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Here are a few things that haven’t happened yet—but we can safely assume will happen—when it comes to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Sauron will make the One Ring, nine men will be corrupted and turn into wraiths, elves including Galadriel will live on, and season three is coming.
While Amazon has yet to officially greenlight a third season of the show, the Hollywood Reporter says “the company is on the verge of renewing” it with news likely to come by the end of the month. Which is good considering season two, which just ended this week, left audiences with several cliffhangers that point toward the rest of the series—a series that, from day one, has been planned as five seasons. After a first season that was successful ratings-wise, but not as culturally impactful as may have been expected, that plan may have seemed overly optimistic. But, after a much better-regarded second season, it feels more likely.
We won’t get into everything that happened at the end of season two in this article but you can read about it in our recap. Basically though, many more links from Rings of Power to The Hobbit have been made, which has always been the goal: tell a story of Sauron, the Rings, and what that did to all the various peoples of Middle-earth leading into the books and movies we know and love already.
Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay have been prepping season three for a while now as they await the official news. So, when that happens, things won’t have to start from scratch. But, considering it took about two years between seasons one and two, and that renewal came much earlier, we can likely expect to wait at least that long again.
As reported by THR, earlier this week in the UK, Prime Video held a big event for investors that had several Rings of Powers cast members in attendance. That’s significant because the streamer probably wouldn’t bring out actors to woo investors for a show it planned to axe. Plus, at the event, Prime executives said season two has generated 55 million views and, in the coming weeks and months, expects that number to triple and reach the 150 million views of season one. (Don’t ask what constitutes a view, though. Amazon doesn’t say.) Week to week this season, the show has also continually topped the Nielsen chart, making it one of the most popular shows on streaming.
All of which is to say, season three of The Lord of the Rings: The RIngs of Power isn’t official yet but, like Sauron and the One Ring, it’s inevitable.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
