The first full trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 teases a Middle-earth at war with Sauron’s armies on the march. In Mordor, the Dark Lord (Charlie Vickers) works in his tower of Barad-dûr making the One Ring to rule them all. Sauron’s machinations embedded in Eregion in Season 2 set up exactly how far he’ll go to take absolute power, and now we get to see how far the Dwarves, Elves, Men, and Wizards will go to fight back against his tide of darkness.

In particular, three specific reveals in the trailer raised our eyebrows in interest for the season to come: Gandalf (Daniel Weyman) getting to fully Gandalf, Galadriel’s (Morfydd Clark) presumed dead husband Celeborn (Stranger Things’ Jamie Campbell Bower) being very passionately alive, and getting to witness the Nazgnagôl, or proto-versions of the Ringwraiths, get an overt origin story. All three storylines seem poised to inject some novel energy into the series. Here’s exactly why we’re excited!

Gandalf Finally Being Gandalf

While the two-season road trip, and subsequent bond, between Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and The Stranger (Weyman) provided The Rings of Power with most of its genuine heart, the stringing out of his reveal as Gandalf pushed audience patience. Less a “mystery” and more of a placeholder, it made the Season 2 finale moment where he takes the branch from Tom Bombadil’s (Rory Kinnear) tree and shares his name as Gandalf feel like an overdue exhale for the character.

In Season 3, the jig is up and we’re ready to see who this fledgling version of Gandalf is without his worldly wisdom and yet-to-learn hard lessons in this war for Middle-earth. He rejected the Dark Wizard’s (Ciarán Hinds) offer of ultimate power in the Season 2 finale, so it will be interesting to see where he is five years later. Is he traveling alone, or is he collecting key leaders in the fight against Sauron?

One thing we do know is that in the not so distant future Gandalf will end up in the kingdom of the Dwarves where he’ll face-off against The Balrog (voiced by Simon Pegg), the fire creature awakened in the mines last season. Tolkien’s lore has the wizard battling The Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-dûm, but how will The Rings of Power writers room build up to that epic moment? A speaking Balrog is already entirely new to this telling, which probably means he’s going to have plenty to say. Will it be to Gandalf?

Celeborn Bringing the Vibes

Without a doubt, Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel has proven to be one intense Elven warrior. Over two seasons, she’s traveled and trekked, taken lives and saved many others. Perhaps her greatest vulnerability was being deceived by Sauron while he was in the guise of the human Halbrand in Season 1. The chemistry between Halbrand and Galadriel was so potent it revealed a previously unseen version of the warrior, and it added some welcome sizzle to the series. In fact, there was so much chemistry between them that the “ta-dah” reveal of Galadriel’s long-lost husband Celeborn in the Season 3 trailer should have made more than a few immediately think, “Wait, she’s married?”

Sauron spent all of Season 2 solidifying his villainous status in Eregion, taking the guise of Annatar to manipulate the ego of the Elven Master Smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) to persuade him to forge many of his Rings of Power. But in the Season 2 finale, Sauron reunites with Galadriel and tries to kill her, though he also tries to convince her that the “feelings” they shared were real. Another lie? Likely, with maybe a sliver of truth on the side. But she tells him “the door is shut” between them and throws herself off a cliff with Nenya, the Ring of Water, to escape him – and effectively puts a dent in his plans.

We know she lives, but now she gets to wrestle with the guilt of letting Sauron manipulate her and a returned husband that maybe doesn’t need to know that she wasn’t entirely thinking of him when he was gone? It’s certainly a great way to firmly put Sauron behind her, setting the table for a complicated husband and wife reunion. There are plenty of teases revealing their marital passion, but is that in flashback or post reunion? Regardless, we’re all about being ringside observers of the intensity of Clark and Campbell Bower as they light up the season.

The Nazgnagôl Back Story

Last and certainly not least is the impending detailed reveal of the histories of Tolkien’s Nazgûl, or the nine men who wear the Rings of Men. They will fall under the thrall of their rings and come to serve Sauron as his invisible Ringwraiths.

In every film portrayal of the Ringwraiths, from Ralph Bakshi’s animated The Lord of the Rings (1978) to Peter Jackson’s live action The Lord the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), the Nazgûl are black-robed creatures who hunt for their master. They don’t have individual personalities, nor is their time as men detailed aside from Tolkien describing them in The Silmarillion as “kings, sorcerers, and warriors of old.”

Since Sauron retained in his possession the nine forged Rings of Men at the end of Season 2, it’s likely we’ll see over the next two seasons exactly who is given the nine, including three that will go to lords of the realm of Númenor. There are certainly plenty of flawed candidates there that we can see falling to Sauron’s plans already, like Ar-Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) or Belzagar (Will Keen). The fun will be in discovering the characters already introduced who we won’t expect to fall or compromise their morals for power, and then see exactly how the Rings of Men will corrupt each individual and sap the humanity from them. The Rings of Power's showrunners have renamed this early phase of their evolution the Nazgnagôl, where they begin their service as “Ring-servants.”

Season 3 of The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on Prime Video on November 11, 2026.