Sauron Rises With His Future Nazgûl in Fiery THE RINGS OF POWER Season 3 Posters
Sauron is bringing some terrifying new allies into the fight for Middle-earth! A fiery new posters for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 puts the Dark Lord and his loyal servants front and center, giving fans a new look at the men who will eventually become the dreaded Nazgûl.
With the Prime Video series returning in less than a month, the new poster offers a glimpse of what's coming as Sauron's conquest of Middle-earth reaches a dangerous new stage.
The artwork features Sauron standing alongside his followers against a fiery backdrop of Mordor, the dark kingdom that emerged following Mount Doom's devastating eruption in Season 1.
In Season 3, we'll finally meet the men destined to become the Ringwraiths. Before they turn into the horrifying creatures fans know from The Lord of the Rings, these characters are still human and serve Sauron willingly.
In the series, they're known as the Nazgnagôl, a name that reflects their role as servants of the Dark Lord before their eventual transformation into the Nazgûl.
Earlier this year, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay discussed how they turned to J.R.R. Tolkien's writings and his fictional languages to develop this part of the story.
"We love looking back at what inspired Tolkien," Payne explained. "He led with language. Language became a scaffold on which the myth would hang. The word 'Nazgûl' means 'Ringwraith' in the Black Speech of Mordor. But before they were Ringwraiths, we know that these were just men."
"So we were able to derive in the Black Speech that 'nagôl' could mean 'servant,'" he continued. "'Nazgnagôl,' therefore, literally means 'Ring-servant.'"
It's a cool approach to one of the most frightening groups of villains in Tolkien's mythology. We've already seen what the Nazgûl eventually become, but watching how ordinary men fall under Sauron's control could make their eventual fate even more disturbing.
Exploring the origins of Middle-earth's legendary characters has always been one of the more interesting aspects of The Rings of Power. The series spent its first two seasons building toward some of the major events of the Second Age, and Season 3 looks ready to bring Sauron's rise to power into sharper focus.
The new season picks up five years after the fall of Eregion, with Middle-earth consumed by war. Sauron's forces have swept across the land, leaving only a handful of strongholds standing against him.
The Dwarves have retreated into the depths of Khazad-dûm, while the Elven kingdoms of Lindon and Rivendell remain protected by the power of their Three Rings.
Meanwhile, Sauron has established himself in Mordor, where his newly completed fortress of Barad-dûr towers over the land. From there, he's working toward his most dangerous creation yet, the One Ring, which he intends to use to bring every remaining kingdom under his control.
With the Dark Lord closing in on victory, the Elves, Dwarves, Men, and Wizards will have to find a way to unite before Sauron takes complete control of Middle-earth.
The introduction of the Nazgnagôl should be a very interesting part of that story. These men aren't yet the supernatural hunters who stalked Frodo and his companions in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which gives the series an opportunity to explore who they were before Sauron's influence destroyed their humanity.
There's plenty of potential for some great character development here, especially if the series takes its time showing how these men are corrupted by their loyalty to the Dark Lord.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the series handles the origins of the Nazgûl, especially now that Sauron is moving closer to becoming the Dark Lord we know from Tolkien's stories.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 premieres on Prime Video on November 11.
