Predicting Rings of Power

I’ve been spending way too much time thinking about Lord of the Rings, with Free League having just released the ‘beta’ pdfs for the 5e conversion of The One Ring RPG.

But this also means I’ve been spending way too much time thinking about who Sauron is in Rings of Power and I wanted to get my thoughts written down before the new episode airs so I have bragging rights if I’m right — and something to bury in shame if I’m wrong.

I’ve also been avoiding Rings of Power leaks, spoilers, reviews, theorymongering — pretty much anything Rings of Power that isn’t the series itself. So if some of these have already been confirmed by leaks, I don’t care. I didn’t see them.

(Potential) Spoilers for Rings of Power below:

Halbrand is Annatar — the name Sauron took when he deceived the elves and corrupted Númenor.

• Annatar was said to have a fair appearance, and would you just look at that face? Which leads us to:

• “I think one of [Sauron’s] spies would – well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.” This line from Frodo in Fellowship of the Ring seems a perfect fit. Halbrand looks fair but he also ruthlessly beat the crap out of five men and sacrificed the other survivors on the raft when it was attacked.

• When he and Galadriel are introduced at the court in Númenor, he’s politically savvy and able to navigate them out of the jail cell Galadriel almost talked them into. Annatar manipulated his way from prisoner to advisor to the King of Númenor.

• Sauron served Aulë, the Valar master craftsman (So did Saruman, btw). Halbrand is shown to be an exceptional blacksmith, and he seems to want nothing more than settle down and practice his craft. It could be showing us a Sauron seeking redemption from his dark days. There are implications that when Sauron sought forgiveness, he may have actually been repentant. But not enough to be punished for his actions, hence the running away to Middle-earth bit.

• Adar claims to have killed Sauron. After chasing him down, Halbrand clearly wants to kill him, to obtain vengence. Adar implies a woman or child, but what if it was for his own attempted murder?

Additionally, while not actual evidence, The Lord of Gifts sounds like the mocking title someone would be given in A Song of Ice and Fire after the kingdom they were given was destroyed by a volcano. Some gift, amiright?

There are major flaws to this theory:

1. In “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age,” it’s clearly stated that Annatar first arrived in Eregion and only came to Numenor after he’d been captured during his war with the elves, which starts after he forged the One Ring. Their intent may be that Halbrand is a previously unknown guise of Sauron with the goal of navigating around the rule established by the Tolkien estate that the show can’t contradict anything written by Tolkien. While Halbrand has been to Númenor, “Annatar” hasn’t, allowing him show up in Númenor early. However, an interview with Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey in 2019, who worked as an advisor on the show, may indicate that this is exactly what they show is doing. “What has Sauron done in the meantime? Where was he after Morgoth was defeated? Theoretically, Amazon can answer these questions by inventing the answers, since Tolkien did not describe it.” A repentant Sauron seeking a quiet life as a blacksmith in Numenor could be that answer.

   “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” also says that Galadriel was the only elf in Eregion who didn’t trust Annatar. What if it’s because she had some reason to not trust him from before he called himself “The Lord of Gifts?”

2. There are implications (the diminishing of the elves, the desire for mithril to combat it, the building of the forge) that Celebrimbor is already working towards making rings of power, which could mean that Sauron is already in Eregion and we haven’t met him.

3. The Stranger also has a solid case for being Sauron. We know that Sauron sought forgiveness from the Valar, but after he was told he would need to wait for judgement, he fled to Middle-earth because he didn’t want to serve jail time. Given the time compression occurring in the series, what if he returned as a red comet a few years before the rings were forged instead of spending hundreds of years wandering Middle-earth? Shippey’s comments from could also apply to The Stranger spending time with the harfoots. And the words he utters to Nori are Quenya for “blessed fire,” which indicates some form of connection to the Valar. And those priestesses tracking him are clearly bad news.

So what’s the point of the character if he isn’t Sauron? In that case, Halbrand is probably a future Nazgûl.

