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Well, folks, we did it. After eight episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power<\/em> and tirelessly poring over hints, teases, and near-literal winks to the camera, the Amazon Prime Lord of the Rings prequel has finally revealed that we were all right, and that Sauron is in fact Halbrand (Charlie Vickers). <\/p>\n

That\u2019s a good thing, since it would be a missed opportunity if he wasn\u2019t, something the Polygon crew thought during his very first scene \u2014 wouldn\u2019t it just be interesting<\/em> if the sole human to survive alongside Galadriel, who pulled her from the Sundering Seas, was Sauron, the big bad she\u2019s been hunting for years and the scourge of (future) Middle-earth? <\/p>\n

It came to color every scene with him in it, even though there were bigger mystery characters no one could explain. Even when it didn\u2019t exactly align with the extended lore, what with Galadriel theoretically being able to sense Sauron, there was always<\/em> a vibe. Maybe that charged moment between them with the dagger is (forgive me) a double-edged sword, and actually an indicator of his evilness. It was either that or he was the most boring character alive, which is saying something for The Rings of Power.<\/em><\/p>\n

If Halbrand\u2019s sudden heel turn came out of nowhere for you \u2014 well, what\u2019s there to say; we\u2019ve been updating this post for weeks now, using up all our red yarn on what turned out to be a totally accurate conspiracy theory. Here\u2019s a refresher on the evidence laced across the first season pointing directly to Halbrand\u2019s shenanigans: <\/p>\n

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• Here is a brief sample of quotes, said by Halbrand, in episode 5: \u201cYou don\u2019t know what I did. You don\u2019t know how I survived.\u201d \u201cWhat do you know of darkness?\u201d He also claims he will be \u201ccast out\u201d if his secret is revealed, and apologizes to Galadriel for the death of her brother (who was \u201ckilled\u201d by Sauron).<\/li>\n
• \nAdar took himself out of the running as Sauron in episode 6, but he shared a series of charged moments with Halbrand, who clearly feels personally wounded in some way by Adar\u2019s anti-Sauron campaign. During their encounter, Halbrand cryptically states that Adar should know who he is (as Halbrand nearly kills him), later leaving Adar to genuinely wonder, \u201cWho are you?\u201d when the two are briefly alone. There\u2019s not much about these interactions that might stand out as more than making Halbrand a tragic Middle-earth hero. But in conjunction with the rest of the show, there\u2019s something<\/em> there…<\/li>\n
• He is a brutal warrior, as demonstrated in the alley scene from episode 3, and doesn\u2019t seem to have many qualms about hurting those around him. <\/li>\n
• Halbrand is an original character to The Rings of Power<\/em>, and it\u2019s clear from episode 3 that the production has some<\/em> kind of plan for him and he\u2019s not just a character for Galadriel to deliver exposition to. But we don\u2019t think there\u2019s really much to this theory, though it is pretty funny.<\/li>\n
• It would just be neat, narratively, if everything Halbrand says wasn\u2019t a lie<\/em>, per se, but was just a half-truth. For instance, when he says shit like \u201cI am not the hero you seek\u201d \u2014 c\u2019mon! <\/li>\n
• Weirdly, though, his backstory is really specific and<\/em> not connected to any canon. Despite the name \u201cThe Southlands\u201d sounding like the Southrons, judging by where they are on the show map, they\u2019re not really south at all, but in the far east, beyond Mordor. Tolkien never illuminated the cultures of any peoples in that area. (We know a few things about Rh\u00fbn, but as you can see, that region is quite a ways northeast of Mordor.) We don\u2019t know of any kings from that region, or even monarchies or systems of government. Huh.<\/li>\n
• Subsequently, it would be top-tier prequel material to write a scene where Galadriel unwittingly encourages Sauron to be Sauron. That kind of dramatic irony is always the most delicious when it\u2019s done well. Especially when she\u2019s been ferociously combing the world for him and he decides to just hide in plain sight. We know that the Sauron of this era was called \u201cfair\u201d (meaning pale, but also pretty); while Halbrand may or may not fit the bill for this one, he is at the very least cunning and astute. Those are the exact traits someone would have to be to get a bunch of people to make rings for him. <\/li>\n
• Wait, hang on, the very first thing he shows an interest in other than staying out of trouble is getting a job as a smith? And then, in the fifth episode, he makes an exquisite blade that seems to stun a local guild worker.<\/li>\n
• Frankly, The Rings of Power<\/em> leans too much into obvious mystery boxes, and we think some subterfuge that really feels like it pulled the rug out from someone would be good.<\/li>\n
• He convinces Galadriel to chill out and stay in N\u00famenor…<\/li>\n
• When he gave Galadriel a dagger it\u2019s a moment that bonds them, and it\u2019s something that could potentially save her neck in N\u00famenor. Then again, it\u2019s also just giving her the potential to wreak havoc. And so far, even when it looks like he\u2019s helping the situation, Halbrand seems to be at best<\/em> out for himself and at worst kind of a chaos agent. <\/li>\n
• The only snag is that this would be a big departure from how Tolkien frames Sauron\u2019s post-war with Morgoth reappearance, where he disguised himself as an emissary of the Valar called \u201cAnnatar.\u201d And he\u2019d have to get out of N\u00famenor and to Middle-earth so that he can start working with Celebrimbor.<\/li>\n
• The very first line of the show \u2014 \u201cNothing is evil in the beginning,\u201d spoken by Galadriel \u2014 is pulled from Tolkien\u2019s text about Sauron, who was corrupted by Morgoth. It could come back around with Halbrand being just a regular dude also corrupted by the evils of the world. But it could also be a plant: With The Rings of Power<\/em> leaning more heavily into the grayness of Middle-earth\u2019s heroes, perhaps it\u2019s also going to spread some of that to its villains as well. <\/li>\n
• \nIf the Stranger is Gandalf and not a balrog then this is going to disappoint me, and I\u2019d very much like this show to extend an olive branch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

  
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  Well, folks, we did it. After eight episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and tirelessly poring over hints, teases, and near-literal winks to the camera, the Amazon Prime Lord of the Rings prequel has finally revealed that we were all right, and that Sauron is in fact Halbrand (Charlie Vickers). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/thumbor\/o0I18QWDMsYkCa3bNh7KBwTCwiw=\/0x124:5000x2742\/fit-in\/1200x630\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/24005551\/RPAZ_S1_210503_GRAMAT_00115_R3.JPG","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-news"],"yoast_head":"\n