We’re four episodes into The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and it’s still even money on which character will reveal themselves to be the dark lord Sauron, heir to the evil of Morgoth and foe of all good creatures of Middle-earth. Fan theories have abounded, with many thinking the mysterious stranger who fell from the sky to be the obvious choice, while others favor the sinister Adar, “father” of the orcs. Or maybe it’s Poppy. But could it be that all of them have been deceived?
The newest fan theory posted to Reddit makes the bold claim that the answer to “Who is actually Sauron?” is (sound buzzer here), “none of the above,” and that wrapped in mystery and enigma as these new, more or less non-canonical characters may be, they aren’t the series’ big bad.
While Middle-earth creator J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing regarding Sauron is often vague during the better part of the so-called Second Age of his history, it is written that Sauron first appeared to the Elven Smiths of Eregion in a beautiful guise, calling himself “Annatar,” the self-proclaimed lord of gifts. He then used his influence to forge the master ring, the “One Ring to Rule Them All.” While many fans remain convinced that a character we have encountered thus far will reveal themselves to have been Sauron all along, Reddit user gundawg300 suspects the actual reveal may be far less complicated.
“We haven’t met Sauron yet [what if] he’s working with Celebrimbor in Eregion and will be an end-of-season reveal (as Annatar)?” he writes, positing that Sauron may be the last character audiences will meet at the end of the current season.
And gundawg300 isn’t the only one on social media positing the theory that Sauron-as-Annatar has actually been working with the elves behind the scene this whole time. Twitter user @fiery_undomiel has posted the same theory to their TROP spoiler account, stating that “Sauron/Annatar is already in Eregion manipulating Celebrimbor, that’s why in this scene he seems to be in such a hurry to get the forge built.”
Will we get to see Sauron in the last scene of season one, or is one of the many characters we’ve already met set for a major reveal in the next few episodes? Fans will most likely have to white-knuckle it through the next four remaining episodes to find out.
New episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power begin streaming each Friday on Prime Video.
