Who is Adar in ‘The Rings of Power?’ The mysterious new villain, explained

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power episode 3, ‘Adar’

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is going to great lengths to keep the identity of Sauron and his minions secret. One of them — who goes by the name Adar — made his debut in the third episode, which was also deliberately named after him. But who is this new Orc commander and how seriously should we take him?

Spoilers to follow.

We haven’t even glimpsed Adar’s face in the series, but thanks to Amazon’s promotional campaign from a few months ago — not to mention several full-length trailers — we know that he’ll be portrayed by Game of Thrones alum Joseph Mawle. Most of you recognize him as Uncle Benjen, though who knew that his wanderings beyond the Wall would ultimately bring him to Middle-earth – and as a villain, no less?

In all seriousness, it looks like the Amazon Prime series intends to keep the identity of Adar under wraps, but we might have a few guesses as to who it might be. A lot of fans seem to think he’s a lieutenant of Sauron’s, and of Elven kind, at that. Some think he’s Sauron himself, appearing in the guise of this commander for the time being.

Another possibility points to a king or ruler of Men, who has already pledged himself to the Dark Lord. His transformation will be complete when Sauron gives him one of the nine rings, thus turning him into a Nazgul.

“Adar” is a Quenya word (one of the two major Elvish languages) that roughly translates to “father.” As to what that could imply from a semantic perspective, your guess is as good as ours. The Enemy had a lot of powerful henchmen at his behest, and we’ve only ever seen some of them in the main story. The nine Ringwraiths were some of them, the Mouth of Sauron in The Return of the King, another.

So, is Adar a simple lieutenant, doing what Sauron bids until the Dark Lord deems it fit to reveal himself? Or is he Sauron himself, who, at the time of The Rings of Power, could change his physical appearance at will?

I guess we’ll find the answer to that question one way or another as Amazon’s ambitious Middle-earth adaptation builds toward its season one finale in the upcoming weeks.