The following incorporates spoilers from the Rings of Power Season 1 finale. Proceed accordingly.
Finally, we all know who Sauron is in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The Dark Lord’s identification was revealed in Thursday’s Season 1 finale when Galadriel investigated the lineage of the true King of the Southlands. She uncovered a startling revelation in Eregion’s archives: The king’s line died a thousand years in the past, and he had no heirs, that means that Halbrand lied about who he was. When she confronted him about this, the mysterious Southlander confirmed that he was, certainly, the Sauron.
While the viewers solely discovered of Sauron’s true identification within the finale, portrayer Charlie Vickers discovered who he was actually taking part in simply earlier than capturing Episode 3. “I filmed that scene on the raft in the first and the second episode not knowing, just thinking I was Halbrand,” Vickers tells TVLine.
For those that’ve been paying shut consideration to Halbrand, Episode 3 provided a giant clue about his background. When he was heckled by a gaggle of Númenóreans, he misplaced his cool and snapped a person’s arm, additionally demanding that they “call me Halbrand” in a sinister voice.
“I think that’s a really interesting moment because for some people, you would think Sauron is one of the great villains, [so] why is he having a bar fight in an alleyway with some big dudes in Númenor? He wouldn’t be doing that,” the actor shares. “But I wholeheartedly think he would for two reasons: I think it shows how low he’s fallen, and Tolkien talks of how low he falls in this period, and then he reemerges very slowly. Also, you see an element of his weakness, that he’s a bad guy, and if you trigger him, he can explode and make mistakes.”
We noticed that mood flare up once more when he tried to control Galadriel into becoming a member of him as his queen, and he or she firmly rejected him. His complete demeanor modified, and he started taunting her till they have been outright screaming at one another.
“It’s outrageous. I mean, it’s the gaslighting,” Vickers says of Sauron’s confrontation with Galadriel. “He wants her to help him to affect his designs faster [because] she’s an ear to the elves. They operate on this frequency, and he’s trying to persuade her.” Both he and costar Morfydd Clark discovered that second to be “a bit triggering” as a result of they have been proper again the place they began on the raft, which was extraordinarily troublesome to movie on. However, it was additionally “cool to take it full circle.”
The visceral scene additionally marked the tip of Galadriel and Halbrand’s friendship, which had been constructing all through the season. And whereas Vickers concedes that there have been “definite vibes” between the pair, he didn’t suppose they have been significantly romantic.
“I’ve heard people have been ‘shipping,” he says, “and I’m down for that. I don’t think there were romantic vibes, but it’s awesome people think that. I think they more vibe on this level of, ‘We’re both operating on some kind of different frequency to everyone else.’ For Sauron/Halbrand, it’s been a long time since I’ve met someone that can operate near to the level that I’m at, and that is really thrilling. I think that’s where the chemistry comes from.”
(*1*)Season 1 ended with Sauron looking at Mount Doom within the horizon, signaling that the Dark Lord has arrived in Mordor. With manufacturing and filming on Season 2 already underway, Vickers is aware of precisely the place his character goes subsequent season.
“I think the most exciting thing is that the world is established in Season 1. We’ve seen the three rings,” he notes. “The three elven rings get made, and he has a part in it, although he doesn’t make them directly. We know from the lore that there’s a lot of cool stuff that gets to happen soon.”
That contains the creation of the seven rings for the dwarves, and 9 rings for mortal males. Oh, after which there’s the grasp ring, aka the One Ring to Rule Them All. “The One Ring is down the track,” Vickers provides. “He’s got to make those rings at some point, and we’re doing it in the show. I can’t confirm or deny any details around that, but I’m so excited for when we get to that point in the story.”
As for the Halbrand of all of it, Vickers doesn’t suppose Sauron has left that half of his journey fully behind.
“I think it’s been really cool to play him in this period of repentance. Whether it’s genuine or not is really interesting and something that is a big theme in what Tolkien writes about the character in this time,” Vickers says. “He always thinks he’s doing good, so there is that complexity to him as a character, that he’s trying to heal and rehabilitate Middle-earth.”
Plus, the Dark Lord takes completely different types throughout the Second Age, including to his attract. “I think there will always be that element for the audience of, like, ‘Sure, he’s definitely evil and should be thought of as terrible,’” Vickers concludes. “But, hopefully, when we see things from his point of view, we see that [he has] fair motives — at least in the beginning. I like for me that there will always be a flicker of Halbrand within me, because I’ve been through this this season.”
How are you feeling about Halbrand being Sauron in The Rings of Power? Were you shocked, or do you know all alongside?
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