The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power finale confirmed that Sauron has been hiding in plain sight this whole time, with Halbrand outed as the Dark Lord and not the long-lost King of the Southlands.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with showrunners and writers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay to break down the big reveal, and they explained why they had to show us the villain's human side. Little more than an eye in Peter Jackson's trilogy, the duo set out to tell an origin story for the iconic big bad, following his journey into the monstrous being who ruled over Mordor.
"In Tolkien, Sauron is a deceiver and we know that in Second Age he appears in 'fair form,'" Payne says. "So what if he sneaks up on you and is able to get you to sympathize with him and get you to be on board with him so that once you actually realize who he is, that he’s already got his hooks in you?"
McKay adds, "I hope after the last episode airs, viewers watch the whole season again, which is now a different experience. We hope that, as we get into season two, it makes people like season one even better because you’re seeing it through a new prism."
Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power isn't expected to arrive on Prime Video until 2024. Production is moving from New Zealand to the UK, and shooting only just recently started, so we'll be waiting a while before learning more about Sauron. However, Payne promises that all the answers we want are on the way.
"Season one opens with: Who is Galadriel? Where did she come from? What did she suffer? Why is she driven? We’re doing the same thing with Sauron in season two. We’ll fill in all the missing pieces."
"Sauron can now just be Sauron," McKay adds. "Like Tony Soprano or Walter White. He’s evil, but complexly evil. We felt like if we did that in season one, he’d overshadow everything else. So the first season is like Batman Begins, and the The Dark Knight is the next movie, with Sauron manoeuvring out in the open. We’re really excited."
"Season two has a canonical story. There may well be viewers who are like, 'This is the story we were hoping to get in season one!' In season two, we’re giving it to them."
Season 1 does feel like a prequel to the much bigger story to come, and with some of the show's biggest mysteries now solved, we're sure there will be a lot of excitement to spend time with Sauron. There's clearly more to him than we first suspected, and Halbrand's journey from here promises to be fascinating and complex in equal measure.
What did you think about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's big Sauron twist?