Sauron, the dark villain of The Lord of the Rings, has finally been revealed in the Season 1 finale of Amazon’s The Rings of Power. Spoilers ahead!
Sauron, also known as The Dark Lord, finally unveiled himself in a dramatic way during the finale episode. We finally know now that Middle-earth’s greatest threat is actually Halbrand (Charlie Vickers).
For some, this may come as a shock, for others, maybe not. However, it’s clear that the reveal will certainly impact the story of The Rings of Power.
Halbrand was an ally to Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) for basically this entire season, but a few events occurred that swayed Galadriel to realize that her ally isn’t who he claims to be.
Galadriel takes Halbrand to Eregion, where he meets other elves like Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and master smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). Immediately, Halbrand seems to be interested in Celebrimbor’s latest smithing project: using the scant mithril to create a crown that will preserve the light of the elves and prevent them from fading. Halbrand gives Celebrimbor a solution to combine mithril with other ores to amplify its power.
Later on, Galadriel begins to notice that Celebrimbor’s behavior is off and he seems to be describing the crown in a sinister fashion. Celebrimbor explains that the crown would grant the bearer power over flesh and the power of the Unseen World. This is in fact the same words Adar (Joseph Mawle) used to describe the power Sauron was looking for after the fall of Morgoth.
Galadriel draws two-and-two together and realizes that Celebrimbor only spoke in that way after meeting Halbrand. She then confirms her suspicions more after finding a scroll from the Eregion archives that reveals there is no King of the Southlands, and that would make Halbrand a liar through and through.
However, when Galadriel confronts him about this, Halbrand points out that he was the king and that he stole the symbol from a dead man. He also went on to explain how Galadriel pushed him to take up the mantle of king, took him to Middle-earth, introduced him to Celebrimbor, and more. It’s ironic, because in her search to destroy Sauron and avenge her brother, she brought him back. It’s something that will certainly have a major impact on the story moving forward.
There were several hints given throughout that Halbrand is Sauron. One of the first things he says is that “looks can be deceiving,” which is a reference to how Sauron uses shapeshifting to deceive. Additionally, Halbrand is a very formidable and strong fighter.
How Are Tolkien’s Works Different for Sauron
Halbrand is a new character and J.R.R. Tolkien’s story for Sauron’s journey is very different. In Tolkien’s works, he gains control of Mordor and decides to get Middle-earth on his side. He goes to Eregion disguised as the Lord of Gifts Annatar. Sauron then helps Celebrimbor and the other smiths master their craft even more but leaves once they begin crafting the Rings of Power.
In Amazon’s The Rings of Power, Annatar is not there. The Three Rings are made before the Rings of Power, and Halbrand is only at Eregion for a few days and not centuries like in the original works.
It’s possible that the reason why Annatar is not present in the Amazon series is because of a rights issue. Amazon has the rights to everything but The Silmarillion, which is where Annatar shows up. Annatar is never portrayed in The Lord of the Rings, so it’s likely that the showrunners had to come up with Halbrand’s character as a solution to this rights issue.
It’s definitely interesting to see where Rings of Power will take this story next!
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
