It’s time to head back to Middle-earth, but with so much happening in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2 it could be worth a bit of a refresh.
The second season of the show watched Sauron get serious about forging his many titular rings of power, all while kicking off his war with the elves. Galadriel, Elrond and the rest all prepared for major battles across the map while deep in the East, The Stranger met an iconic J.R.R. Tolkien character and learned a lot more about himself.
The Prime Video series crammed a whole lot into just 8 episodes and with the third season finally here, it can be worth sprucing up the knowledge of what happened and how we all got to where we were before the new time jump.
Here’s what to remember before diving into “Rings of Power” Season 3.
The Battle of Eregion
Much of the season was building up and then paying off The Battle of Eregion — one of the first major bouts in the war between Sauron and the elves. The orcs show up to besiege the elven city all while Sauron, disguised as Annatar, continues to play with Celebrimbor’s mind to distract him and keep the elf from making his rings.
The elves ultimately lose the city when all is said and done, Celebrimbor realizes that Sauron has been deceiving him from the start — but it’s ultimately too late — and the Middle-earth known to the elves changes forever as the first victory for The Dark Lord in his war with the elves truly kicks off.
The dwarves dig too deep
For the dwarves, the season ended with a lot of political uncertainty as King Durin III sacrificed himself. A season wearing one of Sauron’s dwarven rings had made the king increasingly paranoid but also greedy. He ordered his people to continue digging deeper and deeper into the mountain to mine mithril, and in doing so released the Balrog into the world. The finale saw Durin sacrifice himself in a fight to push back the Balrog – temporarily at least – and leaving Durin IV as the new king.
With the ascent to the throne, Durin has more than just the Balrog to contend with. He watched his father’s plummet wearing Sauron’s rings and now has to decide if the power granted by them is worth the negative effects and if it’s better to just hide them from his people.
Sauron vs. Galadriel
After an entire season together, Sauron and Galadriel were apart for most of Season 2. It wasn’t until the waning moments of the finale that they finally appeared to one another in the wake of Adar’s death.
Rather than speak, the two cross swords and have a long one v. one battle in the hills overlooking the Battle of Eregion. Sauron tries to use his trickery to convince Galadriel to join his cause. Much like Celebrimbor and Adar, Galadriel refuses and their duel begins. Sauron ultimately proves too much for the elf, and he injures her and takes back the nine rings he forged with Celebrimbor for men to wear — and ultimately be under his thrall.
But all is not lost for the elves following Galadriel’s fight and the loss of Eregion. The elves decide to go on the offensive rather than playing defense against Sauron. The episode closes with Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker) holding his sword high and rallying the elves in the coming war in the glade that will become Rivendell.
The Stranger, Revealed
It was one of the worst kept secrets of the show but the Season 2 finale finally put a name to The Stranger’s face — and it’s exactly who everyone thought. The Stranger found his name after coming face-to-face with the Dark Wizard (Ciaran Hinds) of Rhǔn at the Storers home. The wizard told The Stranger they were old friends and they came to Middle-earth together to face Sauron. The difference is that the Dark Wizard wants to rule in Sauron’s place.
After a confrontation with the Dark Wizard that ends with him pushing the foe out of the Storer home, the proto-Hobbits decide to be led out of the land and thank The Stranger individually as “grand elf.” Following that he returns to the home of Tom Bombadil with his new wizard staff and knowledge of what his name truly is.
“Gandalf,” The Stranger (no more) says after a pause. “That’s what they’re going to call me isn’t it?”
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 3 premieres Wednesday on Prime Video.
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