Gil-galad and Tar-Palantir
“Perilous are these whisperings.”
Offering humble aid? “Call it a gift,” he said. Bear in mind the remark towards which Sauron’s response was directed:
Sauron: “Don’t be afraid. Celebrimbor will find a way. I’m certain of it.”
Galadriel: “All of a sudden, the two of you seem quite familiar.”
Sauron: “I’m just offering whatever humble aid I can” (1×08).
Sauron revealed why he and Celebrimbor were suddenly familiar, which happens to be the same thing he did to Galadriel. What sort of humble aid was Sauron able to offer? —Perilous whisperings.
Gil-galad: “Perilous are these whisperings.”
Galadriel: “Sometimes, the perilous path is the only path. I would not be standing here, otherwise.”
Gil-galad: “You should not be standing here, at all” (1×08).
By the way: Gil-galad did not insult Galadriel there. He clearly knew that something was amiss and that there was more to the reason for Galadriel’s disobedience. Therefore, he did not punish her immediately. He was told that the Southlander was involved and inspired these “perilous whisperings,” then after he heard the rest of Celebrimbor’s plea, he immediately issued an order of retreat.
Celebrimbor: “We are on the cusp of crafting a new kind of power. Not of strength, but of spirit.”
“Not of the flesh, but over flesh! This is… This is a power of the unseen world.”
Gil-galad: “I am sorry, Lord Celebrimbor. You are hereby commanded to disband the city and return to Lindon immediately. All of you.”
When Elrond requested three more months to test Celebrimbor’s theory with the mithril, Gil-galad issued a final warning.
“It is a fool’s hope, Elrond. Merely that, nothing more” (1×08).
He knew much more than he revealed. And speaking of kings who know more than we realize:
“The kingdom is in danger!”
I have said before that Tar-Palantir knew (or at the very least, sensed) what was happening.
So in getting out of prison, [Sauron] basically says to Pharazôn, “I can see where she’s going if you let me out and give me a guild badge so I can take up my work as a smith.” Whether that’s all part of a greater scheme to really convince Galadriel he wants to stay in Númenor and have a cover for him to come to Middle-earth, further convincing this elaborate creation that is Halbrand, then I like to leave that ambiguous.
If Sauron did not want to remain in Númenor permanently, what do we make of the scene below?
“My task was to ensure peace. But I learned that was Sauron’s task, as well” (Sauron as Finrod, 1×08).
“And the armor that ought to rest upon your shoulders weighs upon your soul” (Galadriel, 1×05).
“My companion is merely feeling the weight of his task. I have no doubt, come time, he will do his part” (Galadriel, 1×05).
Oh, he absolutely planned to do his part. Come time.
Míriel believed or hoped she was doing the right thing, but her father knew who was in the city. For all he knew, since he could not separate “what is from what was, what was from what will be,” Sauron’s presence in Númenor could have been a sign that the time had come for Númenor’s actual destruction. At the conclusion of the above council, a maid informed Míriel that her father requested her presence in the tower. It was there, after Galadriel said Halbrand would eventually do his part, that the King said:
“The kingdom! The kingdom is in danger!” (1×05).