The Big Picture
Sauron has taken many disguises throughout history, including as Elves and beings of power.
Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, is one of Sauron’s most dangerous personas due to his deceitful nature.
Sauron’s return as Annatar in
The Rings of Power
Season 2 poses a significant threat, and changes from the books in the series make his presence intriguing.
The first trailer for The Rings of Power Season 2 is finally here, and it seems that some of the evils that threaten Middle-earth are finally showing their faces — some rather handsome faces, in some cases. Among the many awesome moments in the video, two of them demand special attention, showing the return of Charlie Vickers as Sauron, the big villain in Lord of the Rings lore, but wearing the disguise of an Elf. We already know Vickers from Season 1, when Sauron was disguised as a man from the Southlands named Halbrand, so what’s up with his new appearance?
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
Release Date September 1, 2022
Cast Morfydd Clark , Benjamin Walker , Nazanin Boniadi , Peter Mullan , Lenny Henry , Robert Aramayo , Cynthia Addai-Robinson , Ismael Cruz Cordova , Joseph Mawle , Ema Horvath , Markella Kavenagh , Owain Arthur
Main Genre Fantasy
Seasons 2
Studio Amazon
Franchise The Lord of The Rings
Characters By J.R.R. Tolkien
Story By J.R.R. Tolkien
Sauron Is a Master of Disguise and Has Taken Many Forms Over the Ages
At the end of Season 1 of The Rings of Power, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) has a falling out with Halbrand in the Elvish realm of Eregion, after they have spent the whole season rescuing each other from the sea, from Numenorean prisons, and so on. By then, she thought Halbrand was simply what he claimed to be: the long-lost king of the Southlands. After the forging of the three Elven Rings of Power, though, she understood he isn’t what he claims, nor seems. During their argument, he reveals his true identity: Sauron, the villain Galadriel had been after all along.
There are many hints scattered around in Season 1 that Sauron was still alive and kicking, and many viewers speculated that he was either disguised as Halbrand or the character known as the Stranger (Daniel Weyman). This speaks to how Sauron is known by fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, in which he has many abilities, including being a master of disguise. Throughout the countless stories that make up Tolkien’s Legendarium, Sauron has taken many forms for many different reasons, from just lying low and waiting for people to forget him, to slowly sowing the seeds of chaos in ancient societies.
The very first time Sauron shows up is in Tolkien’s first book, The Hobbit. Thanks to Peter Jackson’s movie adaptation, it’s now widely known that Sauron was disguised as the Necromancer who took residence in the fortress of Dol Guldur, but no one in Middle-earth suspected that. Millennia earlier, Sauron was one of the lieutenants of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, and served him in many forms. One of them, as shown in Beren and Lúthien, was Thû the Huntsman, the person responsible for the taming of the monsters and creatures in Morgoth’s fortress of Angband. He has also taken many other forms, especially animals and monsters, so his posing as something completely different from his true identity as the second Dark Lord is nothing new. His Elf disguise, however, is extremely dangerous.
Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, Is the Most Dangerous of Sauron’s Disguises
A disguise is nothing without a good cover, and, as a trickster by nature, Sauron is aware of that, creating convincing personas every time he needs to pose as someone (or something else). We have seen him do this with his Halbrand persona, which fooled everyone who crossed paths with him, even Galadriel. In Season 2, The Rings of Power will show Sauron’s most famous persona, the Elf Annatar, known as the Lord of Gifts for the way he always has something to give those around him who are powerful. It’s also his most dangerous disguise.
In the Tolkien novels, Annatar shows up in Middle-earth claiming to be an emissary of the Valar (who are sort of a pantheon of gods in the Legendarium), and is always bearing gifts as a way of being accepted into wherever he wants to go. The first place he goes is Lindon, the Elvish capital of Middle-earth, to try and sway the High-King of the Noldor, Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker). However, Gil-Galad and his most trusted advisor, Elrond (Robert Aramayo), immediately distrust Annatar, and turn him away as he tries to enter Lindon. Still, both Elves don’t realize Annatar is in fact Sauron, so he is allowed to continue wandering around afterward.
After Lindon, Annatar goes to the Eregion, the realm of the Elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). Celebrimbor is the most skilled smith in Middle-earth since the death of his grandfather, Fëanor, and has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge about forging, longing to make something that would put him on the same level as his grandfather. Annatar uses Celebrimbor’s ambition to be let inside Eregion, and the two of them work together to forge the Rings of Power. In Eregion, no one suspects Annatar could have any malicious intents — after all, he claims to be an emissary of the Valar. The only Elf who openly distrusts him in Eregion is Galadriel, but that is not enough. In the end, Sauron retreats to Mordor to forge the One Ring, and only then does Celebrimbor realize he was tricked and betrayed.
How Is Sauron Back in Eregion in ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2?
There are many changes from the books in The Rings of Power, the very persona of Halbrand being among the biggest. As far as it’s known from the books, Sauron never took such an identity, but that’s part of the artistic liberties an adaptation has to take to make a story its own. After he helps Celebrimbor forge the three Elven rings in Season 1 (which is another major deviation from the books, as these were the last Rings of Power to be made, originally), the trailer shows Sauron to be back in Eregion, his Annatar persona looking the same as Halbrand, but with Elvish features, so when does he return?
There is no knowing what is part of visions and what actually happens in the trailer, but Sauron being in Eregion definitely seems to be real. However, The Rings of Power has already proven that it’s not afraid to make changes to Tolkien lore. In this sense, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sauron decides to skip Lindon altogether and head straight to Eregion, since he already knows Celebrimbor. In Season 1, the only Elves to see or interact with Halbrand were the nurses, Celebrimbor, Galadriel, and Elrond, which might explain why Annatar isn’t recognized — Galadriel and Elrond are somewhere else, and Celebrimbor is too ambitious and gullible to let Annatar go away.
Another part of The Rings of Power Season 2 that sparks curiosity is that it seems Eregion will be under attack eventually, as great balls of fire are shown to hit the city in one scene. The first impulse is to consider the Sack of Eregion, which, in the books, happens after Sauron has already forged the One Ring and is openly waging war on the Elves. However, it still seems too early for that to happen in The Rings of Power. A good guess is that this is how Annatar gets inside Eregion in the first place, among the chaos of an attack done as a diversion either by Sauron’s lackeys or even Adar (Sam Hazeldine). One thing is certain: Sauron being back in Eregion spells doom for all those against him.
Season 1 of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available to stream exclusively on Prime Video, with Season 2 set to premiere on August 29.
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