Sauron’s Craft
I want to go into more detail on this topic in the future. Remember how Sauron knows how to use the current of the tide to his advantage? That may be advice he gave to Pharazôn in episode 4. Then, in episode 5, Pharazôn told Kemen what we quoted on page 5:
Kemen: “Is it folly to try and stop a war?”
Pharazôn: “It’s folly to kick against the current. You see, the tide may rise and drown a man, or fall and sweep him out to sea. But the trick of mastering the current is to know which way it will turn next.”
This was Sauron’s strategy throughout the whole season. He is a master manipulator and a planner, but his opportunism comes in when the current shifts. Since it is folly to kick against it, lest he brings peril upon himself, he is always several steps ahead of everyone, including Galadriel. He equated her fate to tides when they first met, so we can assume that he always wanted to know exactly where she was going to go. He wants to master the Elves, and consequently Galadriel. Some of his first words to her were that her “tides” may be heading in, and the last thing he said in the same scene (depicted above on the bottom-right) was: “What’s our heading?”
As luck would have it, he also knew where and why Númenor’s literal and figurative tide was eventually going to turn. And he wanted to stay.
Did he want to stay permanently? —No. Just “long enough,” he said.
Here, we see more mirror imagery of Sauron and Elrond. Elrond said the same things to Celebrimbor as Sauron did to Míriel in her Court.
Both of the above images show one of Sauron’s craft—diplomacy—while possibly revealing what his intentions were from the beginning. Below, Sauron spoke to Míriel, and Elrond spoke to Celebrimbor:
“My friends!” (Sauron, 1×03).
“You are a master of your craft, my friend” (Elrond, 1×02).
Sauron gestured to Galadriel, indirectly telling her what Elrond told Celebrimbor: “Trust me. […] Allow me a few days to work [my craft].”
“Long enough, good queen, to give you and your advisors adequate time to weigh our request. A few days, perhaps?” (Sauron, 1×03).
“Allow me a few days to work mine” (Elrond, 1×02).
And while Elrond and Celebrimbor are masters of their respective fields—statecraft and smithing—Sauron is a master of both.
