Card in Magic: The Gathering's The Hobbit expansion
Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns for its third season on November 11, 2026, with a Fellowship of the Ring-style prologue designed to welcome new viewers after a two-year absence. The season jumps five years past the fall of Eregion into all-out war across Middle-earth, with Sauron's armies conquering everything in their path.
Amazon unveiled a speaking Balrog battling Sauron in The Rings of Power Season 3 footage at San Diego Comic Con 2026, with Simon Pegg voicing Durin's Bane. The scene shows Sauron deflecting a flame sword strike using the Crown of Morgoth — a moment entirely absent from Tolkien's writings — and has split the fanbase between excitement over original action and outrage over canon violations.
The upcoming Magic: The Gathering expansion faces backlash over art that resembles prior work, prompting community outrage and calls for better quality control.
