The Lord of the Rings universe, created by J.R.R. Tolkien, returned to the screen in 2022, but this time as an Amazon Prime tv series. The first season of The Rings of Power, which was set during the Second Age and mostly through Galadriel’s eyes, explored the beginnings of the franchise. The first season of The Rings of Power held the promise of revealing Lord Sauron, the show’s main antagonist.
The fantasy television show dropped hints about which character was Sauron during the season. The eighth episode of The Rings of Power, “Alloyed,” revealed that Vickers’ Halbrand was the infamous bad guy because he had been deceiving Galadriel the entire time. Despite Sauron’s escape, the adventure has only just begun because season two of The Rings of Power will feature more of his terror.
What’s Next For Sauron?
Charlie Vickers, who plays Sauron in The Rings of Power, talks about the villain’s future plans following the season 1 finale. Vickers discussed the repercussions of Halbrand really being Sauron and his future plans in an exclusive interview.
The 29-year-old actor claims that season 2 of The Rings of Power will explore Sauron’s “repentance stage,” whether it is sincere or not. Vickers is eager to see how Sauron can take a new form in LOFTR The Rings of Power season 2, sharing the following, though the showrunners have not yet given him all the information.
“Definitely. We are aware that Sauron takes various guises at this time. All I have to say about that is maybe. Maybe we’ll carry out those plans. However, I’m extremely eager to watch him do the things that we already know he does. He gets to go to Numenor, where he plans for Numenor to fall, and he has a ton of rings to build.
After then, he must assume a different form and participate in the Battle of the Last Alliance. The battle was near the conclusion of the Second Age. “The actor then continued by saying: “I am not aware of the showrunners’ ideas for how it will play out, but I enjoyed playing him during this period of repentance.
It is debatable if repentance is sincere or not. But now that he’s sort of out there, I believe it’s going to be really fantastic. And then it says, “I’m back.” I have been staying. I’ve been coming pretty slowly. I’m back now, thanks to Galadriel. And I can’t wait to play that.”
Sauron With Dwarfs
The first season of The Rings of Power” on Prime Video has come to a thrilling finale. Although the television show has made hints that Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) had done certain crimes before his fortunate encounter with Galadriel, very few would have guessed that they included, say, the dark Lord Sauron.
It’s a rather surprising revelation, especially given that it follows a Season 1, Episode 8 fake-out in which three baddies approach The Stranger and reveal him to be Lord Sauron. Although the series’ focus and scope will be significantly altered by the series’ climactic reveal and the creation of the first Rings of Power in the prequel show, Halbrand actor Vickers has more realistic expectations for his time in the second season of the fantasy show.
Charlie Vickers Scenes With Dwarves
In addition to discussing the major twist in The Rings of Power, Charlie Vickers also shared his thoughts on what his antagonist might be up to in Season 2. Even though Sauron was approaching the recently revealed land of Mordor at the conclusion of Season 1, Vickers still wished his character would leave those terrible regions, if only temporarily.
Vickers remarked, “I would be delighted to share some sequences with the dwarves since it’s such a deep and beautifully created world.” “There is a lot there, and it’s so different from my current storyline. We’ll see — maybe, maybe not, but I’d love to share scenes with that”.
While some locations in The Rings of Power, such as the island of Numenor, do seem relatively beyond the character’s grasp, it’s still possible that Sauron will eventually come into contact with the dwarves. It might even be canonical in J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe for him to make their rings next, given that he should be doing so.
It’s also likely that Sauron may use his dark control over the Balrog to cause problems for the dwarves since the creature was already revealed in Season 1 of the series. Vickers and “Lord of the Rings” fans will have to wait to find out where the character goes in Season 2.
Show Runners On Sauron’s Storyline
The showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne say that season 2 of The Rings of Power will feature a more canonical plot. Many elements, including characters and places, from J.R.R. Tolkien’s description of Middle-earth’s Second Age have been incorporated into The Rings of Power show.
Numenor’s prominence and the presence of important characters like Elrond, Galadriel, and Sauron are two examples of this. Although there are occasional inconsistencies with these well-known names, such as Galadriel acting differently from her elder The Lord of the Rings counterpart, the plot is mostly true to Tolkien’s texts.
But from the beginning, the series has featured reimagined characters and ideas that are particular to its account of Sauron’s rise and the creation of the Power Rings. This includes Isildur’s sister, Eärien, who didn’t exist in Tolkien’s book, and the Stranger, a mystery man who descended from the sky and seemed to be one of the five wizards.
The most important character is Halbrand, a man who approaches Galadriel and declares himself to be the king of the Southlands before revealing to her that he is actually Sauron. Despite those new additions or changes to the lore, it appears like season 2 will use Tolkien’s text more accurately and in-depth. The showrunners of The Rings of Power, Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, confirmed in an interview that the second season would place more emphasis on Tolkien’s lore.
McKay and Payne use Sauron as an example to show how they will be able to focus on developing his character in Rings of Power season 2. See what the creators of The Rings of Power had to say below: Payne: “First season begins with Galadriel. Who is she? What was her origin? What did she experience? What motivates her? The same thing is being done with Sauron in season two. We’ll fill all of the gaps.”
McKay: “Now, Sauron can just be himself. Like Walter White or Tony Soprano. Although complex, he is evil. We believed that if we did it in season one, he would outshine everything else. As a result, the first season is comparable to Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight is the following film, with Sauron acting in the open. We’re very excited. There is a canonical plot in season two. It’s possible that some viewers would think, “This is the storyline we were expecting to get in season one!” We’re delivering it to them in season two.”
