I know that Amazons Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was contentious with fans and many still dislike it, but there is one aspect about the series that I particularly liked, even if many did not, and before we go on I warn you there will be spoilers.

So what, was that one thing that really struck a chord with me?

Well it was their treatment of Sauron that I found intriguing. And before you close this page down, just hear me out and let’s see what you think of my reasoning.

In the original Lord of the Rings we are told that Sauron wants to dominate all life for “reasons”. While in the Silmarilion we know that he was corrupted by Melkor, soon to be Morgoth. While other texts would go onto imply that he thought in his mind that he was the only one that could bring order back into his world. No matter what he was always portrayed as a dark force bent on dominating all life.


Rings of Power takes this in an interesting direction. Their version of Sauron spent the entire first season under the guise of lost human king Halbrand. He was a vagabond and in many ways reluctant to take power, only to find out right at the end that he had manipulating events to work in his favour. But what I loved about this take on the character is that I genuinely think that he was reluctant to come out of the shadows and in his own twisted way he thinks he is the good guy.

What’s the old line by Mary McCarthy, “We are the hero of our own story.”

After he reveals himself to Galadrield he speaks to her of redemption and how he can set things right, drawing inspiration from her. I love that he may have this motivation and drive, it just gives him this extra layer and gives him some much needed depth. It takes him from being the very impersonal force of nature we see in the Trilogy and makes him a much more personal villain.

Of course he could be lying, but the fact that we meet Sauron in hiding adrift on a boat in the ocean tells me that there is a chance he had given up. Especially since the leader of the Orcs at the beginning of the series has nothing to do with Sauron and in fact when they meet Sauron specifically goes out of his way to attack him and try and kill him.

Maybe we will find out, that all this is part of a big plot by the master deceiver to get his way, but hopefully the series will continue shaping Sauron into a tragic figure who was corrupted and swayed by a dark master only to come back and try and fix what he broke, but in doing so he would become the next dark master. And maybe then we can all appreciate the great tragedy that he may have been happier just being a nameless smith.

I guess we will know more when the second season comes around.