Lord of the Rings Rings of Power: These clues totally got lost!

The first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime video ended with a dramatic revelation. At this point we prefer to talk about an acute one Spoiler alert from: who that final If you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want to spoil anything, you shouldn’t read any further. Because in the finale, it was revealed that the charming Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) is actually none other than the terrible Sauron. While some may have noticed near the end, writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay have now revealed that they gave clues as to Halbrand’s true identity from the start.

The clues were there from the start

In the closing moments of the final episode of season one, Halbrand revealed Galadriel to his true self and made his way into the newly created mordor, clearly aiming to regain his former status after defeating Morgoth. His character evolved into one of the fans’ main contenders as the series progressed to actually be Sauron.

Nevertheless, there should have been hints in the series right from the start as to where the journey was going. In conversation with Vanity Fair showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay confirmed that they had already started laying the groundwork for the big Sauron reveal from Halbrand’s first appearance.

“Yes, in his very first scene he has one eye looking over his shoulder. And in episode two he says [im Englischen]: ‘The tides of fate are flowing. Yours may be heading in ‘”explains Payne. “[Der erste Teil davon] is the sentence that Galadriel to Frodo says as the ring comes near her. She’s repeating the first thing he ever said to her.”

He further elaborates: “She asks on the raft, ‘I just wonder what kind of people so easily abandon their mates to death?’ He replies, ‘The kind that knows how to survive. ‘”

Perhaps the most obvious clue is Halbrand’s comment shortly after Galadriel is taken in by his shipwrecked companions: “Appearances can often be deceiving”. The statement was related to the Elfin, but it seems that he is speaking here from his own experience.

Both Galadriel and viewers were led to believe that Halbrand might be the heroic King of the Southlands. Instead, Sauron was inspired by the warlike Elbe to attempt to regain his power. It all boils down to establishing his reign of terror over Middle-earth.