Sauron’s Rise To Power
The season 1 finale of The Rings of Power, in which Celebrimbor forged the 3 Elven Rings as he does in Tolkien’s books, appears to have cemented Payne and McKay’s attention on canon. It’s likely that Rings of Power season 2 will concentrate more on laying the foundation for Sauron’s rise to power because the series was originally intended to be a five-season story.
There’s a good chance fan will see him begin work on his castle, Barad-dûr, in Mordor, maybe seizing control of the orcs led by corrupted Elf Adar in the process. There are still sixteen rings that need to be created with the Elves under Sauron’s supervision. Therefore, his deception may not be over, either. In order to accomplish this, the Dark Lord assumes the persona of Annatar, a friendly persona he uses to win the Elves’ trust—a plan he would follow in The Rings of Power Season 2.
Rings of Power season 2’s addition of new characters like Crdan suggests a greater emphasis on the Rings as well; Crdan specifically warns Celebrimbor against collaborating with Annatar to build them. Additionally, McKay and Payne have previously mentioned a two-episode war in Rings of Power season 2 that may be a retelling of Sauron’s attack on the Elven city of Eregion, mostly during War of the Elves and Sauron.
However, such a fight would require the creation of the One Ring, suggesting that viewers might witness the title Lord of the Rings item sooner rather than later. The Rings of Power season 2 is expected to be fast-paced, action-packed, and memorable thanks to McKay and Payne’s promises of a canon-focused plot.
The Stranger’s Storyline
The Stranger’s identity has finally been revealed in The Rings of Power, which has sent Gandalf on a quest to the Rhûnian kingdoms in the east of Middle-earth. The Rings of Power’s first season was essentially a mystery box, including a variety of individuals whose true identities were unknown.
The answers to these questions were finally revealed in the season finale, with one of the most thrilling revelations being a strong indication that the Stranger will eventually become Gandalf the Grey. He was first mistaken for Sauron by the Dweller, Nomad, and Ascetic (whose confusion mirrored that of many fans), but he declared he was good, and in the end, he used a line of dialogue that was connected to Gandalf himself in Tolkien’s texts.
The Stranger embarks on a quest—or, more accurately, an adventure—at the conclusion of the story with Nori by his side. The Stranger senses that the answers he is still looking for will be found in the country of Rhûn, which Sauron’s servants mentioned to him. Since his arrival in Middle-earth from Valinor.
It appears that Gandalf has made it a habit to travel with hobbits; his friendship with Nori and her Harfoots friends undoubtedly left a lasting impression on him. The confrontation between Gandalf and Sauron, who was also introduced in The Rings of Power episode 8, is undoubtedly just a matter of time. That fight might very possibly happen in Rhûn’s territory.
Lands Of Rhûn
The lands of Rhûn are simply named after the elvish term for the east; Tolkien’s writings barely touched on this region, and only a portion of the lands of Rhûn can be seen on Tolkien’s maps of Middle-earth. Despite the fact that Tolkien’s literature claimed that both elves and humans were born in the east. This area was ultimately regarded as the domain of darkness since it was the furthest away from the light of the Valar, which is in the west, making it a haven for Morgoth and Sauron.
The people from Rhûn and beyond, known as Easterlings, had already chosen to follow Morgoth, and now they have chosen to do the same with Sauron. Khamûl was the name of one of Sauron’s Nazgûl (or Ringwraiths). The Easterling presumably indicates that he was a monarch among those who were destroyed by the rings.
Gandalf’s To Rhûn
J.R.R. Tolkien’s appendices and notes on the history of Middle-earth served as a major source of inspiration for The Rings of Power. In the essay “Glorfindel,” he suggests that Gandalf (also known as Olorin) visited Middle-earth well before the Third Age depicted in The Lord of the Rings, moving among the people and getting “acquainted” with them.
“Nothing is stated about this,” Tolkien concluded these notes about Gandalf the Grey’s lost history, although he later changed it to “nothing has yet been saying about this.” The Rings of Powers reveals Gandalf’s untold past, including a trip to the Rhûnian lands.
According to The Lord of the Rings mythology, Gandalf has no known link to Rhûn. In fact, by the Third Age, he was certain that he would never travel to Middle-earth’s east, leaving that region to the Blue Wizards. Ironically, up until this point, it appeared that Gandalf’s ally Aragorn knew Rhûn better than he did.
In his speech at the Council of Elrond, Aragorn stated that he had “crossed many mountain ranges and many rivers and pushed down many plains, even into the far nations of Rhûn and Harad where even the stars are strange.” Aragorn’s remark can be interpreted as proof that Gandalf will, in fact, discover answers at Rhûn in The Rings of Power season 2, as Rhûn is the location that Gandalf is searching for, in part based on his sketch of constellations.
Mixed Thoughts On Rings Of Power Season 1
The entire creation of the Rings of Power is crammed in Season 1. Sauron has not a fair “emissary of the Valar” type visage but rather a grimy human one, we only see three out of 19 rings, we never see Gil-galad and Elrond reject Sauron when he tries to infiltrate Lindon, and Galadriel is certainly not mistrusting of Sauron until it’s like way…way too late. It quite simply did not live up to my expectations.
This season was the definition of a mixed bag for me. There were moments I genuinely loved and characters, locations, and one particular storyline that I thought were great – and there were other moments, dialogue, and story decisions that totally fell flat. At the end of the day, I really truly hope that the folks making this series take a good look at what worked and what didn’t in this first season and adjust accordingly going into Season 2.
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