We often don’t always recognize some of the genius that goes into our favorite shows. The ways that Easter eggs are dropped in, camera angles that lead you to feel certain things, and the way music works upon us. Film and television are works of art, and the best artists can make us feel things without even knowing why. But as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power composer Bear McCreary tells us, there is science behind the magic.
One of the big reveals of the first season was that of Sauron, and many had been wondering all season long whether we would finally get a look at one of the biggest villains in literary and cinematic history. From our knowledge of the books, we knew that Sauron during this time was disguised, and infiltrated the realm of the elves and forging of the rings, but we had no idea how he was going to appear in the Prime Video series, which took some “creative liberties.”
It was finally revealed that Galadriel’s human companion, Halbrand, was, in fact, the Dark Lord, to mixed reviews from audiences and critics alike. Now, the series composer, Bear McCreary, has opened up about how he had actively been preparing us for this throughout the entire first season, speaking to ComicBook, he revealed,
“One of the things that I had the most fun with was the Sauron theme. Spoiler alert, he is another character in season one. It turns out he’s teased, but we also get to know him before we realize it’s him and that character has a theme as well. That character’s theme is the Sauron theme backward. You’ve been hearing these notes. You already have this duality, this built-in subconscious trick that I used to sort of teach you that Sauron’s here. You know him even if you don’t know that you know him.”
Just because the character has been revealed though doesn’t mean that McCreary is finished done with the music, oh no. The composer opened up about what we can expect in season two.
“Going into Season 2, all I can say is that there’s some really great twists and turns and his theme is going to continue to evolve. Sauron is a shape-shifter. As he changes shape to manipulate in the surroundings to his own ends, his music is going to have to adapt. What I think is really cool is I’ve already conditioned the audience to expect that. I’ve already conditioned the audience. Whether you know it or not, your brain understands that this certain shape of notes, which is itself a little circle. It’s this ring. It’s the only theme that has this circular repeating thing. I think you’re going to hear other variations of that in the next season that are going to be pretty cool.”
This leads us to believe that we will be seeing a lot more behind the mask (or helmet) of Sauron in the next season, perhaps digging further into his machinations and also his own personal beliefs and desires that lead him to commit such atrocities. J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is known for generating some fantastic music in its adaptions, so we cannot wait to hear more.
