“Rings of Power” Star Tyroe Muhafidin Hopes Fans ‘Don’t Hate Me’ After Theo’s Big Season 3 Twist (Exclusive)

Lily BrownWed, November 11, 2026 at 4:30 PM UTC

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Tyroe Muhafidin in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’Credit: amazon prime

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first four episodes of Season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Tyroe Muhafidin exclusively tells PEOPLE about Theo’s shocking season 3 storyline and his potential transformation into a Nazgûl

The actor reflects on Theo’s devastating episode 4 confrontation with Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and the emotional experience of filming the scene

Muhafidin reveals he secretly keeps up with Lord of the Rings fan theories through a TikTok account filled with Nazgûl edits

Tyroe Muhafidin knows The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power fans might have some feelings about his character Theo after watching season 3.

“Well, I hope people don’t hate me because I’m not the one who killed him,” the actor, 20, tells PEOPLE with a laugh.

He’s referring to one of the season’s biggest twists, which finds Theo seemingly responsible for the death of Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), a character who has been an important part of his journey since the beginning.

Based on the expansive mythology of J.R.R. Tolkien, Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power takes place thousands of years before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, during Middle-earth’s Second Age. The fantasy series follows the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the forging of the Rings of Power and the growing battle between good and evil across Middle-earth.

First introduced as a young Southlander, Theo has struggled with his identity, his loyalties and the loss of his mother. Now, his increasingly dark storyline has raised the possibility that he could become one of Middle-earth’s most feared figures: a Nazgûl.

Muhafidin says he was actually excited when he first learned where Theo’s story was heading.

Tyroe Muhafidin in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’Credit: Ben Rothstein/Prime

“I think it was kind of just finally a breath of relief like, ‘Oh yes, okay, here we go. It’s time.’ I think there was so much build up in anticipation,” he says. “So I knew that at some point I was going to get to do something, I just didn’t know when.”

The actor also spent time looking into Tolkien’s mythology to better understand the Nazgûl before they became the terrifying, faceless figures familiar to fans of the original Lord of the Rings films.

“All that’s really known about the Nazgûl before they turned into wraiths is that one of them was Numenorian and one of them was named Khamûl,” he says, noting that there wasn’t much information to work with.

A Nazgûl in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’Credit: Ben Rothstein/Prime

That lack of established backstory gave Muhafidin and his fellow actors room to explore who these characters were before becoming Ringwraiths.

“We were given this canvas to find what does it look like because we weren’t quite yet the ghost-like spirit-like figures,” he says. “We are still men and we were men in armor and it was what does that look like? But we’re so powerful. We’re at our peak of our powers almost.”

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Unlike the Ringwraiths depicted in the original films, Muhafidin explains, the characters are still human and retain control over their choices.

“I think this season, the beautiful thing about Theo is watching him kind of wrangle with the ring,” Muhafidin says. “I think at this point, it’s, I guess, crucial to note the One Ring hasn’t been made yet when seeing these characters. So they’re not fully under Sauron’s will. They still have autonomy over themselves.”

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For Muhafidin, that makes Theo’s internal struggle all the more interesting, especially as he continues to grapple with which side he wants to be on.

“I think that’s what we get to dive into with Theo is what does that internal conflict look like when he himself has been so torn apart his whole life on which side to go? What does it look like when it’s a matter of life and death for everyone around him?” he says.

That conflict comes to a head in episode four, when Theo and Arondir’s paths collide in a devastating confrontation. Muhafidin says he knew the characters would eventually face off, but didn’t know exactly how their storyline would unfold.

Ismael Cruz Córdova in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’Credit: Ben Rothstein/Prime

“I found out about it and to be honest, at first, I was excited because I’m kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, this is a big moment.’ But I think as it got closer and closer, it became more daunting because it was such a huge moment for the both of our characters,” he says.

The scene was especially meaningful for Muhafidin, as it marked the only time he and Cruz Córdova, 39, shared the set during filming.

“It was kind of this in between thing of us trying to be bros and have a good time, but then we also both kind of knew the daunting task ahead of us,” he says. “And I think it was a lot of fun and a lot of good energy, but it was a lot of warm and comfort going around because I think we all knew that it was such a huge moment for Is.”

And if viewers are wondering whether Muhafidin himself is keeping up with all the theories surrounding his character, the answer is yes. The actor even has a secret TikTok account dedicated to Lord of the Rings lore, which has become something of a Nazgûl fan-edit headquarters.

“I managed to get it perfectly where I had every single thing that I scrolled on as a piece of Nazgûl. It was just all Nazgûl edits,” he says. “Sometimes I would sit in my trailer before going onto set and literally just watch edits called Nazgûl.”

The first four episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are now streaming on Prime Video. Episodes five and six release on Nov. 18, while episodes seven and the season finale, episode eight, come out on Nov. 24.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”