‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Stars Disagree About [Spoiler’s] Death

Kelli Boyle November 11, 2026, 3:01 am

Nazgnagôl in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Season 3 — Ben Rothstein / Prime Video

What To Know

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 premiered on November 11 with four episodes.
Episode 4 features a tragic ending.
The actors in the scene explain the shocking moment, but they have different points of view on why it happened.

Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers) siege of Middle-earth has spread to nearly every corner of the land save for three strongholds protected by three Elven rings of power in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3, which premiered with four of eight episodes on Wednesday, November 11, on Prime Video.

The war between Sauron and the Elves has been raging for five years since the fall of Eregion in Season 2, and in Season 3 Episode 4, it claimed the life of a beloved character who has been with the series since the very beginning.

Here, the actors involved in the tragic scene explain their sides of the story, and they have very different views of what happened. Warning: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 premiere spoilers ahead.

In the first four episodes, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) ventured with the Orc called Marnûkh (Adam Young) to find the last Elven smith from Eregion who knew Celebrimbor’s (Charles Edwards) secret methods to make rings of power. They needed to keep the information out of Sauron’s hands.

The journey led them to an Orc fortress, Gundabad, that had been imprisoning Galadriel’s long-lost husband, Celeborn (Jamie Campbell Bower), for centuries. Sauron has been gathering mortals to accept the nine rings of power for men and calling them Nazgnagôl. The Nazgnagôl, a label created by the series and not J.R.R. Tolkien, are Nazgûl in early stages of corruption. As revealed in these premiere episodes, Theo (Tyroe Muhadifin) is one of them.

Theo sought power through Sauron to break free from the oppression he has experienced in the years since his mother, Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), died. Arondir was hoping to find Theo in these last five years between the events of Seasons 2 and 3, but they’ve been separated all this time. For an Elf, five years is no time at all. For a human like Theo, it’s ages.

Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Season 3

Ben Rothstein / Prime Video

Arondir and Theo’s choices led them to the same cliffside in The Rings of Power Season 3 Episode 4. Arondir, Galadriel, Celeborn, and Marnûkh were trying to escape Gundabad as Orcs closed in. Arondir saved Marnûkh and raised his sword to a Nazgnagôl instead of running. The masked figure was Theo.

“It’s [Galadriel and Celeborn] he wants. Walk away,” Theo warned. Arondir refused and said to take off the ring and they would leave together.

“I left you once before, Theo. I will not do it again,” Arondir said. “This once let me help you.” Theo was about to let Arondir take the ring off his finger when Sauron arrived. He ordered Theo to kill Arondir. Theo gave in immediately, and Arondir was gone.

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Theo was wearing his ring when Sauron gave the kill order, and his hand shook like the ring had activated his motion. Did the ring control his hand? Muhafidin believes Theo had agency.

“I think it was his decision. Don’t get me wrong, the ring definitely plays a part in how he makes his decisions, but I think he is angry,” Muhafidin tells TV Insider.

“There’s no other words. He’s angry at Arondir and the last five years of his life, the last 10 years of his life, his entire life maybe,” Muhafidin says. “He’s lived oppressed and put down and he blames Arondir for all of that because it was him that was the first perpetrator.” In Season 1, Elf forces occupied the Southlands (now Mordor) where Theo and Bronwyn lived, to keep them from siding with the forces of Morgoth again. That’s how Arondir and Bronwyn met and fell in love.

“I don’t think he wanted to kill him really, but I think in that moment when he gets told to, he’s like, ‘Well, yeah, I’m going to do it,'” Muhafidin explains. “He wouldn’t have if he didn’t want to. He still has autonomy over his body and things he can physically do. Yes, maybe his mind is a bit clouded [by his ring].”

Charlie Vickers as Sauron in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Season 3

Ben Rothstein / Prime Video

Muhafidin says it all boils down to this: “[Theo] wouldn’t have told Arondir to leave if he didn’t know he would’ve killed him. It was either Arondir left or Theo was killing him. I don’t think there was any other outcome.”

We asked Córdova for his thoughts on Muhafidin’s answer in a later interview, and he has a different perspective.

“I don’t think I would’ve left him. I think that was it,” Córdova says of his character’s heroic final stand. “The thing is, [Arondir] knew what had to be done in that moment. One person needed to stay so that the others, including Marnûkh, could go. That decision was made.”

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“Perhaps [Theo] has agency or not, but once Sauron comes out in the picture, we all know. It’s almost an impossible match by that point,” Córdova says, adding, “Arondir’s awesome, but…Sauron is incredibly powerful. I beg to differ a little bit. Yes, in [Muhafidin’s acting] process he thinks he had some agency. I think once Sauron gives the order, there’s less agency than one might think.”

Did Arondir know he would die once Sauron walked out? Did choose to sacrifice himself?

“There’s an element of choice,” Córdova says. “We all know where things are headed. We all know that Sauron is there. This can happen at any point, and I still choose to go back and rescue Marnûkh. I still choose to face Theo.”

“I’m talking about [how] I will not succumb to the shadow,” he says, adding, “I make a very big stance in that moment, knowing all full well that regardless of how powerful Arondir is in his skill and [is] great warrior and great soldier, there are forces greater than him. He becomes a shield in that sense. Does he know that it’s Theo [under the Nazgnagôl mask]? No, I don’t think so, but regardless he’s ready to die fighting.”

And he did.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Season 3, Wednesdays, Prime Video