Listen up, The Lord of the Rings fans, because the first trailer for The Rings of Power season 3 has arrived.

Released online today (Friday, July 26) following its premiere at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2026, the teaser gave us our first proper look at the Amazon TV Original’s next season, which is set to make its Prime Video debut in mid-November.

Missed all of the pre-release chatter? You can read all of the build-up to the teaser’s arrival in this recap. There’s plenty more information on season 3 hidden within, so you’ll definitely want to peruse the entire article for more details. So, hop to it!

In the first of Mount Doom…

Hello and welcome to our The Rings of Power season 3 trailer live blog. I’m Tom Power, TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter and master of ceremonies for today’s teaser unveiling.

We’re still many hours away from the video’s world premiere, but there’s plenty for us to chat about in the meantime. So, join me, won’t you, as we count down to our first look at the high fantasy show’s next season.

When will The Rings of Power season 3 trailer be released?

Let’s get the big question out of the way first: what time should we expect this season’s first trailer to drop?

Well, we know it’ll be sometime today — aka Friday, July 26 — but its actual launch time hasn’t been announced.

That said, an Amazon MGM Studios SDCC 2026 presentation will tell us more about The Rings of Power 3 and another of its forthcoming TV shows in Blade Runner 2099. That panel kicks off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, and is expected to last for 90 minutes, so the trailer will be with us by 11:30am PT / 2:30pm ET / 7:30pm BST at the very latest.

Ringin’ in the release date

We might not have a trailer — yet — for season 3, but we do have an official launch date: November 11, 2026. Amazon confirmed The Rings of Power season 3’s late 2026 arrival in mid-May, so we’ve been counting down the days to its return for over two months at this point.

And, honestly? I’m glad it’ll be here before the end of the year. Filming only wrapped on The Rings of Power 3 in December 2025 and, given how the lengthy cycle of its predecessors’ post-production stages, I fully expected the forthcoming season’s post-production phase to not only be similarly long, but also mean it wouldn’t arrive until early 2027. Thank God I was wrong!

About last season’s finale…

Excited though I am — and, hopefully, you are — for this season’s arrival, it has been almost two years since The Rings of Power season 2 ended.

Given the myriad shows we’ve all likely consumed in the months since, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve forgotten what happened last time around. Good job there’s an article of mine that explains The Rings of Power season 2’s ending and how it sets up its sequel season, then, isn’t it!

What do we know so far about The Rings of Power season 3?

I’m glad you asked, dear reader — and, just like this blog’s last post, I’ve got a handy guide all things season 3-related for you to check out at your leisure.

So, if you want the lowdown on the biggest and latest news and rumors about the show’s next outing, find out everything we know so far about The Rings of Power season 3.

Lunch break!

Curses, I’ve missed Elevenses… guess I’ll just have to go straight to luncheon! Now, should I have ‘taters? And should I boil ’em, mash ’em, or stick ’em in a stew…

I return to you, at the turn of the tide!

Alright, I’ve had my fill of food, stayed away from half pints and pints — hey, I’m still on the clock! — and ready to power through for the next five to six hours.

So, where were we…

Forging the One Ring

One thing that’s been clear since last season ended was that the show’s next installment would finally show us how the One Ring was forged.

Speaking exclusively to TechRadar in October 2024, Charlie Vickers, who plays Sauron, said the One Ring’s creation was “the next piece of the puzzle” where The Lord of the Rings franchise’s infamous villain was concerned.

At the time, Vickers had no idea if he’d get to forge it in the fires of Mount Doom in season 3. However, in a recent cover piece for Empire magazine, Vickers and the show’s co-creators J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay confirmed season 3 would include one of the most significant moments in Middle-earth history.

Per Vickers, it took two weeks to shoot the entirety of the Ring’s creation, with McKay also saying it was “the single most ambitious, technically challenging sequence we’ve ever done on the show”. Big words, indeed — let’s hope the pay-off is worth it!

The Last Homely House East of the Sea

Sauron’s desire to make the titular, all-powerful, and manipulative piece of jewelry will stem from those who continue to resist his aim to achieve world domination.

Indeed, last season’s finale all but confirmed that its follow-up would depict the War of the Elves and Sauron, aka one of the longest-running and bloodiest conflicts of Middle-earth’s Second Age. And, while we won’t see how this war plays out from the get-go — more on why shortly — we’re bound to witness the rise of Rivendell.

