Most book adaptations are entitled to a little artistic liberty, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is more provocative than most. Its first season caught plenty of flack for diverging from J.R.R. Tolkien’s written works, especially when it came to its big villain reveal. Though the Amazon prequel gave fans what they wanted and depicted the rise of Sauron, it took a very unorthodox approach to his reveal... and to his master plan. To some, The Rings of Power seemed to dig itself into a bit of a creative hole. The series has its work cut out for it in Season 2 — but as Sauron takes on a bigger role and continues his evil scheme, his premature reveal might just be The Rings of Power’s smartest choice yet.
How Rings of Power retconned Sauron
One of The Rings of Power Season 1’s biggest mysteries surrounded Sauron’s true identity. The first season presented a handful of potential suspects — but in the end, it was the roguish blacksmith Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) who was the dark lord in disguise. His true identity was revealed in the show’s Season 1 finale after Halbrand’s ally Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) brought him to the Elven kingdom of Eregion. There, Halbrand connected with Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), the greatest craftsman of the elves. But it’s actually Galadriel who convinces the smith to forge the first three Rings of Power — not only to restore the Elves’ power but to grant them a leg up against Sauron.
Things start a bit differently in Tolkien’s written works. In The Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Celebrimbor first meets Sauron in a “fair” disguise as Annatar, an emissary of the angelic Valar. In his alter ego as the “Lord of Gifts,” Sauron is able to trick the Elves of Eregion into fashioning of the Rings of Power. It’s not until much later, once rings for the elves, dwarves, and men of Middle-earth have already been forged, that anyone discovers his true identity.
The Rings of Power is not The Silmarillion
The Rings of Power takes some big creative liberties by introducing Sauron as Halbrand first — but given the complicated rights battle for Tolkien’s legendarium, it’s certainly warranted. Amazon only holds the rights to adapt Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and its prequel, The Hobbit. The lore laid out in books like The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales is strictly off-limits, which allows the series to interpret certain events differently. The Rings of Power created a new disguise for Sauron in order to avoid any legal entanglements, and it’s clearly reworking the forging of the rings to separate the series from established canon.
While The Rings of Power’s choices might be confusing to well-versed readers, casual fans probably haven’t noticed, and it all does also make for an exciting new take on the story. The legal limits imposed by Tolkien’s estate actually give The Rings of Power more freedom in the long run. It’s a little like the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, which frequently diverts from (and goes deeper than) the source material, Fire & Blood. Just as the HBO series offers “one possible version” of an objective truth, The Rings of Power is free to interpret the story of Middle-earth in a fresh way.
“The whole idea of doing a show in the Second Age was that it’s not a fixed target,” co-showrunner Patrick McKay recently told Entertainment Weekly. “[T]here’s an enormous amount of room for creation and improv within a loose framework.”
The Rings of Power Season 2 could fix Sauron
We’ll see a lot more story improv in the series’ second season. Revealing Sauron’s true identity early allows The Rings of Power to pivot from a mystery to more of a thriller. He’ll shed his disguise as Halbrand and finally become Annatar, reintroducing himself to Celebrimbor and working closely with him to forge more Rings of Power. Now that we know Sauron’s plan, we get to follow him as he works to bring it to fruition. We’ll likely get to know the character better than ever.
“From a storytelling perspective, instead of trying to guess who Sauron is, we’re now inside his mind,” Vickers told EW in the same article. “In the past, the camera would cut away from him when he had his private thoughts. Now the camera follows him through those thoughts. The audience is in on it, which I think is quite fun.”
Cynthia Addai-Robinson (who plays Númenorian queen Míriel) describes Season 2 as an exploration of “the villains’ journey” — but it’s important to note that Sauron doesn’t see himself as the bad guy. As Halbrand, he was one of the show’s many protagonists, and that doesn’t change as The Rings of Power continues.
“In Sauron’s mind, he’s the hero of his own story,” series co-showrunner JD Payne told EW. Not unlike Marvel’s own Thanos, Sauron wants to “heal” the world: “He’s got a very clear vision for how it should be done, and the only problem is other people keep on getting in the way.”
Sauron is one of the most iconic villains in pop culture, so don’t expect The Rings of Power to totally rehabilitate the character. But the series is in a unique position to bring more nuance to the antagonist and to explore his true motives. While it’s not 100% accurate to Tolkien’s vision, that may not matter in the grand scheme. The Rings of Power is less about how Sauron tried to take over Middle-earth than why — and that may be the best departure from the books yet.
