The Rings of Power Season 2 ending explained

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s second season has officially wrapped up. In the climactic season 2 finale within the world of The Lord of the Rings, we got a long-awaited reveal, as well as some hints about what to expect from the show’s third season.

While it may have seemed like a lot to digest, there’s plenty of time between now and the show’s third season to sit back and unpack the events of The Rings of Power season 2. And especially time to unpack the show’s season 2 finale.

The Stranger is Gandalf, confirmed

The long-awaited reveal

Throughout the entirety of The Rings of Power so far, one of the biggest lingering questions was who exactly The Stranger is. The mysterious figure literally just appeared in the show’s premiere, and has since spent most of his time with the Harfoots. However, The Rings of Power second season has seen a greater focus on The Stranger finding his staff.

A source of guidance for The Stranger within The Rings of Power’s second season has been Tom Bombadil. Fans of Tolkien have been waiting to see Bombadil make an on-screen appearance since his exclusion from Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring. And The Rings of Power season 2 has had plenty of Bombadil to be seen, as well as lots of talk about The Stranger’s destiny.

The finale ultimately saw The Stranger choose to pursue the dark wizard in order to rescue his friends. Even though this ends with him ultimately parting ways with the Harfoots, it also leads him to finding his staff. And, his name. When the Harfoots are setting off to continue their journey, they call him “Grand Elf.”

When The Stranger returns to Bombadil, who had only posed the choice between friendship and destiny to him as a test, he realizes that he will be called Gandalf. So it is now fully confirmed that The Stranger is Gandalf, putting to bed many alternative theories.

The rise of the Balrog, the fall of the dwarves

More sprouting seeds

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One of the primary focuses of The Rings of Power’s second season has been the forging of the rings. The end of the first season saw Celebrimbor forge the Elven Rings of Power, which weren’t corrupted by Sauron. The second season has now seen the forging of the Dwarven Rings of Power and the Men’s Rings of Power.

A great deal of the second season has set up the eventual downfall of the Dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm, the home of the Balrog in the Fellowship of the Ring. This downfall began in the first season when the dwarves’ push to find mithril awoke the Balrog deep within the mines of Khazad-dûm. This has spanned into many troubles for the dwarves throughout the show’s second season, and the Balrog has finally come home to roost.

In the opening of The Rings of Power’s season 2 finale, we got to see King Durin III’s corruption finally reach its climax. Digging deeper and deeper into the mines, he finally encountered the Balrog. Just before dying, he gave over his ring to Durin IV.

The last we see of the dwarves in the finale is Durin being advised that a struggle for who will succeed his father as king is bound to take place. With this though in mind, the camera as well as Durin’s focus shift over to the Dwarven Rings of Power.

The fall of Eregion and the Lord of the Rings

Sauron wins, again

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The other pivotal plot piece within The Rings of Power’s season 2 finale was the fall of Eregion. Although the siege of the city didn’t start with this episode, it did conclude. First and foremost, Sauron killed Celebrimbor. But, not before the smith could lay out some deeply prophetic words that Sauron would ultimately be trapped by the rings he had made Celebrimbor forge. Just before dying, Celebrimbor dubbed Sauron the Lord of the Rings.

Meanwhile, Elrond, who had been captured by the Orcs, was finally saved by the dwarves. Although this didn’t allow them to fully save Eregion, this fighting force did ultimately help Elrond and company to get out of the city alive.

The finale also saw Sauron finally take full control of the orcs, after an orc feigned betraying Sauron in order to kill Adar. Just before his death, Adar put on Galadriel’s ring and was briefly restored to his elven form.

After Adar’s death, Galadriel was finally able to confront Sauron who wielded Morgoth’s Iron Crown alongside his own blade. The battle saw Sauron shape-shift multiple times to get into Galadriel’s head, and ultimately saw Sauron stab Galadriel with Morgoth’s crown.

Galadriel was healed with the help of Elrond, who finally overcame his reservations about the Elven Rings and dawned Galadriel’s in order to save her. The last we saw of the elves was them rallying for battles ahead, with Galadriel remembering the words of Celebrimbor.

What to expect from Season 3, and when to expect it

More battles to come

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The season 2 finale of The Rings of Power saw many threads left open to explore in season 3. Sauron now has the nine Rings of Power for the men, and is sure to begin spreading them throughout the world next season. Additionally, he now has the army of orcs at his back. Season 2’s finale saw Sauron at his most powerful point in the series thus far.

The season 2 finale did offer some hope for Middle Earth’s future. In the finale, we also saw Elendin escape Numenor with Narsil. Narsil is the blade that will eventually be used by Isildur to destroy Sauron at the end of the second age. Further still, the blade will eventually be reforged as Andúril and wielded by Aragorn.

Viewers can also expect to see many more battles in season 3 of The Rings of Power, with the War of the Elves and Sauron now kicking into full gear. There’s no official word on when a season 3 will happen, but it is confirmed that work has started on it. Given that the first season released in September 2022, it’s likely we won’t be seeing The Rings of Power’s Middle Earth back on screen until September of 2026. In the meantime, Lord of the Rings fans will have The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which releases in theaters this December, to hold them over.