But I could honestly see this going either way at this point. There are enough clues that people familiar with the lore could figure out Halbrand was Sauron while simultaneously creating a plot twist most in the audience won’t see coming — think Game of Thrones and the Red Wedding. And if The Stranger isn’t Sauron? The evidence that The Stranger is Sauron could also indicate any other Maiar, so we could be looking at a Blue Wizard.

Idaho’s Far Right Suffers Election Loss to 18-Year-Old Climate Activist

I’ve complained to friends and co-workers about how often my home state — and my hometown! — have been in the national spotlight for shitty reasons. This was a nice change.

Remember When Lindsey Graham Said Abortion Should Be Left to the States?

Justin Baragona, for The Daily Beast:

Against the backdrop of abortion rights becoming one of the top issues in the upcoming midterm elections, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) unveiled a proposed nationwide ban on abortion on Tuesday that would outlaw the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

It was just weeks ago, however, when Graham justified the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade by claiming he’d been “consistent” in believing that abortion should be left to individual states.

The only thing consistent about Lindsey Graham is that he’ll do whatever he thinks is best for Lindsey Graham’s political future.

Republicans Move to Ban Abortion Nationwide

Josh Marshall, writing for Talking Points Memo after noted political opportunist Senator Lindsey Graham announced that he was introducing a bill that would ban abortion:

…Republicans want to portray this as a reasonable national compromise, setting a national standard as I’ve seen even some journalists put it. But that’s not what it is. It doesn’t set a national 15 or 20 week standard. All the total restrictions which are now common in red and some purple states stay in place. It simply takes the Mississippi law which brought us the Dobbs decision and imposes it on every blue state. So what Mississippi passed and which was treated as extreme a year ago will become the law in California, New York, Illinois, Washington state and everywhere else. In practice it’s a blue state abortion ban. Abortion’s already banned in the great majority of red states or soon will be.

Republicans leave the decision to the states. Unless a state protects abortion rights. In which case Republicans ban it for them.

‘It’s not about the books’: Boundary County library director resigns over intimidation and ‘political atmosphere of extremism’

James Hanlon for the Spokesman-Review:

In Boundary County, a local group is attempting to recall four of the five library board members, including Colson, after the board approved an updated Collection Development and Maintenance Policy. The new policy says, “Selection of materials will not be affected by any such potential disapproval, and the Boundary County Library will not place materials on ‘closed shelves’ or label items to protect the public from their content.”

And the kicker:

“Nothing in my background could have prepared me for the political atmosphere of extremism, militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation tactics, and threatening behavior currently being employed in the community,” Glidden wrote in her announcement posted by the library.

Boundary County is only a few hours from where I grew up, and not even an hour from where my parents lived while I attended community college. Hell, I even briefly had an video editing job in Bonner’s Ferry, the county seat. Beautiful area, terrible people.

Drop’s latest mechanical keyboards are love letters to The Lord of the Rings

I don’t need a new mechanical keyboard, but my inner Tolkien geek is awfully tempted.

Conservatives sue school for refusing to out transgender students

Daniel Villarreal for LGBTQ Nation:

“Some of Parent B’s daughter’s special-needs classes are held in a classroom that also functions as the meeting location for the LGBT student club,” the lawsuit says. “The teacher in that classroom is the faculty advisor for the club. Thus, the classroom walls contain several posters with information about various gender identities, gender ‘social transitions,’ and ‘referred pronouns.’ Parent B’s daughter is extremely impressionable and often follows the lead of other students.”

Yes, sitting in a room with LGBTQ-supporting posters will make your kid gay in the same way sitting in a library will make you smarter through osmosis.

Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals

Susan B. Glasser and Peter Baker in The New Yorker.

“They shook the very Republic to the core,” Milley would eventually reflect. “Can you imagine what a group of people who are much more capable could have done?”

The only thing that stopped the immorality of the Trump Administration and its failed coup was its own incompetence — and a few good men and women.

