The third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is almost upon us, and co-showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne are teasing how this season is different from the two that came before it.
The most obvious change is the time jump, with season three taking place five years after the season two finale. “We really love the idea of throwing the viewer in in a way that is a completely fresh start… we’re huge admirers of shows that have done this kind of [time jump] before, like Battlestar Galactica and Halt and Catch Fire,” McKay told IGN. “That can be really fun for a viewer.”
McKay also shared with IGN that their main goal for the upcoming episodes is to “blow the door off the hinges.”
He added, “We’re really proud of seasons one and two, but… for us, now, in some ways, we’re starting a whole new story. This is turning the page on the show.”
Implicit in that “turning the page” comment is the hope that this season will bring back viewers, as the Prime Video series saw a significant drop between the first two seasons. McKay, in fact, was explicit about this in an interview with Empire magazine, “It was a calculated decision to start with real momentum, and hopefully bring a few more people onto the train,” he said.
We’ll get to catch that momentum when the first four episodes of the third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on November 11, 2026. The fifth and sixth episodes will be available to stream on November 18, while the final two episodes of the season will be released on November 25.
