Meat’s back on the menu, but so are spoilers for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 3, Episodes 1-4.
One of the biggest joys of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is getting to see mythical J.R.R. Tolkien characters like Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker) and Elendil (Lloyd Owen) finally appear on screen for more than five seconds. Similarly, getting to watch the Dark Lord Sauron himself (Charlie Vickers) deceive Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) throughout Season 2 by calling himself an envoy of the Valar is hilarious (as is Sauron being haunted by Celebrimbor’s ghost in the Season 3 premiere).
That said, there are plenty of engaging new additions on “The Rings of Power” as well, with Adar (Joseph Mawle and Sam Hazeldine) – the elf-turned-orc who just wants to create a safe place for his kin — being indubitably the best. Others, however, are not nearly as successful, with possibly the worst of them being Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin). The character, who lived in what is now Mordor with his mother Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) in Season 1, has the unfortunate job of serving as the annoying kid whose seemingly only purpose is to ruin everyone’s fun, act racist towards elves, whine every five minutes, and make horrible decisions that end up causing a volcano eruption that engulfs the Southlands in darkness for millennia.
(Okay, that last one’s not entirely on Theo, but still…)
What makes this all especially frustrating is how overtly “The Rings of Power” has foreshadowed Theo becoming someone important and evil down the line. As such, he has inspired a variety of fan theories about his true identity, like him being the King of the Dead. Now, Season 3 has confirmed that Theo is none other than one of Sauron’s Ringwraiths.
Theo is now a powerful servant of Sauron on The Rings of Power
In the premiere episodes of “The Rings of Power” Season 3, we see Sauron recruiting allies, luring men with the promise of Rings of Power that will turn them into his Nazgnagôl (proto-Nazgûl or Ringwraiths). This includes Theo, who arrives at Mordor in order to compete for one of the rings that would give him the power to fight back against the Númenórean overlords that have been abusing the Southland refugees in Pelargir. It’s clear Theo isn’t really loyal to Sauron, he just wants to use him to gain power for himself.
Well, things get worse when Sauron lures Theo with talk of his ancestry, revealing that Theo comes from a long line of royalty in the Southlands and even communicating with Theo’s long-dead father, Fäldred. According to the Dark Lord, Theo belongs to the “sworn stewards of Mordor”, which explains why Theo was drawn to the broken sword in Season 1. Sauron then claims that Bronwyn murdered his father when she discovered the truth of his lineage, then kept it all hidden from her son.
Granted, this is Sauron, a notorious liar and expert manipulator. At the same time, it wouldn’t make much sense for Sauron to casually hand Theo a ring unless there actually is something special about him. Regardless, the Dark Lord appeals to the kid’s greed and ambition, saying he has it in him to be a conqueror, a sorcerer, and a king.
Unfortunately, it appears that “The Rings of Power” is setting up Theo to become the Witch-King of Angmar, as evidenced by him donning the familiar Nazgûl armor in Season 3’s third episode.
Theo is the Anakin to Sauron’s Palpatine on The Rings of Power
While Theo’s feelings about sand have yet to be revealed, we do know he’s easily manipulated. Indeed, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see just how much his story has echoed Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy. After all, he’s never known his father, used to live with his mother, and would do anything to protect those he loves, yet he has an undeniable sense of ambition and hunger for power (which Sauron recognizes, just as Darth Sidious/Palpatine did with Anakin).
Except, Theo doesn’t turn to darkness while trying to save someone, so he’s nowhere near as tragic as Anakin. It’s his fear of being abandoned, combined with his desire for power, that make Theo an ideal candidate to become the latest victim of Sauron’s lies. First, it was Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), whose thirst for vengeance made her susceptible to Sauron’s trickery back when he was going by Halbrand in Season 1. Then, in Season 2, it was Celebrimbor, whose aspiration to become better and more famous allowed Sauron (passing himself off as Annatar) to gaslight him into crafting the rings of dwarves and people. Now, Theo is playing right into Sauron’s hands and allowing himself to be enslaved by the Dark Lord.
It remains to be seen whether Theo is capable of coming back from this. He does seem hesitant to carry out all of Sauron’s wicked biddings, yet he does it anyway. Is he beyond redemption? And most importantly, is Theo actually the Witch-King? Or will he die and get replaced by one of the Nine we know from “Lord of the Rings?” We’ll see what happens as “The Rings of Power” continues.