Who are the Three Witches Trying to Rescue Sauron? – Let’s Get Nerdy!

Amazon Studios The Rings of Power is here. We want all Spoilerites to have the best viewing experience possible and have the widest knowledge base about the Second Age of Middle-Earth. This is a weekly Let’s Get Nerdy article series highlighting a different piece of Tolkien I think you need to know about!

This week’s topic comes from the Major Spoilers Discord! It’s not a cheap plug , but you really should check out the Major Spoilers Discord. It helps us curate our content in more ways than you can imagine. So before we get into it big thanks to ‘Silverspoon’ Fan for asking the very question I title this week’s feature after.

First off, the actors who portray these roles are Edith Poor, Bridie Sisson, and Kali Kopae. They do a phenomenal job portraying interesting, evocative characters despite the first season of The Rings of Power giving them no lines and giving the audience no information about them whatsoever.

Since there’s not much offered up in the scripts themselves we’ll have to look at some interviews. Including executive producer Lindsey Weber who told Time:

“Her character is traveling from far to the east—from the lands of Rhûn.”

… when speaking of the character played by Bridie Sisson who appears to be the leader of this group of characters.

You’ll recall a few weeks ago when I wrote about Rhûn and what its significance is to the narrative Tolkien laid down about Sauron which is the groundwork for the plot of The Rings of Power. Rhûn is a key location for Sauron gathering his forces and amassing the army which will eventually attack the combined forces of Gil-Galad, Elrond, Galadriel, and Celebrimbor in Mordor. 

So if the witches, as led by Sisson’s character, are acting in Sauron’s interest – which seems to be the case based on their brief appearances in The Rings of Power season 1 – it would make sense they too have their sights set on Rhûn. 

They also referred to The Stranger as “Istar.” during the first season of The Rings of Power which (along with the plural Istari), which is one of key reasons why I believe him to be Gandalf. This could potentially hint at these “witches” also being Istari – thus recognizing one of their own in The Stranger. “It takes one to know one.” as they say. After all, in the great literary tradition of Morgana and Merlin, witches and wizards are largely interchangeable in the Tolkien tradition. 

If the three witches are not Istari (potentially even the Blue and Red Wizards I’ve written extensively about here over the years), then they are truly original characters to the show and their dedication – perhaps machinations – with Sauron shall remain murky until such a time as the showrunners wish to disseminate more information. 

In past articles I have answered the question: 

• • What Are the Rings of Power?
  • What is Númenor?
  • What is the Second Age?
  • Who are the Harfoots?
  • Who is Prince Durin IV?
  • What is Khazad-dûm?
  • Who is Celebrimbor?
  • What is the Last Alliance of Men and Elves?
  • Who is Elendil?
  • New Pics! Who are Bronwyn and Theo?
  • What is Rivendell?
  • The Rings of Power First Reactions Are In!
  • What is Lindon?
  • What are the Nine Human Rings? 
  • Empire Magazine’s The Rings of Power Covers
  • New Character Pictures
  • Will Wizards Appear in The Rings of Power?
  • New Promo for The Rings of Power
  • What is Eregion?
  • Leaked! Rings of Power Trailer Breakdown
  • The Rings of Power Teaser Breakdown
  • New EW Rings of Power Pictures
  • SDCC Rings of Power Trailer Breakdown
  • Who is Isildur?
  • The Rings of Power is Here! Read the Reactions
  • Who is the Stranger?
  • Who is Queen Míriel?
  • Who is Ar-Pharazôn? 
  • What is the broken black blade?
  • What is Mordor?
  • What is Mithril?
  • What are the Silmarils?
  • What is Narsil?
  • Who founded Númenor?
  • Who is Galadriel’s Brother Finrod?
  • Rings of Power Adds 15 New Cast Members for Season 2
  • Who is Círdan?
  • Will Celeborn Appear in The Rings of Power?
  • Are Galadriel and Sauron Enemies in Book Canon?
  • Who is Narvi?
  • Jamie Bisping Cast as Viran
  • Will the Harfoots Settle The Shire?
  • What to Watch Before The Rings of Power Season 2
  • Will We See More Rings in The Rings of Power Season 2?
  • Will Lord Belzagar Appear in The Rings of Power Season 2?
  • Who is Diarmid?
  • Will Ringwraiths appear in The Rings of Power Season 2?
  • Will Gil-Galad Lead an Army in The Rings of Power Season 2?
  • Is the Balrog Durin’s Bane?
  • Who is Isildur’s sister Eärien?
  • What is Rhûn Where Nori & The Stranger are Headed?
  • Will Galadriel Go Dark in The Rings of Power Season 2?
  • Where are the Southlanders Going?
  • Is Durin Still a Prince?
  • How Eärien will use the Palantir in The Rings of Power Season 2
  • Is the Rings of Power close to canon? Will it get closer in Season 2?
  • What is The War of the Elves and Sauron?
  • Who are the Three New Rings of Power Cast Members? Ciarán Hinds, Rory Kinnear and Tanya Moodie

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