This Is Where the Rings Are in Rings of Power Season 3

Full spoilers follow for Episodes 1-4 of Season 3 of The Rings of Power, which are streaming now on Prime Video.

Season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns with the Tolkien timeline jumping five years and the balance in Middle-earth having tilted heavily in favor of the Dark Lord Sauron (Charlie Vickers). The brutal war has Sauron’s Orc armies decimating everything in their path — men are falling in droves, and even the Elves are taking a beating. But Sauron’s ultimate success is contingent on him forging the One Ring that will allow him to control all the Rings of Power.

For most of Season 2, Sauron set up shop in Eregion pretending to be Annatar, the Elven "Lord of Gifts,” who offered his assistance to Elven Master Smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). Together, they forged the separate Rings of Power sets — seven meant for dwarves and nine for men. Secretly, Sauron corrupted the dwarven rings delivered to King Durin III (Peter Mullan) to protect the realm of Khazad-dûm. And by the time Celebrimbor completed the nine rings for men, he realized far too late that Annatar/Sauron had been manipulating him and corrupting his creations. The horrified smith was murdered for his hubris, and Sauron took possession of the nine.

Which begs the question - where are the Rings of Power at the start of this season, and what is Sauron’s plan to use them to gain ultimate power over Middle-earth? Let’s delve in…

The Nine Rings for Mortal Man

In the second season finale, Sauron stabbed Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) to take back the nine rings she meant to secret out of Eregion. In the five years since, Sauron has watched the weakening of men from Mordor as their armies fall or retreat in terror from his relentless swarm of Orcs.

Seeking to exploit their fear, Sauron devises a plan for the nine rings to accelerate his complete control over men. With the help of the Orcs, he collects small packs of starving, wounded or terrified men to become his Ring Servants, the Nazgnagôl — an early version of the eventual Ringwraiths. The men are commanded to battle one another to the death, with the victor winning Sauron’s tainted prize — one of the nine rings, its powers, and unequivocal loyalty to Sauron’s every command.

The Seven Rings for the Dwarves

After the seven rings were delivered to Durin III, the king placed one on his finger and was instantly corrupted by unquenchable greed. It in turn incited his mania to mine deeper for the mithril ore which awakened the fiery Balrog which would become the agent of his demise. Durin IV (Owain Arthur) is crowned king, and one of the first decisions he makes with his wife Disa (Sophia Nomvete) is to hide the rings in Khazad-dûm so they don’t corrupt any more of their people.

But Sauron wants those seven rings, so he finds an exploitable mole from within — Thrain (Eddie Marsan), the eldest son of Durin III. The prodigal eldest son returns to Khazad-dûm, overthrows Durin IV, takes the crown, and hands the rings over to Sauron, meaning 16 of the Rings of Power are now in the Dark Lord’s direct control.

The Three Elven Rings

The only rings not to be forged with Sauron’s corruption in Eregion are the three Elven rings which bestow protection and healing through their wearer. By the end of Season 2, the ring Narya is worn by Círdan (Ben Daniels), Nenya is worn by Galadriel, and Vilya is worn by the High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), who commands the Elven armies from Lindon.

Sauron is desperate to gain possession of at least one of the three Elven rings, believing that they protect Lindon and Rivendell from his armies. He also believes an Elven ring will aid in his creation of the One Ring which only Celebrimbor knew the secrets of how to forge. Sauron sends out the Nazgnagôl, who wear the rings of men, into Middle-earth on a mission to find Galadriel and retrieve her ring.

The One Ring

The forging of the One Ring is Sauron’s obsession, but he foolishly murdered Celebrimbor, and with him his centuries of singular smithing knowledge. (He stupidly had his notes burned as well.) All Sauron knows for certain is that the One Ring must be created in the fires of Mount Doom, so he spends his days chasing down any and all leads that will allow him to craft the ring that will bring Middle-earth to its knees under his rule.

Be sure to keep it locked to IGN for all of our Rings of Power Season 3 coverage in the coming weeks!