Rings of Power Season 3 First Reactions Are Divided: Critics Rave, Fans Split
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 premieres tomorrow — and the first reactions are in. They could hardly be more split. Critics who were shown the opening two episodes are calling them the best the show has ever made, some of the best television on right now. And then there is the other side: Forbes contributor Erik Kain, who watched the same two episodes and called them “astonishingly derivative and painfully dull.” Season 3’s first reactions are that divide in miniature.
Here is who is raving, who is panning, and why this show was always going to split people.
The Raves: “TV’s Best” and “Bangers”
The first wave of reactions landed on 27 October 2026, after Amazon screened the opening two episodes for critics. Rotem Rusak, editor-in-chief of Nerdist, went furthest of all: “Eps 1 & 2 are AMAZING. I have been a huge fan of The Rings of Power throughout, but the start of this season is not only some of the series’ best work, but TV’s best. I love every character; Marnûkh is my child. Tune in for this, folks!”
Fay Watson of GamesRadar+ and Total Film was nearly as effusive, calling the premiere “epic in every sense of the world” and writing: “Charlie Vickers steals the show as Sauron, almost at the height of his powers, relishing in every villainous smirk. The scale and stakes already have me thinking this could be the best season yet.” Chris Killian of ComicBook: “the first 2 episodes are bangers… Charlie Vickers as Sauron is a highlight, he just oozes evil.” And Rachel Leishman of CBR: “I have seen the first two episodes of Rings of Power Season 3, and it is better than ever!”
Across the raves, three things kept coming up: Vickers’ Sauron, the new orc Marnûkh, and a much faster pace.
The Pan: “Astonishingly Derivative and Painfully Dull”
Then, on 2 November 2026 — a week after the raves — came the counterweight. Erik Kain, a Forbes contributor and one of the show’s most consistent critics since Season 1, posted on X after watching the same first two episodes. He opened with a riff on Gandalf — “You have not seen what I have seen… for I have seen the first two episodes of #RingsOfPower Season 3, and it’s just as bad you expected” — then delivered the verdict: “Overwrought dialogue, relentless melodrama, and a complete disregard for the source material. Astonishingly derivative and painfully dull.”
His complaints are the same ones the show’s harshest fans have made for four years: the writing, the melodrama, and the distance from Tolkien‘s text. The reaction to his post was as divided as the show itself — supporters thanked him for saying what they felt, while defenders accused him of rage-baiting.
These are first reactions, not reviews: full reviews are still under embargo, there is no Rotten Tomatoes score for Season 3 yet, and critics have seen only two episodes — half of the four-episode premiere.
Rave vs Pan: The Divide in One Table
| Critic | Outlet | Verdict | Key Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotem Rusak | Nerdist | Rave | “Eps 1 & 2 are AMAZING… not only some of the series’ best work, but TV’s best.” |
| Fay Watson | GamesRadar+ / Total Film | Rave | “Epic in every sense… Charlie Vickers steals the show as Sauron.” |
| Chris Killian | ComicBook | Rave | “The first 2 episodes are bangers… he just oozes evil.” |
| Rachel Leishman | CBR | Rave | “It is better than ever! Just as breathtaking and captivating.” |
| Erik Kain | Forbes | Pan | “Overwrought dialogue, relentless melodrama… Astonishingly derivative and painfully dull.” |
Why This Show Was Always Going to Split People
The numbers explain how one show can produce a “TV’s best” and a “painfully dull” in the same week. The Rings of Power has always been two different shows: the one critics watch and the one audiences rate. Season 1: 84% from critics (487 reviews), 38% from audiences. Season 2: 85% from critics (173 reviews), 58% from audiences — still short of the 60% Fresh threshold. On Metacritic: 71 for Season 1, 67 for Season 2. The overall series audience score is just 48%.
Part of that gap is a campaign, not a consensus: Season 1 was review-bombed so aggressively that Amazon suspended reviews on its own website. But part of it is real. The Hollywood Reporter reported in April 2023 that only 37% of the show’s initial US audience finished Season 1 — 45% internationally. People started the most expensive show ever made, and most of them quietly stopped watching.
The second season slid further. According to Samba TV, the Season 2 premiere drew about 902,000 US households in its first five days — roughly half the 1.8 million that watched the Season 1 premiere. Luminate calculated a 60% decline in total minutes watched for Season 2 versus Season 1, from nearly 8 billion minutes to around 3 billion. Amazon’s own figures are softer — 25 million global viewers on day one for Season 1, and 40 million “engaged” viewers in 11 days for Season 2 — but it has never defined what counts as an engaged viewer.
Underneath the numbers is the argument that never ends: fidelity. The show invents freely around Tolkien‘s appendices — compressing timelines, reimagining Galadriel, creating new characters like Marnûkh. For purists, that is the original sin; for defenders, it is a television adaptation, not a sacred text. Season 3’s boldest swings sit on that fault line: a speaking Balrog, voiced by Simon Pegg, and an orc with a redemption arc — both announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2026.
