‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Season 3 Episodes 1-4 Recap & Ending Explained
Middle-earth looks very different when ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ returns. The third season opens five years after the fall of Eregion, with Sauron’s armies spread across the land and only a few strongholds left standing. Prime Video has released the first four episodes together, leaving a long binge before the season wraps on Nov. 25.
The surviving resistance is scattered. In Lindon and Rivendell, the Three Rings still help shield the Elves from the Dark Lord, while the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm have sealed themselves beneath the mountain. Meanwhile, Pharazôn’s influence in Númenor has had time to harden into a political system.
The story begins in Mordor, where Sauron has built his tower of Barad-dûr and is trying to forge the One Ring. He keeps failing, because the secret of the Elven Rings eludes him. To succeed, he needs either those Rings or one of the smiths who helped make them.
Recap: A Hunt Across Middle-earth
Galadriel is still haunted by the way Sauron deceived her. When the season starts, she is fighting beside Arondir when she receives a vision through her Ring.
Their path leads to Marnûkh, an orc who claims to hold information that could stop the Dark Lord. Arondir distrusts him, but Galadriel is willing to tolerate him if it undermines Sauron’s plans, so the trio sets out for Gundabad, where Sauron holds captives. Along the way they hide from the Nazgnagôl, and Galadriel uses her Ring to summon butterflies that throw the pursuers off her scent.
Sauron, meanwhile, is not the confident villain of old. Charlie Vickers told Winter Is Coming that the Dark Lord begins the season in “a hangover from the end of last season,” and the show reflects that with scenes of Sauron conversing with the ghost of Celebrimbor.
Celeborn and the Other Storylines
The biggest addition is Celeborn, Galadriel’s long-lost husband, played by Jamie Campbell Bower. Their reunion is tender but complicated, and Morfydd Clark told GamesRadar+ that Sauron is “the big elephant in the room” hanging over it. Bear McCreary and AURORA also made a song to represent the love between the pair.
Elsewhere, Gandalf continues his journey in Rhûn, and the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm face a plot that at least one reviewer found predictable. Simon Pegg voices the Balrog, whose conversation with Sauron has been singled out as one of the season’s most dramatic moments. In the Southlands, Theo has spent five years under Númenor’s thumb, forced with other refugees to chop trees in Pelargir.
Ending Explained: Arondir’s Death and Theo’s Fall
Episode four ends at Gundabad, where Galadriel, Celeborn and Arondir come face to face with Sauron after he pursues them on his Fell Beast. Marnûkh helps the prisoners escape, and Arondir stays behind to buy Galadriel time. He discovers that the Nazgnagôl chasing them is Theo.
Sauron then orders Theo to kill Arondir, and Theo obeys by stabbing him. Arondir dies, and Galadriel and Celeborn are forced to flee on an Eagle.
The twist pays off Theo’s slow corruption. He accepts one of the nine Rings for Men, which marks him as a proto-Nazgûl, and Tyroe Muhafidin told Nerdist that when Theo stabs Arondir, “he gets that initial rush of adrenaline, and he loves it.” Showrunners have said Arondir felt a quasi-paternal responsibility toward Theo, which makes the betrayal even crueler.
What the Reviews Are Saying
Critics are split. Collider says the season finally reaches its peak, and Rotten Tomatoes’ first-reviews roundup calls it more focused and cinematic, with Vickers drawing steady praise as Sauron. Others are less kind, with GamesRadar+ noting that the show is still tangled in dense subplots and CBR calling the war frustratingly flat. One critic at But Why Tho? even named the unlikely fellowship between Galadriel, Arondir and a former agent of Sauron as the season’s highlight, which only makes Arondir’s fate sting more.
This season, One Ring to rule them all. Watch the official trailer now, then witness Season 3 beginning November 11. https://t.co/YjH5I0bCEu
— The Rings of Power (@TheRingsofPower) October 21, 2026
The season now has four more episodes to go, arriving in two batches on Nov. 18 and Nov. 25. With Arondir gone and Sauron still hunting for the smith, the stakes feel higher than ever.
Was Arondir's death in 'The Rings of Power' Season 3, Episode 4 the right creative choice?
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