Upset over LGBTQ books, a Michigan town defunds its library in tax vote

Knowledge is the enemy.

Sandy Hook lawyers say Alex Jones’s attorneys accidentally gave them his phone contents

I am guilty of using the phrase “it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion” too much, but watching this story unfold on Twitter was like the Futurama gag where the response to a train wreck was to send in more trains.

Voters in Kansas decide to keep abortion legal in the state, rejecting an amendment

A win for those who believe in basic human rights.

US sues Idaho over abortion law, cites medical treatment

More of this please.

And, as someone who grew up in Idaho: Fuck the Idaho Republican Party.

Child Support Is Bad Because It Encourages Abortions, GOP Lawmaker Says

Sharon Zhang, reporting for Truthout:

Republican Del. Chris Pritt said on the floor of the legislature that, if a man gets a woman pregnant, he may encourage or force a woman to get an abortion because of the possibility that he would have to pay child support if the fetus were carried to term. Thus, Pritt argued, child support is inconsistent with an anti-abortion ideology.

Justice Dept. investigating Trump’s actions in Jan. 6 criminal probe

Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey and Spencer S. Hsu for The Washington Post:

The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Finally.

The Bullshit Starts Flying

Seat-filler Samuel Alito, writing for the majority in Dobbs:

Finally, the dissent suggests that our decision calls into question Griswold, Eisenstadt, Lawrence, and Obergefell. But we have stated unequivocally that “[n]othing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”

Seat-filler Clarence Thomas in his concurring opinion:

…in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, includ- ing Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.

Kim Chandler reporting from Alabama for AP News on Wednesday:

In a brief filed Monday, the Alabama attorney general’s office argued similarly that gender transition treatments are not “deeply rooted in our history or traditions,” and thus the state has the authority to ban them. Alabama contends such treatments are dangerous and experimental, a view disputed by medical organizations.

Not even a week later and Alito’s bullshit is verified as bullshit.

Cassidy Hutchinson Held Their Manhoods Cheap

Tim Miller for The Bulwark:

This is why everyone I interviewed for my book was so filled with hatred for the Never Trumpers, the media, and the liberals in their life. It’s because they knew we were right. And were unwilling to do anything about it. So rather than deal with their own culpability and take responsibility for themselves, they demonized those of us who spoke the truth. Because every time one of us said what they knew, out loud, it was an implicit indictment of their character.

1868

The majority opinions in Dobbs are fixated on state laws regarding abortion in 1868 — the year the 14th Amendment was adopted. To quickly summarize their argument: "if abortion restrictions weren’t considered unconstitutional then, we can’t say they are unconstitutional now.” Of course, this argument doesn’t hold up when subjected to ‘thinking,’ but let’s take this to its natural conclusion and apply the standards of the late 1800s to the members of the Supreme Court who decided to overturn Roe v. Wade.

1. Neil Gorsuch gets off easy in 1868. He’s white, a practicing Anglican/Episcopalian, and white (NOT A TYPO). Because 1868 Neil Gorsuch would be free of judgment, I think it’s only fair that we share the 2022 judgment of an Episcopalian Reverend regarding the Dobbs decision: “…the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to assault the health and rights of pregnant Americans by striking down Roe v. Wade is a sin.”
   Damn! No wonder he wants it to be 1868.

2. Brett Kavanaugh is of Irish Catholic descent and in 1800s America “No Irish Need Apply.” While being Irish wouldn’t preclude him from practicing law or serving on the court, at that point in history it is arguably more likely that an Irish frat boy with a proclivity for alcohol would end up defending himself in a courtroom rather than presiding over one.
   Have fun in lockup, Brett!

3. The son of an Italian immigrant, Samuel Alito might not have a good time in late 1800s America. In 1891, eleven Italian immigrants were lynched by a mob in New Orleans. One of the mob's organizers? Future governor of Louisiana, John Parker. He once described Italians as "just a little worse than the Negro, being if anything filthier in [their] habits, lawless, and treacherous." Future President of the United States Teddy Roosevelt wrote in a letter to his sister that the lynching was a “good thing.” And even if 1800s Sam Alito was able to practice law, many would accuse him of being a mob lawyer because he’s Italian.
   Good luck overcoming that rumor, Sam!

