Possibly some of the most iconic and notorious villains from the Lord of the Rings movies are the Nazgul, the ring-wraiths. These servants of Sauron ride around in the dead of night, sheathed in black cloaks. But underneath their layers of earthly appearance, their spiritual form takes on a skeletal white figure, seen through the shadowy veil of worlds, as Frodo discovers when he puts on the one ring after being stabbed by a Morgul blade on Weathertop.
Now, with the release of the recent Rings of Power series, fans are beginning to recognize this alternate realm as the ‘Unseen world’ that the characters of the Amazon series keep referring to. Viewers have also drawn parallels between the appearance of the ring wraiths ghostly forms, and the visuals used in the final episode, when the Stranger defeats the three sorcerers who are trying to harm his harfoot friends. With this in mind, could it be possible that the three witches become members of the nine ring-wraiths, as hinted by their similar appearance in their final defeat?
The idea that these characters will actually become three of the nine ring-wraiths of the later films is unlikely. The Nazgul are known to be kings of men that were corrupted over a series of hundreds of years by the other 17 rings of power created by Sauron and Celebrimbor. These nine great lords would most likely have been noblemen or royalty among their people. They are also likely all male, as they appear in the veil in Frodo’s wounded state in the original scene, which makes it unlikely that the three female witches are among their numbers. However, there are several striking similarities that cannot be ignored. These qualities may suggest that they are precursors to the ringwraiths, and that they may have a hand in their creation.
This all has to do with the unseen world itself. There's still the question as to whether those who are sent there are essentially dead, or whether they can still influence the waking world from the other side. This in turn may mean that they may actually be able to return to physical form. Tolkien has often addressed the difference between spiritual and physical death in Middle Earth, and the idea that just because a character’s body has been destroyed, that doesn’t mean that their essence or their presence can’t still wreak havoc in the world. So in the grand battle scene in the 8th episode, when the three sorcerers mistake the stranger for Sauron and he uses their own staff to blast them into pieces, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are actually dead.
At that moment, their skin peels back in a blinding flash of light, and the ghastly skulls of their forms beneath the unseen veil are revealed. They look exactly like the ring wraiths of the later films, before they burst into a volley of moths and fly away. But the reason that they look like this is that they have been banished through the veil, but still linger on in the world in this other-worldly guise — just as the wraiths do.
This may have something to do with their sorcery and the fact that they have tapped into an evil magic created by Melkor long ago. They were once human, but have since turned into sorcerers who can wield great evil by tapping into the unseen world. There has long been speculation among Tolkien fans about the mystical properties and cult practices in Rhun, the land far to the east of Middle Earth. It is known that this is a sacred place full of enchantment, where the elves first awoke, and many people were suspected of practicing alchemy and necromancy.
The source of the three witches' magic (which may later also become the source of the binding that tethers the nine ring-wraith to the Unseen World) may be exactly what awaits the heroes in Rhun as they journey there in season 2. Perhaps the three sorcerer women will aid Sauron from the other side, or perhaps he will return them to physical flesh so that they may carry out his bidding in both worlds. And perhaps they will scout out the nine kings of men who will receive the rings, and later become the wraiths.
Using the magic source of power in Rhun, the sorcerers may bind the fate of the chosen men to the ring, to Sauron, and to the Unseen world. This splits their spirits and their bodies in two, so that they may exist in both realms. And by the time Frodo is tasked with destroying the ring in Mount Doom over a thousand years later, the ring-wraiths will have forgotten who they were or how they came to be. They will be so driven by the desire for the One Ring that nothing else matters. Their sole purpose is to pursue anyone who puts on the ring, and they are bound to this with a curse that only the strongest of sorcerers could create.
