earliest we'd see anything is 2026. I take it as a good sign that cast members like Cynthia Addai-Robinson are out speaking about the show; perhaps we'll see some movement on production soon.
Meanwhile, we talked to Addai-Robinson a while back about Míriel's journey on season 2. Check that out here:
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