Spoilers for Season 3, Episode 1 of Rings of Power are ahead! Read with caution, and watch the show with an Amazon Prime subscription.
As I began my binge of the first four episodes of Rings of Power’s third season, I did not expect to see my favorite dead character return. However, in the first episode of the prequel series to drop on the 2026 TV schedule, a beloved elf made his comeback in a hunting way, and the reason behind why this happened makes the cameo even better.
I’m, of course, talking about the return of Charles Edwards' Celebrimbor. In Season 2, the elven smith was deceived by Sauron, helped the dark lord craft some of the rings, and ultimately died at the hands of the evil being. Then, in Season 3, he appears as a ghost of sorts to talk to Sauron and remind him that he’s not capable of making rings by himself; he’s missing some key information needed to craft them. Speaking to that and how they landed on this big return, co-creator Patrick McKay told me:
So we love the idea that [in] Season 3, Sauron wants to make the One Ring. He wants to be the Dark Lord, but deep down he's insecure. He's worried he can't do it. And for someone as narcissistic and evil as Sauron, that would make him go crazy. He's so angry and defensive, and wants to prove himself so badly. And then we talked about in the writers' room ‘How would we manifest that? What's a way to give you access to what he's feeling?’
That’s how bringing Charles Edwards back as Celebrimbor came about. Before they even finished Season 2, they realized they wanted him to return as a figment of Sauron’s imagination, and the actor was very excited about it, as McKay explained:
And the idea of ‘Well, what if Charles Edwards came back?’ Came along very quickly. I think we spoke to him about it when we were filming the end of Season 2. He loved the idea, and he's really not a ghost. He's the voice in Sauron's head. You know that Sauron feels like he beat him in a way. Celebrimbor, you know, achieved a victory over me that [he] can't surpass.
Now, getting into how this whole sequence was filmed, after McKay told me the reason behind the return, he turned to director Charlotte Brändström and asked why they shot Celebrimbor so simply and “soft in focus.” In response, the director revealed a fascinating line of thinking behind not only that choice, but the decision to make it so Sauron never actually sees Celebrimbor:
I just wanted to be very, very as normal as possible. I didn't want any weird light effects. I didn't want to have only his voice, also because we love him so much, like you. So we wanted to see him and have him be there and have him perform. But I don't want Sauron to see him. So he was always behind Sauron, talking to Sauron. So Sauron never turns around, and if Sauron turns around, then he disappears because obviously he's not there. But it was really, in a way, it's just very, very simple.
Brändström and McKay also explained that when the Orc walks in during the scene and the shot pulls back to Sauron, it was important for Celebrimbor to be gone. That helped signify he wasn’t really there, “he’s just a ghost,” as the director put it. She also explained that this felt like a “real” and “sincere” way to bring Edwards’ elf back. While he could have been translucent like a ghost, or they could have used other techniques to film him, just having him stand behind Sauron and recall what happened between them felt like the best way to do it. And I think they’re right; it really was a haunting sequence.
It also reminded me how much I adore Celebrimbor. While he was deceived by Sauron, he was a genius and a good elf. I miss him dearly, and I was bummed he was gone for good after Season 2. So, to see him come back and explain how Sauron really doesn’t have everything he needs to take over Middle-earth was very satisfying.
Now, to see how Sauron’s mission to forge the One Ring continues, you can stream Episodes 5 and 6 of Rings of Power on Wednesday, November 18, and then you can catch Episodes 7 and 8 – the final two installments of Season 3 – on November 25.
