It's official! We know who Sauron is in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.' - Mashable

Who is it? Credit: Mashable composite: Ben Rothstein / Prime Video / Courtesy of Prime Video / Courtesy of Prime Video

Rings of Power fans, it's time. Sound the alarms, airy the beacons, and get your instrumentality theories ready, due to the fact that we finally cognize who Sauron is.

The Dark Lord unveiled himself successful melodramatic manner successful the Season 1 finale of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which reveals that Middle-earth's Big Bad has been disguising himself arsenic nary different than Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) this full time.

Whether you were blindsided by the uncover oregon had Halbrand pegged arsenic Sauron from the start, we tin each hold that Sauron's resurgence — and his actions successful the finale — volition person a large interaction connected The Rings of Power going forward.

How bash we find retired that Halbrand is Sauron?

Halbrand has spent this full play being allies with Galadriel (Morfydd Clark). So what changes successful the finale to marque her spot the light? (Or rather, the darkness?)

For starters, she brings him to Eregion, wherever helium meets different elves similar Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and maestro smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). Halbrand takes an contiguous involvement successful Celebrimbor's last-ditch smithing project: utilizing what small mithril the elves have to make a crown that volition sphere the airy of the elves and halt them from fading. Halbrand charms Celebrimbor, complimenting his legendary skills, past offers a solution. If adjacent a tiny magnitude of mithril were combined with different ores, its powers could beryllium amplified.

At a aboriginal gathering betwixt the elves, Galadriel notices that Celebrimbor is behaving strangely. Not lone is helium getting snappy with High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), he's besides describing the crown successful a mighty sinister way. According to him, the crown would assistance the bearer powerfulness implicit soma and the powerfulness of the Unseen World. Sound familiar? That's due to the fact that these are the nonstop words Adar (Joseph Mawle) utilized to picture the powerfulness Sauron sought aft Morgoth fell.

Galadriel realizes that Celebrimbor lone started talking this mode after speaking with Halbrand, and she's speedy to enactment 2 and 2 together. Her suspicions are confirmed erstwhile a scroll from Eregion's archives reveals that determination genuinely is nary King of the Southlands. The enactment was breached thousands of years ago, meaning 1 thing: Halbrand is simply a liar!

Except helium isn't (apart from the full "lying by omission" thing). As Halbrand points retired erstwhile Galadriel confronts him, helium ne'er outright stated that that helium was the king — lone that helium stole the king's awesome from a dormant man. It was Galadriel who pushed him to instrumentality up the mantle of king, Galadriel who dragged him to Middle-earth, Galadriel who introduced him to Celebrimbor. She adjacent told him to beryllium escaped of immoderate evil helium whitethorn person committed earlier they met, efficaciously absolving her worst enemy.

The effects Halbrand-Sauron volition person connected Galadriel's quality arc volition nary uncertainty beryllium fascinating. The revelation is simply a immense stroke to her. She's dedicated her beingness to sidesplitting Sauron, but successful her dogged quest to escaped Middle-earth of darkness, she did what she feared most: She brought Sauron back. How volition she beryllium capable to spot herself moving forward? How volition she regain the spot of radical similar Elrond, who intelligibly senses that thing is up with her? The possibilities for angst are overwhelming, and I can't hold to spot however Galadriel grows from this and tries to hole her sizeable mistake.

As amazed arsenic Galadriel whitethorn person been to observe that her closest state was really her worst enemy, The Rings of Power gives america respective hints on the mode that Halbrand is Sauron. For starters, his archetypal words are literally, "looks tin beryllium deceiving," which is shapeshifting Sauron's main maneuver for manipulation. He is besides a beardown and violent fighter, arsenic seen successful his brawl connected Númenor; helium loves smithing; and helium has beef with Adar, who claimed helium killed Sauron. Really, the lone happening that derails the Halbrand-Sauron mentation is the information that Halbrand is simply a caller character, and that Sauron's travel successful J.R.R. Tolkien's books is wholly different.

How is The Rings of Power's Sauron antithetic from J.R.R. Tolkien's work?

Halbrand doesn't beryllium successful Tolkien's legendarium, but Sauron astir surely does. In The Silmarillion, helium gains power of Mordor and past gets to enactment swaying Middle-earth to his side. The easiest radical to deceive are the humans, and the hardest are the elves. To triumph the elves over, Sauron goes to Eregion disguised arsenic Annatar, the Lord of Gifts. He helps Celebrimbor and the different smiths summation an adjacent higher mastery of their crafts, but helium leaves erstwhile they statesman crafting the Rings of Power. The Three Rings of the elves are made last.

Obviously, this each happens rather otherwise successful The Rings of Power. There is nary Annatar; the Three Rings are made first, though they're primitively envisioned arsenic crowns; and Halbrand is lone astatine Eregion for a fewer days alternatively of 3 centuries (the amusement is operating connected a highly condensed timeline, truthful this isn't that surprising).

However, The Rings of Power does springiness a quick, yet meaningful, motion to Annatar successful its finale. When helium advises Celebrimbor connected however to usage the mithril, Halbrand says, "call it a gift." The enactment is intelligibly a notation to Annatar's rubric of "Lord of Gifts," particularly fixed the accent Vickers puts connected it.

A rights contented whitethorn beryllium the crushed wherefore The Rings of Power could lone allude to Annatar alternatively of represent him directly. Amazon has the rights to The Lord of the Rings, including the appendices, and The Hobbit, but it does not person the rights to The Silmarillion. Annatar ne'er comes up successful The Lord of the Rings or the appendices, truthful it's apt showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay had to travel up with a originative solution to bring Sauron to Eregion. That solution? Halbrand.

As overmuch arsenic Halbrand being Sauron breaks Tolkien's canon, I americium intrigued to spot what helium volition bash next. Will helium effort to seduce the dwarves and the humans? Will helium return to Númenor to sow much discord? Or volition helium stay successful Mordor and crush his rivalry with Adar? Just similar with Galadriel, Sauron's aboriginal is wide open. And based connected that last changeable of a smiling black-cloaked Sauron hiking towards Mount Doom, I person to say: I'm incredibly excited to spot him clasp his villainy.

Season 1 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is present streaming connected Prime Video.(opens successful a caller tab)

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