Season 3 isn’t the first time we’ve seen the famous Elven city, mind you — or, at the very least, that land upon which it’ll be built. Towards the end of season 2 episode 8, the elves who fled Eregion’s destruction regrouped at an area that, thanks to its nearby waterfall, would be very familiar to Lord of the Rings diehards. That being, Imladris, otherwise known as Rivendell.

In an exclusive chat with TechRadar in October 2024, Robert Aramayo and Benjamin Walker, who portray Elrond and Gil-galad, refused to confirm if last season’s finale represented the founding of Rivendell. However, Walker admitted it was a “very astute observation” on my part, so I took that as confirmation without him actually confirming it.

Regardless, if we don’t see Rivendell’s formation and/or it being used as a base of operations for the elven crusade against Sauron this season, I’ll eat my hat (NB: I won’t actually, but you don’t know that…).

Time jump!

So, why we won’t see the War of the Elves and Sauron from the very beginning? Because season 3 takes a giant leap forward in time.

Per this season’s official story synopsis, it’ll jump forward “several years from the events of season 2” and “takes place at the height of The War of the Elves and Sauron, as the Dark Lord seeks to craft the One Ring that will give him the edge he needs to win the war and all of Middle-earth at last.”

What does that mean for what we’ll actually see? Hopefully, season 3 will dispense with any mundane parts of the conflict and depict its most exciting albeit deadly encounters, including the Siege of Rivendell and pivotal Battle of Gwathló.

New season, new faces

Leaping ahead years into the future isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, one positive it can have is allowing for the introduction of characters we wouldn’t otherwise see until much later in the story.

We’ve already received confirmation of five new names who’ve joined next season’s cast, too. Last February, Stranger Things alumnus Jamie Campbell-Bower and Heartstopper‘s Eddie Marsan were added to The Rings of Power 3‘s ensemble. Four months later, three fresh faces in Andrew Richardson, Zubin Varla, and Adam Young also joined The Rings of Power season 3.

At the time of their hirings, Amazon declined to say who they’d be playing. Thanks to Empire’s recent cover feature, though, we now know the identity of Campbell-Bower and Varla’s individuals…

The Lord of Lothlórien

Of the aforementioned reveals, here’s one that’ll come as a relief to fans.

Ever since The Rings of Power began, viewers have wondered why Celeborn hasn’t been part of proceedings. Indeed, apart from him briefly being mentioned in season 1 by his paramour Galadriel, Celeborn has been surprisingly conspicuous by his absence.

Thankfully, he’ll be an active participant in season 3. Per Empire, Campbell-Bower will feature as the Elf lord and warrior, who’s described as something of a “lover boy” by the actor himself. It’s unclear how much of Celeborn we’ll see but, hey, whether it’s via flashback sequences or in the present, it’s high time that he showed up.

Nine for mortal men, doomed to die…

As for the other confirmed character, Zubin Varla is set to portray Khamûl the Easterling. That’s one of the nine Kings of Men who are gifted a Ring of Power by Sauron and who — spoilers — end up becoming his chief lieutenants, aka the Nazgûl, aka the Ringwraiths.

Chatting to Empire, Varla said this nontuplet “go on the same journey as Gollum” — i.e., we’ll see them slowly get warped by the dark magic within the rings they’re handed. In the same article, McKay also revealed that they won’t be known as the Nazgûl just yet, either. Instead, they’ll be referred to as the Nazgnagôl, or “ring-servants”. Think of them as proto-Ringwraiths, basically.

A wizard is never late, nor is he early…

… he arrives precisely when he means to! And, after practically everyone guessed the identity of Daniel Weyman’s The Stranger long before it was officially revealed, Gandalf the Grey finally made himself known in The Rings of Power season 2.

Now that Weyman is established as Middle-earth’s most iconic wizard, we’ll see him come into his own this season, too. Per an interview with Empire, McKay said season 3 will see Gandalf “going from learning how to control his powers, to understanding that wizards actually have a prophetic dimension. That their job is to inspire the hearts of the people around them to find their own courage to unite against the darkness.”

Obviously, said darkness is the work of Sauron, so will we see Gandalf cross paths with Morgoth’s former protege? “I have no idea,” Weyman exclusively told me in late 2024 — and that’ll remain the case until season 3 is with us, I suppose!

What else could we see in season 3?

