The most expensive television series in history returns to a small screen near you on 11 November after a two-year hiatus. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power had more than 100 million viewers for its first season, making it Prime Video’s biggest flagship show. However, with a mixed critical reception, split audience opinion, and declining viewership figures for Season Two, Season Three has quite the challenge in re-engaging and attracting followers old and new.

A less high-profile studio may have let this one slip quietly off its roster, but the financial perils of developing a series based on a legacy story from the pen of the mighty J.R.R. Tolkien have been well documented: having paid around $250 million dollars for a five-season plan, Amazon would have to pay $20 million kill fee per season for cancellation or abandonment. Enough encouragement to continue!

With all this in mind, anticipation was high for a viewing of Season Three. As someone who admired, but had issues with, Season One, I thought Season Two was a good but mild improvement, held back by its slow narrative pace and dull dramatic pacing. I would say that Season Three appears to be correcting those mistakes by making the writing the focal point, as I found the multiple storylines and characters very enjoyable and easy to engage with this time around.

Sure, the incredible spectacle is still there with stunning, sweeping vistas of Middle-Earth, thanks to feature film-worthy cinemaphotography, VFX and production design, as well as an impressively expansive score from composer Bear McCreary (Rogue Trooper, The Walking Dead, God of War Ragnarök) but what really matters here is the writing, and this is a vast improvement.

To aid this shift, there is an in-universe time jump of five years. This greatly benefits the overall narrative, acting as a fresh start for an audience who may have become fatigued with the show’s previous somewhat meandering, and some might say lacklustre, structure. The bold shaping of the narrative arc in Season Three neatly avoids the trap of weighing down the first episode with storytelling padding. This sophisticated writing device from the writers, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay (who have also been the showrunners from inception), thrusts the audience into the action immediately, without losing sight of the story that has been set out beforehand.

The opening two episodes grip from the word go: wonderfully paced, the action centres on warfare between the Elves and Sauron’s Orcs, with Hobbit involvement perhaps left for later episodes. There is enough substance on the character front for the audience to invest in individual fates, making for an intriguing and absorbing watch.

Reprising their roles are Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, Ismael Cruz Cordova as Arondir, Robert Aramayo as Elrond, Daniel Weyman as the Stranger [or he who chooses his name], and they are the best they’ve ever been, going much deeper into their persona than when we last saw them. They are joined by newcomer Jamie Campbell Bower, Stranger Things alumnus Vecna, who joins this cast as Celeborn, an Elven lord and warrior; and it should be extremely exciting to see where they take his character.

It is said that the Devil has all the best tunes so, of course, the star of the show is the incredible Charlie Vickers as Sauron. Vickers embodies the character with grit, power, and devilish ease and, considering he takes centre stage this season, he so deserves the promotion!

For me, the first two episodes offer viewers an explosive third season opener that is action packed, tightly focussed and an absolute blast from start to finish. To fans and newcomers, I would recommend giving Season Three a definite watch!

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3, episodes 1 to 4, are streaming now on Prime Video: https://link.amazon/A0fZHkPW9