The audience verdict has arrived for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3.
Previously, the audience reception has been polarizing, as evidenced by the 38% Popcornmeter score for season 1 and 58% for season 2. Given the more than 185 million viewers worldwide who have watched the series, having Prime Video's most-watched premiere of all time, and season 2 being one of the platform's best-performing returning seasons, the viewership proves that the show has plenty of fans. At the same time, the series has many critics, some of whom feel that it does not honor the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Rings of Power season 3 has debuted to an 81% audience score. As of this writing, the score is based on fewer than 50 ratings, so it will likely fluctuate, but for now, it is the show's first season to have a "Fresh" Popcornmeter score and is a substantial improvement from seasons 1 and 2.
With a "Certified Fresh" 78% based on 32 reviews, the critics' score is almost the same, but it is a record-low for the series, as season 1 had an 84% Tomatometer score, followed by season 2 receiving 85%. This average may also fluctuate as more reviews are added to the aggregation site.
Many of the season 3 audience reviews praise the four-episode premiere, including several saying that this is already the show's best season yet and a significant improvement over the previous ones. The performances from The Rings of Power cast, the darker story, pacing, cinematography, visual effects, and costume design are all celebrated. Charlie Vickers' sinister portrayal of Sauron is also highlighted, with one review explaining that the series is better with his villainy at the forefront and lbeing ong past season 1's mystery about which character is Sauron in disguise.
As for the more critical Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews of season 3, issue is taken with the show's changes from Tolkien's lore, the actors' performances, the fight sequences and other scenes lasting too long, and being a weaker story in the fantasy franchise.
The sentiment that these episodes are an improvement can also be found in ScreenRant's The Rings of Power season 3 review, with Graeme Guttman giving it a score of eight out of 10 stars and writing that "with Sauron so focused on one singular goal, the series itself feels lasered in on its own goal of being an epic, sweeping fantasy series that bucks the inevitability of its conclusion with thrilling twists and turns."
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Despite a slightly lower critics' score, the much-improved audience reception and argument that this is the best season yet is a good sign for the series. The show has a five-season plan, but seasons 4 and 5 have not been renewed yet. As long as the viewership continues to be strong, given the mostly positive responses to season 3 so far, Prime Video greenlighting season 4 seems likely to happen.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 story takes place during the War of the Elves against Sauron, five years after the events of season 2. He has conquered much of Middle-earth and now seeks the secret that will allow him to forge the One Ring and give himself ultimate power. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo), Gandalf (Daniel Weyman), Arondir (Ismael Cruz-Cordova), Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), Durin IV (Owain Arthur) are among those standing in Sauron's way, while civil war brews in Númenor.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3, episodes 1-4 are streaming on Prime Video. New episodes are released on Wednesays at 3am ET/12am PT.
