Tolkien’s world is a bittersweet one. Although often full of hope, joy, and love, The Lord of the Rings does not tell us a fairy tale where everything concludes with a “happily ever after.” Darkness is very real, incredibly seductive, and truly dangerous. And at many points along the way, darkness wins out against light. Following in the footsteps of other Middle-earth tragedies that have broken our hearts, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season three reveals to us what we’ve really been watching when it comes to Tyroe Muhafidin’s character Theo, the origin story of a Nazgûl. Although at times it seemed like Theo could sway toward good or evil, in The Rings of Power season three, we see him seal his fate as he accepts one of Sauron’s nine Rings for Men. And thus Theo begins his journey toward becoming one of Sauron’s most feared warriors: the Ringwraiths. We at Nerdist spoke exclusively with Tyroe Muhafidin and The Rings of Power’s showrunners, JD Payne and Patrick McKay, about Theo’s dark journey—and we’re excited to share two exclusive images to go along with our conversation.
“With Theo, what you realize this season is that what you’ve been watching over three seasons of Rings of Power is the origin of a Nazgûl.” Payne and McKay share with us when we discuss Theo’s journey in the series. It’s a story we can now return to retroactively, with this new understanding in mind, and get a whole lot more out of. Walking this heavy road with Theo also lets The Rings of Power do what it does best: add new depth and nuance to a Middle-earth concept we thought we knew. We’ve loved seeing it happen with the orcs of The Rings of Power. And now, we’re excited to peer more closely into the psyche of a Nazgûl: a Tolkienian being of evil that in previous works has been little more than the flutter of a menacing dark cloak, a sense of acute danger, and the thudding footfall of a heavily breathing horse.
The showrunners continue, “We thought about what somebody would have to suffer, or what they would have to lose, that might make them susceptible to this choice and make that seem like the right path to them. So Theo is a villain who hopefully has some real dimension to him now that you’ve been on a journey with him to that choice. It’s on brand for what we try to do, which is that it’s not just black and white; it’s about what makes someone decide to choose that path.”
And even now that Theo has chosen to accept a Ring of Power from Sauron and begin his journey into evil, he hasn’t been immediately erased as a character. There’s still a rich struggle we see percolating inside of him. “I think what we’re always trying to do is find complexity of villainy and complexity of heroism.” Payne and McKay note, “For example, we had Adar; he’s not an elf, he’s not an orc, he’s somewhere in between the two. The people who are wearing the Rings, the men wearing the Rings of Power for men this season, they’re not Nazgûl yet. We’re actually calling them ‘Nazgnagôl,’ which, according to our language experts, means not Ringwraith but Ring-servant. Tolkien was obsessed with the way that language evolved over time. And so we thought that with the Nazgnagôl, you could see how they evolve into Nazgûl. So the Ring-servants evolve into Ringwraiths. And we get to see one of these Nazgnagôl in Theo, before he becomes one of the things we know from the Third Age. The Nazgnagôl are still in the process of transformation.”
But ultimately, Theo’s turn to evil is necessary for the series’ authenticity. It wouldn’t be a realistic story if none of our named characters succumbed to the strong temptations placed before them. And these outcomes should cause us pain and sadness, make us feel a loss, if the show has done its job right. Payne and McKay underscore the idea, sharing, “The reality is in Middle-earth, when evil is powerful, some people fall to it, some people pick the wrong side, and it’s not a happy ending, but it’s an ending that we felt was warranted. The story is a tragedy in this world. Sauron is becoming more and more powerful, and that means some people will join him, and that shouldn’t feel great.”
And it certainly does not feel great. Especially not when Theo’s allegiance to Sauron and status as a future Nazgûl brings us an immediate and immense tragedy to The Rings of Power season three: the death of Arondir. On Sauron’s orders, Theo slays his almost father-figure and his last possible connection to goodness, stabbing him through with a sword and killing the elf who has come to mean so much to us over the last three seasons. Arondir’s death scene at Theo’s hand is both epic and beautiful. And, in our exclusive behind-the-scenes image from The Rings of Power season three, you can get a sense of how real all the action was, even in our world. But even still, we would trade all incredible intensity for even one more episode with Arondir. RIP.
