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:
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?”
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.
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.