The Soft Reboot: Amazon’s Big Gamble
This is the context for the biggest creative decision of Season 3. Speaking to IGN in August 2025, co-showrunner Patrick McKay called the five-year time jump a soft reboot. “Hopefully, this season is a great jumping-on point for fans,” he said. “And it truly starts with people talking about the One Ring.” He added: “I think our goal for Season 3 is really to blow the doors off the hinges. We’re really proud of Seasons One and Two, but… for us, now, in some ways, we’re starting a whole new story. This is turning the page on the show.”
New viewers can jump in without watching the first sixteen episodes; lapsed viewers can come back without a recap. It is also a response to the numbers above: a show that lost half its premiere audience cannot afford to ask for patience, so it opens at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, with the forging of the One Ring as the engine of the whole season.
Fans Are Split Too — But the Trailer Moved the Needle
But the trailer mostly won the fans over. When the full trailer dropped on 21 October 2026, the response on Reddit was strikingly warm. “This season looks like the show I’d imagined from the very beginning,” one user wrote. Negative comments were rare.
The speaking Balrog remains the season’s most argued-about idea: threads debating whether Balrogs can even speak in Tolkien‘s canon, and whether Simon Pegg‘s casting is inspired or a gimmick. Marnûkh, meanwhile, has become the season’s most unexpectedly beloved figure — the production calls him “an orc with an arc,” and director Sanaa Hamri says audiences will be “really torn about Marnûkh.”
Even the release plan has divided people: four episodes tomorrow, two on 18 November, the final two on 25 November — fans are split over whether half a season at once builds momentum or kills the week-to-week conversation. Jamie Campbell Bower as Celeborn — Galadriel’s long-lost husband, finally appearing after two seasons of being mentioned and never seen — is one casting choice almost everyone seems happy about.
What Happens Next — and What Is at Stake
Tomorrow settles the argument: the first four episodes arrive at 12:00 AM PT / 3:00 AM ET in the US — 8:00 AM GMT in the UK — and full reviews will publish alongside them, which means Season 3 finally gets a real Rotten Tomatoes score. If the raves hold, the show gets its best-reviewed season and a genuine second wind; if Kain’s verdict is the closer one, the divide just gets deeper.
Season 4 is in development, with filming eyed for early 2027, but Amazon has not formally announced a renewal — the decision will ride on how Season 3 performs. McKay has said the show’s final shot has not changed since Season 1, and the five-season plan still ends with the Last Alliance. Whether the show gets to film that ending depends on whether the audience that drifted away after Season 1 comes back for Season 3.
The raves are real, from named critics who saw the episodes. The pan is real, from a named critic who saw the same episodes. The gap between them is the story of this show — and tomorrow, everyone gets to watch and pick a side.
For the full premiere details — the exact launch time, the episode schedule, the cast and the story setup — read our Rings of Power Season 3 premiere guide. And if you need a refresher before tomorrow, our 5 essential episodes to rewatch before Season 3 covers the story so far in one sitting.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does The Rings of Power Season 3 premiere?
The Rings of Power Season 3 premieres on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, on Prime Video — four episodes at once at 12:00 AM PT / 3:00 AM ET in the US (8:00 AM GMT in the UK). Episodes 5 and 6 follow on 18 November, and the final two, including the finale, arrive on 25 November 2026.
What are the first reactions to The Rings of Power Season 3?
Mostly raves, with one loud pan: Rotem Rusak (Nerdist) called Episodes 1 and 2 “AMAZING” and “TV’s best”; Fay Watson (GamesRadar+) called the premiere “epic in every sense”; Chris Killian (ComicBook) called them “bangers.” But Forbes contributor Erik Kain called the same episodes “astonishingly derivative and painfully dull.”
Is there a Rotten Tomatoes score for The Rings of Power Season 3 yet?
No. Full reviews are still under embargo, so Season 3 has no Rotten Tomatoes score yet — it should appear once the season premieres on 11 November 2026.
Who is Marnûkh in The Rings of Power Season 3?
Marnûkh, played by Adam Young, is a new character — an orc who claims to have defected from Sauron‘s army and ends up a prisoner of Galadriel and Arondir. The production calls him “an orc with an arc,” and Nerdist’s Rotem Rusak wrote “Marnûkh is my child.”
Do I need to watch Seasons 1 and 2 before Season 3?
Not according to the showrunners: Patrick McKay calls Season 3 a soft reboot and “a great jumping-on point” with a five-year time jump. The story continues — Sauron forging the One Ring — so a quick refresher helps; our rewatch guide picks the five episodes that matter most.
All quotes, scores and viewing figures were verified against published sources on 10 November 2026 (SlashFilm, ScreenRant, CBR, FictionHorizon, GamesRadar+, Cosmic Book News, IGN, Polygon, Wikipedia, Samba TV, Luminate, The Hollywood Reporter). Season 3 full reviews remain under embargo; no Rotten Tomatoes score exists yet.
