The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweropened on Amazon Prime Video in 2022 to a mixed reception, but a strong commercial response ensured its renewal and will see it push into season 3 with even more eye-opening takes on theLotRbooks and movies. The show is no canon in its own right, frequently diverging from the lore of its source material, created by J.R.R. Tolkien. But, to its credit,Rings of Poweradapted Sauron’s fair formin Eregion with striking faithfulness. Similarly, it adapts some fan-favorite material that clarifies scenes the movies didn’t explain enough.
For instance,Sauron’s true nature inThe Lord of the Ringsmovies isn’t clear. Peter Jackson’s decision to show him as a giant eye was a stroke of terrifying genius, but it led many to believe that he had no body.The Rings of Powerclarifies how Tolkien’s “Eye of Sauron” is actually a metaphor. The movies, show, and books each have their own unique value and should be appreciated separately. However,The Rings of Powerseason 3 could shed light on the Dunlendings to a faithful extent that the Warner Bros. movies never quite managed.
The Rings Of Power Season 3 May Show Who Really Started The War Of The Rohirrim
The Rings Of Power Season 3 Could Include The Dunlendings' Ancestors
The Rings of Powerseason 3could clarify some Tolkien lore that the Warner Bros. movies glazed over - to say the least.Season 3 “takes place at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron,“opening after a time jump of “several years” (The Hollywood Reporter). British fantasy pioneer Tolkien pennedLotRandThe Hobbit, which the show has full rights to adapt. But the show is really diving into other parts of the legendarium, likeThe SilmarillionandUnfinished Tales, as this is where the bulk of stories on the Second Age lie.Unfinished Talesoutlines Sauron’s war.
The Rings of Powerhas been securing one-off rights to various legendarium texts as needed.
If following this narrative, the Númenóreans will attack Sauron in his war during season 3. This is no surprise, as they have allied with the Elves since season 1. But inUnfinished Tales, Sauron had a surprising ally with him in his fight against the Númenóreans.Unfinished Talesshares how the Númenóreans colonized Middle-earth so ruthlessly thatthe native Northmen sided with Sauron when he fought the Númenóreansduring his Second Age rise to power. These natives are the Dunlendings' ancestors. This was the real start of the War of the Rohirrim.
The Dunlendings Got A Raw Deal In Warner Bros.' The Lord Of The Rings Movies
Warner Bros. Never Fully Explained Why The Dunlendings Hated The Rohirrim
The Dunlendings were vilified in the Warner Bros.Lord of the Ringsmovies, which were sometimes great moviemaking but didn’t fully adapt their story. Saruman is one ofthe most evil characters inThe Lord of the Rings,andthe Dunlendings were guilty by associationwith him inThe Two Towers, as he rallied them to attack the Rohirrim. They functioned well in this movie as one of the moving parts on the chessboard of the War of the Ring, which didn’t need to explain their full history. Nonetheless, they are not simple villains in the legendarium.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimcame out in cinemas on July 06, 2025.
Warner Bros. dived deeper into the Dunlendings and their story in its 2024 release,TheLord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimmovie. At this point,Warner Bros. had a chance to complicate the oversimplified story of the DunlendingsofThe Two Towers. Although the anime movie showed how Helm killed Freca, inciting the Dunlendings to attack the Rohirrim, it still simplified the Dunlendings into villains to the Rohirrim’s heroes. Wulf was the face of the Dunlendings, and he was a one-dimensional villain. The complex Dunlendings got a raw deal in the Warner Bros. movies.
The Rings Of Power Season 3 Has The Chance To Make Lord Of The Rings History
Rings Of Power Could Tell The Dunlendings' Side Of The Story
The fact is that the Dunlendings, despite being a “warlike” people, were always on the receiving end of brute force, making their vilification a skewed adaptation of their people. Warner Bros.‘Lord of the Ringsmovies, though brilliant, lead many to believe thatLotR’smorality is more black-and-white than it really is. In fact,the grayscale morality of the legendarium is what makes it so brilliant. Warner Bros. assassinated the characters of the Dunlendings, also known as the Wildmen.The Rings of Powercould tell their side of the story, makingLord of the Ringshistory.
The Gondorians and their ancestors, the Númenóreans, always brutally colonized the Dunlendings and their ancestors.
The Rings of Powerseason 3 can redeem the Dunlendings in its War of the Elves and Sauron by showing the root of the conflict between the Dunlendings and the Rohirrim, which goes far deeper than a punch-up. In the build-up to the war that season 3 will show,the Númenóreans destroyed Enedwaith and Minhiriath, deforesting them for timber and pushing their natives into areas that would become Dunland. They didn’t recognize the long-sundered language and culture of a tribe that had once been the same as their own. They later founded Gondor and awarded Dunlending land to the Rohirrim.
The Rings Of Power Season 3 May Make The Same Mistake Warner Bros. Did With The War Of The Rohirrim
The Rings Of Power Season 3 May Oversimplify The Wildmen Like Warner Bros.
The Gondorians and their ancestors, the Númenóreans, always brutally colonized the Dunlendings and their ancestors, butThe Rings of Powermay ignore this victimization as much as Warner Bros. did. The Dunlendings fought back against the Rohirrim as they populated their land, seeing them as usurpers and trying to regain physical footing in their territory, but it was Gondor pulling the strings.The Rings of Powerseason 3 could show the destruction caused by Númenóreansin the war and how this impacted the natives, vindicating their Third Age behavior, but it may wish to keep its hero-villain binary more simple.
After Celebrimbor, The Rings Of Power Must Do 1 Thing Different With Sauron’s Next Victim
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power should take care not to repeat some of the mistakes it made with Sauron and Celebrimbor’s arc.
Labeling “Mordor” on-screen was somewhat patronizing in season 1, but the native Northmen could be seen fleeing war-related demolition for a land labeled “Dunland” in season 3, denoting their future significance in the franchise. Demonizing Númenóreans here would also foreshadow their next arc aptly. However, the Dunlendings are not one of the pivotaltypes of Men inLord of the Rings, so depicting them faithfully isn’t going to make or break an adaptation. As such,The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powermay succumb to the same oversimplification that Warner Bros. did to avoid viewers sympathizing with Sauron.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Cast
Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power explores the forging of the iconic rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, and the epic events leading up to the stories in J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novels. The series chronicles the creation of legendary characters and the historic alliances and rivalries that shape the fate of Middle-earth.
