The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has literally fleshed out one of fantasy fiction’s most notorious villains, the Dark Lord Sauron. Set during the Second Age of Middle-earth, The Rings of Power is faithful to canon by depicting Sauron as the human king Halbrand, but he can also assume other forms. For the past two seasons, the series’ escalating events had also been leading up to the creation of the Great Rings, nine of which were “gifted to the race of men, who above all else, desire power.” Those rings corrupted their minds and enslaved them to the One Ring, held by Sauron.
J. R. R. Tolkien did not offer much backstory about those nine men except that they were all kings, three were Númenóreans, and one was an Easterling king. None of them were named in lore except The Witch King, the lead Ringwraith, or Nazgûl. The Rings of Power Season 3 will now fill in that gap by featuring one of the kings, before he became a Nazgûl. Speaking with Empire, actor Zubin Varla said his character, Khamûl the Easterling, will “go on the same journey as Gollum.”
“Evil begets evil, and violence begets violence. Their souls, and their bodies, are corrupted until they are literally hollowed out, almost devoid of physical form.”
That perfectly describes the Nazgûl, but The Rings of Power will also take time to show how Sauron seduced Khamûl with the promise of great power. “From Khamûl’s point of view, he is a warlord who deserves to be a king, whose power has been usurped by a dark wizard,” says showrunner J.D. Payne. “Sauron offers him a way back to the top.” That leads us to The Rings of Power‘s retcon of the Nazgnagôl, which Payne said more accurately identifies the kings while there was still a semblance of humanity in them. Alongside the explantion, you can also check out a pair of new images below:
Payne said they looked to the language Tolkien crafted for inspiration. In the Black Speech of Mordor, “Nazgûl” means “Ringwraith,” or “Ring-phantoms.” They needed a more appropriate title for Khamûl before he shed his human form, so they derived nagôl from the Black Speech, which translates to “servant” — “Nazgnagôl” literally means “Ring-servant.”
The Rings of Power is expected to tackle that part of the story at some point, since the Nazgûl first appeared during the Second Age, but roughly 500 years after Sauron gave the kings the nine Rings of Power. We’re a long way away from that turn in Season 3, so the Nazgnagôl is the perfect way to foreshadow the Nazgûl while still being faithful to the lore.
That also begs the question: has The Rings of Power already revealed the other kings who would soon serve Sauron and become the Nazgnagôl? This is not canon, but Helm Hammerhand and Isildur became Nazgûl in the video game Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Tolkien did leave room for interpretation in that aspect, so it wouldn’t be surprising if The Rings of Power pulls off wild plot twists next season.
- Release Date
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September 1, 2022
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
