There has been a lot of speculation about how Sauron will appear in The Lord of the Rings: Ring of Power. Galadriel is obsessed with hunting down the dark villain, but so far, he hasn’t shown up, save for that quick, shady glimpse at the episode’s opening. However, our theory suggests that the fabled villain has met Galadriel…and is hiding out of sight.
Spoilers from JRR Tolkien’s work follow, so if you don’t want potential plot points for Ring of Thrones to be leaked, come back now!
In the second episode of The Ring of Power, Galadriel encounters a raft full of people after jumping from the boat that took her to Valinor. They try to hide from the giant sea worm that destroys their ship, but the creature soon returns and wipes out all the survivors, except Galadriel and a mysterious new character named Halbrand.
Halbrand is an original invention of the show, so there is no legend in JRR Tolkien’s work that explains who he is or his motives. This has led to some speculation that he is Sauron, the Dark Lord, who will cause chaos in the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth.
To explain why Halbrand might be Sauron, we have to delve into some Tolkien lore. First, Sauron is actually a shapeshifter. In fact, during the Second Age – when the Ring of Power was set – Sauron disguised herself as Anata, the so-called “Lord of Gifts”, who was associated with the creation of the Ring of Power which bestowed mortals on humans, elves and dwarves. Sauron helped the elven blacksmiths make rings as Anata, and later secretly made a ring that could control other rings of power (“one ring to rule them”).
Speculators believe that Halbrand could be the show’s version of Anata, and there are some clues. In Tolkien’s Addendum, Sauron is captured by King Númenor – that’s the city of the Dúnedain, aka the Longevity (Aragorn is one of them), and also at the end of episode 2 Harb Where Rand and Galadriel end up.
In the Addendum, Sauron used his dark influence to become an advisor to the king – which led to the destruction of Númenor. However, there is a huge caveat: this won’t happen until after Forging a Ring and a conflict known as the Elven War. Unless the Ring of Power makes a substantial adjustment to the Lord of the Rings timeline, it makes no sense for Sauron to be in Númenor before the Forge of the Ring and the War of the Elves. The fact that Sauron was taken to Númenor as a prisoner after that famous battle contradicts this theory. However, since the Ring of Power timeline has been condensed, this is still a possibility, or it could be an undocumented trip by Sauron.
Either way, there is compelling evidence that Halbrand is evil. In his first scene, he says to Galadriel, “Appearances can be deceiving.” This speaks for itself… In the opening episode between the Elf King Gil-galad and Elrond, Gil-gal Larder says they’re all happy that Galadriel is leaving Middle-earth, because her mission to destroy Sauron will end up backfiring. “She may have inadvertently allowed the evil she swore to defeat, to continue,” Gilgalad said. By finding Halbrand and helping him in the Sea of Divide, sending him to Númenor, Galadriel may well have accidentally helped Sauron just as Gil-galad had feared.
At least, Halbrand is somewhat suspicious, even if he is not Sauron, he can be one of the servants of the Dark Lord. For example, the Nazgul are powerful warriors who have acquired the Ring of Strength and are then corrupted by Sauron-Halbrand or any other human character who, if they end up getting the Ring, has the potential to become one of these villains.
Will Halbrand really be the Witch King in waiting? We’ll find out over the five seasons of the show. Meanwhile, for more on Ring of Thrones, see our theory about who the Stranger might be, and a little detail that suggests the Stranger is more sinister than he looks. You can also learn about the inhabitants of Middle-earth with our Ultimate Ring of Power character guide.
The Lord of the Rings shows feature a new episode every week, and you can check our Rings of Thrones release schedule to find out when the next episode will arrive in your time zone.
