This article includes spoilers for the Rings of Power season 1 finale.
Charlie Vickers, who played Sauron in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, spoke on the difficulty of portraying the malevolent Sauron. The very first season of The Rings of Power, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy novels, recently concluded on Amazon Prime Video, and production on season 2 is presently ongoing in England. The events presented in Rings of Power occurred thousands of years before those examined in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, in the Second Age of Middle-earth.
Throughout the entire first season, fans are frequently left wondering where the Dark Lord Morogth’s servant and ultimate successor, Sauron, was. However, in the season one finale, fans were surprised to realize that Vickers’ character Halbrand was actually Sauron in disguise the entire time. Honoring Tolkien’s original portrayal of Sauron as a clever liar, Halbrand was able to conceal his identity till Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel realized he couldn’t possible be the genuine King of the Southlands.
Following the dramatic season finale, Screen Rant have spoken with Vickers about his involvement in the show and what it was like to keep Sauron’s secret identity hidden until the big reveal. Vickers described his performance as “a great challenge as an actor,” saying he “wholeheartedly portrayed Halbrand in the same way that Sauron is wholeheartedly playing Halbrand.” Check out his complete remarks below:
“It was tricky because I didn’t want to play into the suspicions too much [in] the beginning because I didn’t know if they were true. So it was a real challenge as an actor, actually. And I look back on it and think, “Wow, that was an anxious time for me,” because I felt like I was walking this tightrope. Like, was I? Wasn’t I? And I think it was kept from me by people because they had the best intentions really. And when I did learn, to be honest, it didn’t change my approach too much on the day, it just changed the fact that I was able to dive headfirst into even more of the lore, and more of the books.”
“And right now I’m on the letters of Tolkien and Morgoth’s ring and The Silmarillion. So, I was able to really pinpoint Tolkien’s thoughts on Sauron. And then I would hope that the subconscious work that I did just informed my decisions on the day. I wholeheartedly played Halbrand in the same way that Sauron is wholeheartedly playing Halbrand, in order to convince someone like Galadriel, who is not easily deceived.”
“We know she was one of the first people, in the lore, to figure out who Sauron really was. And so it happens in this show that she is one of the first people to figure it out. It’s just that Tolkien says that, and this is something that I really narrowed in on, is that Tolkien says the word “eventually.” He says eventually Galadriel learned. And that, to me, implies that there was a period where she didn’t know. And I think that’s what the show has done really well, creating some kind of context and backstory to their relationship.”
What Plans Does Sauron Have For Rings of Power Season 2?
The concluding shots of season 1 show Vickers’ Sauron navigating his way to the newly changed Mordor, implying his rise to power in the murky kingdom. However, before he can take control of Mordor, he must first deal with Adar, who earlier claimed to have killed Sauron and now commands the Orcs. The next meeting between the two villains, who are probably responsible for driving Sauron from Southlands in the first place, is sure to be explosive.
Sauron still has numerous more rings of power to make and deliver to the Dwarf Lords and also the nine Kings of Men, in addition to claiming sovereignty over the lands of Mordor. With only the creation of the 3 Elven rings shown in season one, the show still has considerable ground to cover until Sauron eventually deceives them all by building the master ring. With Sauron’s name now exposed, viewers can expect to see much more of the Dark Lord’s malicious plans put into action throughout season two of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Source : ScreenRant