4. In 1896 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation didn’t violate the 14th Amendment, making discrimination based on race perfectly fine in 1800s America. In fact, you could argue that racial discrimination is deeply rooted in our nation’s history and traditions. In 1868 Clarence Thomas wouldn’t be considered qualified to serve on the court because he is black. But even he doesn’t deserve the fate 1800s America would provide him — too bad he’s the one leading the charge in that direction. If he wants a return to the glory days of post-Civil War America maybe he should look into what Republicans of that era thought about seditionists.

5. In 1872 the Supreme Court ruled that it was perfectly legal to deny a woman a license to practice law merely on the basis of sex. If women could be barred from practicing law in 1872, why should Amy Coney Barrett be allowed to do so today? To quote the concurring opinion in that case: “The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life.”
   Amy should get back in the kitchen, where she thinks she should belong.

To recap: one would still sit on the Court, another would be in jail for public drunkenness (if he’s lucky) or rape (if he isn’t), a third is trying to convince you he isn’t in the mafia, a fourth is living through a crime against humanity, and a fifth is being chastised for not being pregnant right now.

They should sit down and think about their decision — they clearly didn’t do so the first time.

White Parents Rallied to Chase a Black Educator Out of Town. Then, They Followed Her to the Next One — ProPublica

Nicole Carr, writing for ProPublica:

During her early visits, [Cecelia] Lewis found Cherokee County to be a welcoming place. It reminded her of her community in southern Maryland, where everyone knew one another. But leaving the place where she’d been raised — and where, aside from her undergrad years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she’d spent most of her adult life — wasn’t going to be easy. Before her last day as principal of her middle school, her staff created a legacy wall in her honor, plastering a phrase above student lockers that Lewis would say to end the morning messages each day: “If no one’s told you they care about you today, know that I do ... and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it!”

Lewis was beginning to prepare for her move South, spending as much time with friends and family as possible, when she got a strange call from an official in her new school district. The person on the line — Lewis won’t say who — asked if she had ever heard of CRT.

Lewis responded, “Yes — culturally responsive teaching.” She was thinking of the philosophy that connects a child’s cultural background to what they learn in school. For Lewis, who’d studied Japanese and Russian in college and more recently traveled to Ghana with the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program for teachers, language and culture were essential to understanding anyone’s experience.

At that point, she wasn’t even familiar with the other CRT, critical race theory, which maintains that racial bias is embedded in America’s laws and institutions and has caused disproportionate harm to people of color. In a speech the previous fall, then-President Donald Trump condemned CRT as “toxic propaganda” and “ideological poison.”

The actions taken by these people idiots in Cherokee County are despicable.

Game of Thrones is coming to Broadway with a prequel to Robert’s Rebellion

Wut.

‘We’ll Never Make That Kind of Movie Again’

From Bilge Ebiri’s delightful oral history of The Emperor’s New Groove in Vulture:

Mark Dindal [the film’s director]: Story rooms, often someone will pitch an idea almost as a joke and then someone else goes, “That’s funny. But what are we really going to do?” This was the only movie I worked onDindal, who started working at Disney in the early 1980s, would eventually go on to direct Chicken Little, Walt Disney Feature Animation’s first computer-animated feature film. where someone pitched an idea like that and we went, “Let’s use that.” Like Yzma, [who’s been turned into a] kitten, is falling off the tower and we’re like, “How are we going to get her back up? She’s not going to splat.” I don’t remember if it was Dave or Don Hall, another story artist who’s become a director since, said, “What if there’s a trampoline salesman at the bottom and she hits that and bounces back up?” We said, “Oh yeah. That’s what it should be.” You can’t imagine a story session in Bambi where somebody says that. This quickly became a movie where a trampoline salesman makes sense.