The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 3 is now streaming on Prime Video, and our latest trip to Middle Earth seemingly throws a bit of a curveball when it comes to the season's main antagonist!
The episode is primarily focused on Galadriel and Halbrand's arrival at the island kingdom of Númenor (more on that later), but we also drop in on Arondir following his capture by Orcs in last week's episode.
The Elf is taken to a pit, where he is dismayed to find that his brothers-in-arms have also been imprisoned and are being forced to dig tunnels for the Orcs (they need to travel underground in order to avoid the sunlight). One of the Orcs threatens to drag Arondir before "Adar" if he doesn't cooperate. The Elves assume this must be their captors' name for Sauron (he has many, after all), but after a failed escape attempt which results in the deaths of all but Arondir, we finally meet the mysterious villain.
Though he's only glimpsed in a blurry shot before the credits roll, the character's ears leave little doubt: Adar is an Elf!
The credits reveal that Adar is played by Game of Thrones alum Joseph Mawle, which would seem to confirm a rumor that did the rounds a few months back. If accurate, we can expect Adar to be revealed as an Elf who has been corrupted by Sauron and now leads his army.
Adar never appeared in any of Tolkien's writings, but it looks like he is being positioned as the season's big bad. Earlier speculation that the cat-eyed character in white played by Bridie Sisson was actually Annatar, aka Sauron, was recently debunked by executive producer Lindsey Weber, so we're not certain that the Dark Lord (believed to be played by Anson Boon) will even appear this season.
What do you guys make of the introduction of Adar? Drop us a comment down below.