The Rings of Power season 3 brings Theo to the forefront as he finds himself at the center of the battle for good and evil. In the first four episodes alone, he discovers a major mystery about his father, joins Sauron's ringbearers, and kills his closest thing to a father figure. In the words of the young Australian actor who plays him, Tyroe Muhafidin, it's a "crazy" season for the Southlander.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power season 3 episodes 1-4.
It's also a long way from where we first met the character, way back in season one, as a young boy struggling with his place in Middle-earth. The huge Amazon epic was the 21-year-old actor's first major role, as he admits that growing up on the series means he "didn't have a normal teenage years." However, stepping into season 3 is a whole new challenge for Muhafidin as Theo takes on his biggest storyline yet.
In the first half of the new season, Theo becomes a Nazgnagôl, operating under Sauron's control. It's in the fiery halls of Mordor (which Muhafidin jokes are "really hot") that he finds out who his real father is (or does he? More on that later…), and ends up being responsible for the heartbreaking death of Arondir.
We recently sat down to discuss all of these moments in depth, as well as diving into how he found out about Theo's trajectory and a bit of a tease about where exactly he'll be going next in the coming episodes of The Rings of Power season 3.
This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
Joining The Rings of Power was your first big project. Reflecting on your involvement so far on the show, how's that journey been for you?
I don't think at the time I really thought about it, but as I'm coming to my adulthood now, I realize that I didn't have a normal teenage years, whereas at the time I was just so caught up in it, and like now I look back and I'm like, "Wow, I really got to do some really crazy stuff at such a young age." I think when I started, I was so nervous and so anxious any time I was on set or any time I had to do anything. But I think it's just so crazy how experience and just spending time on set can really change your mood towards it. Now I just step onto a set and I just feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be, and it's just so comfortable. And it's because I've had so much time doing it, which is like such a blessing. I'm so lucky.
Yeah, and I guess that makes it a little bit easier than going into something like season 3 where you've got this huge new storyline. Did you always know where Theo was heading from the start?
They told me his trajectory right before we shot season 3, just a few months beforehand. So the whole five years prior, I had been speculating the whole time. There was also a time when no one knew who Sauron was when we were shooting the first two episodes, before we knew that it was Charlie [Vickers], and so there was a moment there where it would be like me and Markella [Kavenagh, Nori star] were like, "What if Theo's Sauron?" That's the great thing about what they've done, the showrunners, they drip fed information so that we could play each moment to the realest that it was. There's moments where they wanted to see Theo's heart earlier on, and his purity and his goodness, which I think maybe, if I knew where he'd ended up, maybe I wouldn't have portrayed that.
Something else that people were constantly speculating about was who Theo's dad is. And then we find out in this first chunk of episodes. What did you think about that reveal?
It was exciting. The five years prior to this season, there's so many questions and so much speculation. These are questions I've literally been dying to know. So to be able to play Theo finally getting to know some answers was pretty easy. But I think the fun thing about it, and I didn't really think about it until we were shooting it, and Patrick [McKay, co-showrunner] actually said to me, 'But is Sauron telling the truth? Is that actually what's happening?' You can't actually take Sauron's word for what it is. I think that's his thing; he's deceitful. So I think he said things to try and get Theo on board and to pull at his heartstrings and know where his weak points were to be able to finally manipulate him as much as he wanted to.
He's a master manipulator, isn't he? We also find out that Theo becomes one of the Nazgnagôl, who are iconic in the lore of Lord of the Rings. What was it like when you first put that costume on?
I did a few movement workshops before ever putting the costume on. I was trying to get used to this physicality, and it was something that was so different to me because I was just this skinny kid; what do I know about walking powerfully? I was getting there, but I never really quite got the hang of it, and then I went to my first costume fitting and the moment I put on – there was no armor or nothing – it was literally just like cloaks, and just like the moment I held my hands up and felt the way the fabric fell, I don't know, I felt like I was there. I was a Nazgnagôl.
You had to spend quite a lot of time in Mordor with Sauron. How was it acting on those sets?
It was intense. It was really hot in there, there was so much fire everywhere. But it's incredible, these sets are just detail upon detail upon detail. You will walk around and you'll be like, "Oh wow, this thing's cool," and you look at it and you're like, "Oh whoa, they've even added this bit," and then you look even closer, "Oh, they've even added this." It's just real stuff around you. There's no need to imagine anything.
I think he said things to try and get Theo on board and to pull at his heartstrings and know where his weak points were.
A lot of those scenes you have are with Charlie Vickers, who really embraces Sauron as fully evil this time around. What was it like working with him so much?
I mean, he's incredible. The way he embodies Sauron is something out of this world to me. Watching in real time the way he can be just the nicest, humblest, most genuine guy, and just switch to eyes you cannot trust. You look at them, and it's so deeply terrifying. It was genuinely inspiring to watch in real time someone work like that. He was so caring for me, and we had so much time to chat. He's got a huge role, he doesn't need to have any conversation with me but we would spend so much time just chatting about normal life, football or whatever. It was just like, "Wow he's just like my homie and then all of a sudden he's super scary sometimes, but that's cool."
I really want to talk about episode 4. I'm not quite over what happens to Arondir yet. How emotional was that final scene to film?
It was long, and it was so emotional. There was so much emotion in the air every day stepping onto set. It was crazy. It was a two-week shoot. I mean, I was only there for a few days of it, but they were doing the whole stunt sequence and stuff, and I think those days were just a celebration of Is [Ismael Cruz Córdova]. What's the saddest thing is our only scene together this season was that scene. Those were our only days on set together, so it was so heartfelt and so emotional.
Obviously you guys have worked together since season 1. He's so much part of your story. How hard was it saying goodbye to such an iconic person on the show?
I think talking to him and realizing how much more he'd processed it than I had, he talked me through to be like, "You know this is how things go, and you know this is what makes TV, it's big moments like these." And it was a great moment for us as well. As sad as it is, it's still a great moment that we get to have as actors in a big TV show to do something so crazy. It took me a while.
What do you think is going through Theo's head at the moment? He's a puppet of Sauron, but do you think he has any agency?
I guess you'll have to see. At this point, what's really interesting about the state that Theo is in is that the One Ring hasn't been made yet, and so he's not fully under Sauron's control. There is still some agency over who he is and what decisions he can make. I guess the really big thing is that he can still feel emotions at this point, and that can drive him to do things that maybe, I don't know, are not what the ring is telling him to do.
And what do you hope fans take away from this season?
I think the best thing about this season is how dark and how epic it is. There is so much love just deep-rooted in this show from every different world. Everything that everyone is doing, they're doing it for the love of their people and the love of everyone around them. So even in the darkest of times, that's still the strongest thing that people have.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 episodes 1-4 are on Prime Video now. For more on the show, check out our The Rings of Power season 3 review and our The Rings of Power season 3 release schedule.