Tyroe Muhafidin tells us that killing Arondir in The Rings of Power season three evokes an incredibly mixed set of feelings in Theo, and he doesn’t hesitate to get dark in discussing Theo’s emotions. He reveals, “I think in general, the feeling of taking a life for Theo is, I want to say it’s an addictive thing for him. I think that was his first moment of feeling a real sense of power over someone. There’s that moment where he cuts an orc’s tongue out, and he enjoys it. He loves that sensation of control. And I think the first taste of killing sets off a domino effect in him. I think when he stabs Arondir, he gets that initial rush of adrenaline, and he loves it. But I think that, while it’s so great in the first moment, it’s almost an instant regret and guilt that he feels. And I think that’s the biggest toss-up with him this season is figuring out that guilt and whether he’ll accept it and live with it, or use it to try to fight this direction.”
But we know fighting against a Ring of Power is no easy task… Especially not when you accepted it in the first place because you agree with Sauron’s reasoning for why you should have one. Muhafidin reveals that Theo strongly resonates with Sauron’s view of good and evil in The Rings of Power season three. And that’s that there’s no such thing as good and evil at all—there’s only power. Those who are strong enough to hold it can dominate, while those who lack it are weak and become dominated. And after being dominated his whole life, Theo is done with that aspect of existence.
Muhafidin confirms Theo’s philosophy in The Rings of Power season three: “I think Theo does believe that there’s no good and evil, only power. And that’s because I think he sees the power of the Númenóreans, and he knows that to the world the Númenóreans are supposed to be a good force, and they’re known for being strong. But all he knows now of the Númenóreans is betrayal, pain, and suffering. So he knows that they aren’t good either. But they’re powerful. And he wants to retaliate, and the only way he can see to beat them is to be more powerful. And I think Sauron really convinces him that no one is good. The elves, they are the good guys, but when Theo was growing up, his whole childhood, he was oppressed by the elves and was looked down upon, and he felt their power over him, and he had nothing. And so I think his lines of good and evil have become blurred because the good guys have been evil towards him.” And it is hard to argue against that, especially with Sauron in your ear.
And speaking of what Sauron has been whispering to Theo in The Rings of Power season three, we thought we heard him say some very interesting words. Sauron tells Theo that he is born to be “a conqueror, a sorcerer… A King.” And now that Theo is a Nazgnagôl on the way to becoming a Nazgûl in The Rings of Power, that sounds highly suggestive to us. While watching The Rings of Power, we always have to keep our eyes out for the origin stories of lore characters. And the leader of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar, who just happens to be a conqueror, a sorcerer, and a King, is a character whose identity Tolkien never revealed.
Could season three be setting Theo up to be the Witch-king of Angmar? Tyroe Muhafidin offers only this on whether his character will become the chief of all Nazgûl in The Rings of Power: “It’s been discussed. I talk about it with the showrunners a lot, but they’ve got their plans that I don’t know, and I try to poke and figure it out, but they know what’s up.” And we will too… But only when the time is right.
Ultimately, Muhafidin just wants people to feel something authentic when they see Theo’s journey in The Rings of Power season three. He offers, “I hope people enjoy the performance. I poured every last drop I had into this, and I lived this role for eight months, and I really gave it everything. I think what I want people to take away is that not every story is going to be a happy ending, and there really are some people who are living in tragedy, and that is just their life, and it’s really unfortunate. So where you can, be grateful for the role models you have around you that give you good guidance.”
Although one chapter has ended for Theo on The Rings of Power, another has only just begun. And whether he becomes a full-fledged Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar, or somehow manages to escape back to the light, we can’t wait to see where Theo goes in the rest of season three and beyond.
If you’d like to learn more about this Middle-earth adventure, you can pick up The Fall of Númenor: And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth and read more about Tolkien’s vision of the time when the show takes place.
The Rings of Power season three is now airing on Prime Video.
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