Rings of Power boss breaks down its big Nazgul retcon

If you've been watching The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and wondering when we'd finally get proper backstory on those mysterious Nazgûl, the show's about to deliver. After two seasons slowly building up to the creation of the Great Rings, the next run is set to flesh out the secrets behind the most unsettling of Sauron's servants.

Finally, Faces to the Nazgûl

Everyone knows the setup: nine Rings of Power, handed to mortal men by Sauron – not exactly a story with a happy ending. Most went on to become Ringwraiths, enslaved to the One Ring, but Tolkien himself was a bit cagey on the actual identities. We've only ever had names for a couple – namely, the Witch King (yes, the big scary one) and a hint at three Númenóreans. Now, Season 3 is stepping into that gap.

Zubin Varla, who takes up the role of Khamûl the Easterling (that name might ring a bell from the deeper Tolkien lore), had a chat with Empire magazine about his character arc:

"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."

Not exactly a light journey. Khamûl, in his human days, is set to be a warlord who believes he's lost his rightful throne thanks to some dark wizard’s trickery. And, bear in mind, he's only the second Nazgûl to get a name in Tolkien canon – so giving him a history is a pretty big move.

The showrunners seem to be taking their cue directly from Tolkien's invented languages, too. The usual "Nazgûl" (literally "Ringwraith" in the Black Speech of Mordor) won't fit a bloke who still has a face and a bit of free will, so they're using "Nazgnagôl" – which translates to "Ring-servant". It's a neat way to flag the moment between humanity and haunting wraithhood, while giving lore fans something meaty to chew on.

Sauron’s Temptations and Timeline Tweaks

This is all centred around Sauron creeping in with promises of restoring power to Khamûl, and dragging him slowly, inevitably, towards becoming one of those pale, hollowed-out Ringwraiths. However, if you're clutching your timeline chart, keep in mind the first Ringwraiths only appeared about 500 years after Sauron handed out the nine rings – we're not racing to wraith-dom just yet. Hence, "Nazgnagôl" as a sort of pre-wraith stepping stone.

"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."

So, if you've been wondering where the other future Ringwraiths might turn up in the ensemble, the show is still playing coy. For the truly obsessive, video games have previously turned Helm Hammerhand and Isildur into Nazgûl (cheers, Shadow of War), but the show is free to carve out its own path here. Wouldn't be surprising if they spring a few surprises next season.

• The only confirmed Nazgûl identities in Tolkien lore are the Witch King and now Khamûl (thanks to the expanded universe).
• According to Tolkien, three of the original ring-holding kings were Númenóreans; one was from the East.
• The term "Nazgnagôl" is newly created for the series, meaning "Ring-servant" in Black Speech, to identify these kings before they go fully spectral.

Expect all of this business with the nine rings and their unfortunate bearers to play out throughout The Rings of Power's future episodes—since, canonically, it's decades before most of them go full ghostly horror.