‘Rings of Power’ Season 3 Script Pages Show Sauron’s Failed Attempt to Forge the One Ring

Laura Bais
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‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘ has gradually built towards a pivotal moment: the creation of the One Ring. Charlie Vickers’s Sauron has navigated through various disguises and manipulations, initially appearing as the enigmatic Halbrand before revealing himself as the elven smith Annatar, deceiving Celebrimbor into crafting the earlier Rings of Power.

This careful buildup is finally coming to fruition. Co-showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have confirmed that Season 3 will depict Sauron attempting to forge the legendary One Ring, a sequence McKay has described as “the single most ambitious, technically challenging sequence we’ve ever done on the show.”

Recently, Entertainment Weekly provided an intriguing preview of this moment, sharing script pages from the season’s opening that reveal Sauron does not succeed on his first attempt. According to the script, Sauron tries to create the One Ring at his forge in Barad-dûr, but his plans literally go up in flames when an orc’s hand bursts into “unearthly flames” during the process, ultimately consuming the orc entirely and leaving behind only a “pile of bones.”

This dramatic failure sets the stage for a season filled with genuine internal conflict for Sauron, despite his apparent dominance across Middle-earth. Co-showrunner Patrick McKay explained the significance of this opening, stating that beginnings are crucial to the show, and that Season 3 marks the moment Sauron actually attempts to create the One Ring in the volcano.

McKay further elaborated that even with the nine rings for Men already spreading across Middle-earth and his armies on the rise, crafting something more powerful than anything made before proves to be a true personal struggle for Sauron. The tension between Sauron’s outward military strength and his internal battle to perfect his ultimate weapon adds real dramatic stakes to the season’s opening beyond mere spectacle.

Screenshot 2026 05 27 at 16 43 54 The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power Rotten Tomatoes

Co-showrunner J.D. Payne has described this season as a significant tonal shift for the series. According to earlier comments from Payne, Season 3 finally presents “a full-on villain” in a way the show hadn’t previously explored, with McKay adding that Sauron’s true emergence “changes the tone of the show,” making it “darker, more dangerous” than before, with promises that no character is safe.

For Vickers, fully embodying Sauron after two seasons of disguise was an emotional milestone. He described crying on his first day on set in the character’s complete costume, calling it an incredible privilege to portray this crucial chapter of the story.

The forging sequence itself was a massive undertaking behind the scenes. Vickers mentioned that the production spent two full weeks filming the Ring’s creation due to the length of the sequence, and McKay praised the actor’s performance in these scenes as “absolutely staggering,” stating that the crew couldn’t have fully anticipated what Vickers ultimately delivered.

Vickers also spoke about the physical prop, noting two different versions of the ring used on set: one with its iconic inscription and another left plain. When asked if the Ring seemed to affect him during filming, Vickers remarked that it “whispered a lot of stuff” to him during those two weeks of shooting.

With McKay describing the first two seasons as focused on “lighting all these fuses and setting all these stories in motion,” Season 3 is poised to be the moment those buildups finally explode. Whether Sauron’s initial failure at the forge leads to a longer, more tortured path toward eventually completing the One Ring, or if he succeeds shortly after this opening setback, remains to be seen once the season airs.

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