‘Rings of Power’ Season 3 Will Introduce a Character That Subverts Tolkien’s Mythos

*The Rings of Power* season three will introduce Marnûkh, an Orc who claims to have defected from Sauron and offers to help the Elves. The character challenges the familiar portrayal of Orcs as uniformly evil followers, bringing a long-running question about their capacity for moral choice into the series.

Co-showrunner Patrick McKay says the season will also include a five-year time jump and a “soft reboot”. Marnûkh warns that Sauron is making the One Ring to enslave Orcs, preventing rebellions like the one led by Adar, who died last season. Tolkien himself struggled with Orcs’ ability to reason and the implications for their morality; season three is due to debut on Prime Video on 11 November.