‘The Rings of Power’: Tyroe Muhafidin Says Fans ‘Nailed It’ With Theo Theory

If you’re a Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power fan who has been theorizing for years that Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) would A) get a ring of power, or B) become a Nazgûl, perhaps even become the Witch-king of Angmar, you’re not alone. Muhafidin is among your ranks. Cast in the role around 14 years old, the now 20-year-old actor tells TV Insider that fans “nailed it” with their theories about Theo going dark and reveals that he’s been pitching Theo’s downward evolution to The Rings of Power showrunners since the very beginning. Here, he tells TV Insider about the Theo fan theories he’s seen through the years and teases more twists to come in The Rings of Power Season 3, including details about Theo’s father. Warning: The Rings of Power Season 3 premiere spoilers ahead!

The Rings of Power Season 3 premiered with four episodes on Prime Video on November 11, and they reveal that Theo was among the nine men who accepted rings of power from Sauron (Charlie Vickers). Theo has been living under an oppressive rule in the five years that have passed between the seasons, and he hasn’t seen his only family he has left, Arondir (his late mother’s lover, played by Ismael Cruz Córdova), since the war between Sauron and the Elves began last season. Desperate for change, Theo took the bait when Sauron offered men a chance to fight for power among his ranks. Theo had to kill to get a ring of power, but he succeeded and was crowned one of Sauron’s Nazgnagôl.

Muhafidin tells TV Insider that he didn’t always know that Theo would get a ring, but he has been pitching it for years.

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“I’ve had an inkling throughout,” he says. “I would constantly, constantly ask J.D. and Patrick, ‘Does Theo get a ring?’ And they never gave me a solid answer. They would just say, ‘Well, what do you think? Should he?’ And I’d be like, ‘I don’t know,’ but I also did a lot of, I’d say, especially in the first season, schmoozing [about] why I think it would be great to play an evil character.”

“I was 14 or 15 at the time. I don’t know what I thought I knew, but I was really trying to sweet talk them into giving me [a ring],” Muhafidin continues. “Maybe that was the selling point, but I think that J.D. and Patrick had a plan all this time. I don’t think you would cast a child for no reason, especially in something that you plan for doing for five seasons.”

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Muhafidin tells us that while Arondir saw Theo as a son after falling in love with Theo’s mother, Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), Theo didn’t see Arondir as his father figure in the years after her death. Arondir was, however, the closest thing to family Theo had left, which is why he tried to help him escape Sauron at the end of Season 3 Episode 4.

“Theo was never going to accept anyone, especially after his mom died,” Muhafidin says. “I think the moment Bronwyn died was the moment that Theo was on his own. Maybe if Theo had gone and fought with him in Eregion or all the other battles, maybe that connection would’ve formed, but I don’t think anyone would’ve [felt like a parent to him].”

“Now the closest person to that is Sauron,” he says. That can’t be good!

Is Theo the Witch-king of Angmar or King of the Dead in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?

A Nazgnagôl is a being invented for The Rings of Power by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Nazgûl characters, Nazgnagôl are the early stages of becoming a Nazgûl. In this stage, they have not yet become the invisible, immortal Ringwraiths who are completely enslaved to Sauron’s will.

In Tolkien’s legendarium, the Witch-king of Angmar is the leader of the Nazgûl, and his second in command is Khamûl the Easterling. Khamûl was introduced in The Rings of Power Season 3 premiere episodes, played by Zubin Varla. He’s still a Nazgnagôl, not yet a faceless, undead servant of Sauron, but one day he will be. Will Theo?

Muhafidin tells TV Insider that he has seen Theo Witch-king of Angmar theories for years and is proud of fans who theorized that Theo would become Nazgûl.

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“I mean, they nailed it,” he tells us. Theo is still a Nazgnagôl for now, and Muhafidin can’t say whether Theo fully crosses over into Nazgûl or not, but he has been asking for a dark turn for Theo from McKay and Payne since Season 1.

He’s also seen the fan theory that Theo is the King of the Dead, also known as the king of the Men of the Mountains. They were loyal to Sauron in the Second Age but later pledged to fight with Isildur in the. War of the Last Alliance, but they broke their oath and didn’t answer the call to fight when the time came, and they were cursed for it. Centuries later, Aragorn called on the dead army to fight to defeat Sauron, and they were freed from their curse when they finally kept their oath.

“That one would’ve been cool,” Muhafidin tells TV Insider, “But I feel like someone eventually at some point would’ve got the nail on the head with their theories. But there’s still more for people to theorize, so I’d love for them to keep doing that.”

Who is Theo’s father in The Rings of Power?

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Because of his ring, Theo’s plot in Season 3 implies he’s more like the Witch-king of Angmar, if one of these two theories are true. However, as Muhafidin says, there’s more to be revealed about Theo in the upcoming episodes.

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Theo has had an attraction to the darkness since Season 1, when he stabbed his arm with the broken hilt of Sauron’s sword. That sword eventually triggered the creation of Mordor in the Southlands. In Season 3’s first episodes, Sauron reveals the identity of Theo’s father to him. His father is named Fäldred, son of Hammethreg, a name created for the show.

While Tolkien never specified any parentage for the Witch-king, we know he was a mortal man who accepted a ring of power, like Theo. However, Sauron told Theo that his father is from a lineage of noble men who swore allegiance to Morgoth in the First Age of Middle-earth, which could be a connection to the King of the Dead, but the ring of power is tipping the theory in the Witch-king’s favor.

The Rings of Power Season 3 has eight episodes total. From here on out, two episodes come out weekly through November 25.

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