There’s plenty more to look forward to in season 3 with The Rings of Power‘s Khazad-dûm, Númenor, Pelargir, and Rhûn storylines, too.

Where the latter is concerned, it’ll be interesting to see if Nori and the Harfoot community has really said goodbye to Gandalf for the final time. Rumors abound that the Harfoot plotline has been dropped for this season, so I’m curious to see if the teaser trailer disputes this by showing some footage of them.

As for the Númeronean side-story, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who plays Queen Míriel, says long-time Lord of the Rings fans know that “there’s an order of events to come” for the fictional island kingdom. Don’t be surprised if we see the true beginnings of Númenor’s eventual downfall next season, then.

One ring to rule them all…

We’re just over an hour away from Amazon’s joint Blade Runner 2099 and The Rings of Power season 3 Hall H panel.

While we wait, have you voted in the poll at the top of this page? By my count, less than 150 of you have said whether you’re excited or not for the forthcoming season, so cast your vote now.

Once you’re done, head to the comments section below to tell me what you want to see in season 3. I’ll include the best ones in this live blog before the trailer’s unveiled.

My predictions for The Rings of Power season 3 presentation

As the wait goes on, let me tell you what I expect to see and hear from the forthcoming Hall H panel:

• Eddie Marsan will be confirmed to be playing King Durin IV’s estranged brother — something I suggested in my article covering Marsan’s casting
• A surprise cast announcement — there’s bound to be someone who’s signed on to appear in season 3, but who hasn’t be confirmed by Amazon yet
• Season 3’s full release schedule — how many episodes will we get on launch day? And will new chapters be released weekly, or is it dropping in its entirety?
• Confirmation on how long the War of the Elves and Sauron has been raging for — are we already in the final throes of this conflict? Or only midway through it when season 3 begins?
• Charlie Vickers, Patrick McKay, and/or J.D. Payne showing off the One Ring prop — and how many were made for the show

The panel is underway!

Okay, Amazon’s joint presentation for Blade Runner 2099 and The Rings of Power season 3 has been underway for 25 minutes now, and opted to kick things off with the former.

If, as I expect, Amazon dedicates 45 minutes to each show, the latter’s part of the panel should start around 10:45am PT / 1:45pm ET / 6:45pm BST. So, we’ll either get a trailer in the next 20 minutes, or at the very end of the entire presentation.

Stick with me and I’ll update you once I know more.

11:30am PT it is, then!

As you’ll have worked out by now, 10:45am PT has come and gone without incident, so we’ll have to wait until the panel’s final moments for the trailer’s world premiere.

Again, don’t go anywhere and I’ll bring it to you as soon as it’s live.

It’s heeeeeeere!

At long last, The Rings of Power season 3’s first teaser has been unveiled. So, what are you waiting for?! Watch it below!

Every new detail we learned about The Rings of Power season 3

Well, that’s a teaser that’ll not only set tongues wagging, but also leaves us with myriad questions about what’ll actually happen as part of this season’s overarching narrative and various subplots.

Those queries will have to wait for another day, though, because the trailer wasn’t the only thing that was unveiled during Amazon’s Hall H panel. Here’s a round-up of the biggest news to emerge from it:

• The Rings of Power season 3 will be released in three parts — the first four episodes will arrive on launch day (November 11), chapters five and six will drop a week later (November 18), and the final two will make their debuts seven days later (November 25)
• Eddie Marsan will play Thrain — as I predicted that’s the older brother of King Durin IV
• Andrew Richardson has been cast as Anarion — for the uninitiated, he’s Elendil’s younger son and Isildur’s brother
• Adam Young is portraying an orc called Marnûkh — this individual is seen working alongside Galadriel and Arondir in the teaser, but to what end?
• Simon Pegg will voice the Balrog — you read that right. For the first time in a Lord of the Rings production, we’ll hear a Balrog speak. Will it be Durin’s Bane, or the Balrog from The Fellowship of the Ring? We don’t know yet
• Five years will have passed between the season 2 finale and season 3 episode 1 — not as big of a time jump as many of us expected, then!

That’s a wrap

And, with that, it’s time for me to bid you a fond farewell.

Thank you for keeping me company over the last seven hours — and, don’t forget to vote in the above poll, and/or tell me what you’re most looking forward to about season 3 in the comment section below.

Have a good weekend, everyone, and I’ll see you all soon!