The Rings Of Power Season 3's Time Skip Means It Can Finally Do Right By Elrond

Amazon Prime Video's flagship fantasy show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been renewed for season 3 with a time jump that will allow Robert Aramayo's Elrond to shine. According to The Hollywood Reporter, season 3's renewal comes with confirmation that the show will skip "several years" after The Rings of Power season 2 finale. This will take it to "the height" of the War of the Elves and Sauron. Elrond is a key player in this war, so it could finally be Aramayo's time in the limelight of The Rings of Power.

Galadriel was the main character of The Rings of Power season 1, played with nuance by Morfydd Clark. Although viewers were used to her having an equal role to him in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies, Elrond took a backseat to Galadriel in season 1. The show focused on Celebrimbor in season 2, as Sauron moved to Eregion to deceive him as he did with Galadriel. Sauron will be attacking Elrond in season 3 with brute force rather than guile if lore is anything to go by, making him the center of its storytelling in the upcoming season.

The Rings Of Power Season 3 Looks Like It Will Skip Straight To Elrond Being In Charge Of Rivendell

Elrond Will Rise To Power Over The Rings Of Power Season 3

The Rings of Power is exploring Sauron's identity and rise to power, but season 3 will likely balance this with Elrond's ascendance in Rivendell. Season 2 left Elrond, Galadriel, and Gil-galad rallying their remaining troops in a suspiciously green and beautiful hidden sanctuary that book readers will understand must be the future Rivendell. With the Elves ensconced here, Sauron overran Eriador over the next few years, as per the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, with the War of the Elves and Sauron's next major scuffle the Battle of the Gwathló.

Charlie Vickers as Sauron From The Lord of The Rings The Rings of Power

Sauron's War In The Rings Of Power Season 3 Can Explain A Key Part Of 2024's The Lord Of The Rings Movie

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power could explain something missed by Warner Bros.' LotR movies, including The War of the Rohirrim.

Posts

This, then, likely constitutes "the height" of the War of the Elves and Sauron that showrunners refer to in their description of season 3's opening. But in between Elrond taking refuge in the sanctuary and Sauron finally being challenged by someone (the Númenóreans), Elrond raised the sanctuary up to be one of Lord of the Rings' toughest strongholds. By the time of the Battle of the Gwathló, Elrond had been besieged by Sauron in Imladris (Rivendell's Elvish name) for four years, successfully fending him off. Elrond may already lead Rivendell by the start of season 3.

The Rings Of Power's Time Skip Means Elrond Will Be More Like The Character Shown In The Lord Of The Rings

Elrond Is Becoming Increasingly Like The Elrond Known From The Movies

Hugo Weaving's Elrond speaking with the fellowship in Lord of the Rings

Hugo Weaving was unforgettable as the remote and distant Elrond, making Aramayo's chirpy young adult seem jarring to some, but his development in season 3 should start to reconcile the two characterizations. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies, the show, and the J.R.R. Tolkien legendarium should all be appreciated on their own merit. However, Weaving's Elrond captured the tragic character's melancholy in a way that seemed right. Aramayo was, in fact, chosen by the showrunners in order to create a dramatic contrast between his chirpy young self and the jaded, he will eventually become older Elrond.

Elrond already jumped from season 1's diplomat to season 2's warrior, and between seasons 2 and 3, he may become defacto leader of the resistance to Sauron.

Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne shared, of Elrond, to Rings and Realms that "We're going to take him on a journey, we're going to break him because that's the story of Elrond." Although much of Elrond's tragedy lies behind him, having been kidnapped at birth, he's still facing major difficulties ahead. Elrond already jumped from season 1's diplomat to season 2's warrior. Moving forward, he may become the defacto leader of the resistance to Sauron. By the start of season 3, Elrond may already be far more recognizable. If not, he will become so quickly.

Robert Aramayo's Elrond Must Now Live Up To Hugo Weaving's LOTR Performance

Robert Aramayo Has To Deliver His Own Version Of Elrond

Elrond (Robert Aramayo) goes to Durin to ask for his help in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 7

Inevitably, the cast of The Rings of Power faced comparisons to the cast of the movies since day one and will continue to do so. However, things will be trickier with Aramayo as he is approaching Weaving's Elrond. While Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies adapted the Third Age, The Rings of Power adapts Lord of the Rings' Second Age. In a way, Elrond and Galadriel had to be very different from the characters shown by Cate Blanchett and Weaving, as they were so much younger. But Elrond's brokenness will start to kick in more and more from season 3 onward.

Royal destiny never stops stripping Elrond of his family and is synonymous with loneliness, but he faces it unflinchingly, which is what makes him a true hero.

As the showrunners indicated, facing Sauron will leave Elrond feeling far older, and whatever he hasn't done during the time jump, he will do in season 3. Born into war, Elrond's royalty put a target on his head since birth. Royal destiny never stops stripping Elrond of his family and is synonymous with loneliness, but he faces it unflinchingly, which is what makes him a true hero. This is what ensures that Elrond's rise to power in Rivendell is always bittersweet, which Aramayo will have to carry. The show could veer wildly off-path, but a level of faithfulness seems likely.

Tolkienian Age	Event Marking The Start	Years	Total Length In Solar Years
Before time	Indeterminate	Indeterminate	Indeterminate
Days before Days	Ainur entered Eä	1 - 3,500 Valian Years	33,537
Pre-First Age Years of the Trees (Y.T.)	Yavanna created the Two Trees	Y.T. 1 - 1050	10,061
First Age (F.A.)	Elves awoke in Cuiviénen	Y.T. 1050 - Y.T. 1500, F.A. 1 - 590	4,902
Second Age (S.A.)	War of Wrath ended	S.A. 1 - 3441	3,441
Third Age (T.A.)	Last Alliance defeated Sauron	T.A. 1 - 3021	3,021
Fourth Age (Fo.A)	Elven-rings left Middle-earth	Fo.A 1 - unknown	Unknown

Given the show's time jump to the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, it seems that Rings of Power is committed to adapting the war how Tolkien wrote it. Although the show opted to depict Elendil and Pharazôn's Númenor arc at the same time as Sauron's forging of Lord of the Rings' Rings of Power (a major timeline scramble), it has grown more faithful with each episode used for exposition. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power showed Sauron in Eregion with surprising faithfulness, and if done right, Elrond in Rivendell could be the same.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Rings and Realms