The Rings of Power featured plenty of new characters for fans to enjoy, but there was one character who fans couldn't stop speculating about. Whenever a new character appeared, it seemed that fans immediately thought they might be the hidden Dark Lord, Sauron. Writer and Executive Producer Gennifer Hutchinson discussed those theories from a writer's point of view in an interview with GameZXC.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power explored the Second Age of Middle-Earth. In this age, many of the cultures and peoples that were in shambles during the Third Age were at their zenith, and one of the most important events in Middle-Earth occurred during this Age: the forging of the titular rings of power, particularly the One Ring which becomes the focus of The Lord of the Rings. During the Second Age, Sauron walks freely among Middle-Earth instead of being confined to Mordor as he is during the Third Age. With the ability to disguise himself and seduce others to his cause, he could be any one of the characters on the show.
While speaking with GameZXC, Hutchinson spoke about her reaction to the Rings of Power speculation about which character may be Sauron. "It was actually really fun," she said. "And people made some very funny memes about it, which I absolutely love and enjoy. I mean, I love fan engagement like that, and I think if you can get people guessing, especially if they're having fun with it and like making memes, that's really a great part of the job. We write shows to connect with people and to get people to feel things and ask questions, and so, if everybody's like 'that's Sauron, that's Sauron,' great, we did our job! And I'm sure a lot of people did guess correctly, so then you get that thing of like 'oh, I got it right.' I love that stuff; I think it's a fun part of the job.
The season finale of The Rings of Power tricked fans with a misdirect: the mysterious Stranger who fell from the sky was mistakenly identified as Sauron by the characters. But as it turns out, of the Rings of Power characters who might have been Sauron, the Stranger could not have been the farthest from him. As it turns out, Sauron's secret identity was none other than Halbrand, who attempted to seduce Galadriel to his cause. Galadriel, however, successfully rebuffed him and Sauron now operates out in the open.
The Stranger's identity, meanwhile, turned out to be one of the Istari: one of the five wizards sent to Middle-Earth to combat Sauron's influence. Though it is not explicitly said, the character's insistence that "if in doubt, always follow your nose" heavily implied that he's actually Gandalf. He likely had not gained that name by this time, but he goes by many names, and, being so new to Middle-Earth, has not yet been named by the people of Middle-Earth.
Sauron's identity being revealed opens up a lot of storytelling possibilities for Rings of Power season 2, which is already filming. The series will now have an overarching villain operating out in the open; it seemed as though season 1 was continually building up to this, the tension continually rising. The world of Middle-Earth is about to face a huge threat, and soon it will begin to resemble more of what is seen in the Third Age.
The Rings of Power is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Source: GameZXC