Sauron is remarkably intelligent. The complexity of his plans match that of his character, so my effort to uncover the details of his designs required upwards of 30,000 words. Nevertheless, the very existence of this post proves that it was not in vain.
The following is an attempt to unravel the mysteries of Sauron’s past. His designs begin to branch in two paths around the time of Finrod’s death, so I have created two parts: Part 1 broadly covers his intentions regarding mithril and all peoples, while Part 2 specifically relates to the dagger and Galadriel. The clearest lens through which to study Sauron’s character is, unequivocally, the tale of Beren and Lúthien.
Table of Contents
Introduction
2
Part 1: The Dam
¶ 1: A Wandering, Solitary Outlaw
3
¶ 2: Chased from His Homeland
4
¶ 3: His Southward Journey Long Was He At Work The Burden of Those Who Lead Give Them a Means of Mastering It Regroup
Before theorizing about anything else in the show, I believe the most important thing is to determine by what means Sauron and Galadriel were brought together.
“You don’t have the look of someone to whom things happen by accident. Which means you were running. Whether toward or from something, I haven’t yet decided” (Sauron, 1×02).
“You told me once that we were brought together for a purpose” (Sauron, 1×08).
This topic was not simple enough for a single post, so it might take several parts, or an on-going conversation.
In the official Rings of Power Podcast, Patrick McKay said, about the reveal of Sauron, “If our goal was to surprise you, there’s nothing to see in a second viewing.” In speaking about Sauron and Galadriel’s meeting, J.D. Payne said:
You could be asking yourself for years after you watch the show, “Did Galadriel do the right thing in jumping off the boat?” Did she jump off the boat because she sensed Halbrand nearby? Or […] was it the wrong thing to do because she ended up running into Halbrand, saving his life and empowering him?
Immediately, Patrick said something very odd about Galadriel, with peculiar emphasis. I had not considered this before, but when I heard it a couple of months ago, everything started coming together.
(edited for clarity)
Is her obsession, which character after character in the show tells her is not a good thing… Is he calling her to him? I think you could look at it through that prism.
This is an extremely intriguing suggestion, and it might reveal some things about Sauron’s past and motives, which would otherwise go unnoticed.
All of the things regarding the relationship between Sauron and Galadriel “spring from the text.”
First, what is Sauron famous for? J.D. compared Sauron’s manipulation and so-called sincerity to that of Gollum’s, before adding:
[Sauron’s] superpower is, he sees you. So, he sees Galadriel and knows that what she needs more than anything else is to find the evil that has plagued her for so long, and save Middle-earth. So, he self-styles himself as the person that she will trust, and part of him is doing that sincerely, but part of him is also knowing that by doing this, he’s pushing her closer to something that will get him what he wants.
How would Sauron “self-style” himself as the person Galadriel would trust (Halbrand) after he seesher, if he had not an inkling of her existence before the raft? How would “calling her to him” even be a possibility if he was not aware of her? Part of him was doing this sincerely; but what does sincerity mean in this context?
Galadriel assumed:
“Ours was no chance-meeting. Not fate, nor destiny, nor any of the words Men use to speak of the forces they lack the conviction to name. Ours was the work of something greater. You must see it” (1×03).
Was she correct, or did Halbrand put himself on the raft to meet her?
So I know this. But I think that question is best left unanswered. Because we find out that backstory [in season two]. That question will be answered in due time.
Elrond was one character who told Galadriel that her obsession was “not a good thing.” As a master of investigation, he always asked the right questions when something was amiss:
“The King of the Southlands? How is it your path crossed with his? How is it you are here?” (1×08).
Suddenly, Sauron’s response to Galadriel in prison sounds like a taunt or correction, rather than a simple jest.
Galadriel: “Ours was the work of something greater. You must see it.”
Sauron: “All I see is an Elf who won’t put down her sword” (1×03).
Remember what Patrick has said before: “It’s right there all along!” So, can we find some answers before the release of next season? We shall try.
If their meeting was no coincidence, and Galadriel’s obsession was a result of Sauron calling her to him, what would it entail? How would everything be affected? For one, it would place Sauron in a more sinister light. Secondly, it would create even greater stakes.
I know I am being vague, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Míriel asked Elendil if he believed that the falling petals of the White Tree were a sign of the tears of the Valar, to which Elendil replied:
“In my experience, it is unwise to live one’s life guessing after signs and portents” (1×03).
Similarly, Galadriel told Theo:
“What cannot be known hollows the mind. Fill it not with guesswork” (1×07).
Some of my hypotheses are more speculative than others, but we shall do our best not to guess, but rather use solid evidence from the show and the books. As Elrond investigated the whereabouts of Durin IV, as well as the truth of Halbrand’s identity, we will dive head first into the material to test said hypotheses.
Whatever Sauron’s design, this much is certain: He was not born yesterday, nor has he been living under a rock. He had been planning something for a very long time, no matter how many set-backs he had. Patrick’s suggestion introduced countless possibilities and tied things together that otherwise seemed completely unrelated. It answered questions about Sauron’s past, what his intentions were, and how he planned to carry out his designs. It put Halbrand in a light that is all the more sinister and (frankly) creepy. Suddenly, we can see how Sauron is “a cruel and cunning sorcerer.”
There appears to be no end to the layers in The Rings of Power.
A “Casual” Obsession
I began as an extremely casual fan, having never read any of the books before watching the show, but I had the same childhood association with the trilogy that so many others have. I lived with my more well-read sister, who highly anticipated the series and followed every release of promotional material, occasionally sharing stills and trailers with me and giving me brief descriptions of characters I did not know, such as Finrod, Gil-galad, Míriel, etc.
When the soundtrack was released, what began as a relaxing day of listening to two and a half hours of new music turned into an intense analysis of all of the motifs and cues, and how they related to the track titles and characters. Many things I found interesting, but I would like to say (for the record) that my sister and I were suspicious of Halbrand on this day, albeit mostly in jest.
That being said, I knew that the identity of Sauron was a mystery, but being the most casual viewer, the possibility that Sauron was an already-named character never even crossed my mind. Therefore, the line, “Looks can be deceiving,” did not sound many alarms. I thought it was a way to tell the audience to be on guard. (In retrospect, I do not know why I had not connected the dots sooner.)
It was not until we watched the first two episodes that I thought, Wait. This is much more interesting than I had anticipated. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed the episodes and came home from the theater with only good feelings, anticipating the introduction of Númenor. My sister had a few hours to ponder upon the things we had seen, and I was about to fall asleep when she walked into the room, almost in shock, and said: “Melanie, I think Halbrand might be Sauron.” The next two hours of conversation consisted of careful consideration and reflection, floating atop rapids of excitement and screaming. Why was he dodging all of Galadriel’s questions? we thought. It would be so interestingto humanize SAURON, and show this background with Galadriel! My sister told me what it says in Unfinished Tales:
“[Sauron] perceived at once that Galadriel would be his chief adversary and obstacle…”
Then, we theorized that one of Halbrand’s remarks was an indication that he had already perceived this very thing:
“You didn’t cause my suffering and you can’t fix it, no matter how strong your will or your pride. So let it lie” (1×02).
The subtlety in Halbrand being Sauron was, to us, most intriguing.
However, that candle had a short wick, for we heeded the counter arguments on the internet and convinced ourselves that Halbrand was not Sauron himself, but rather a man with a dark past and tragic ending—perhaps in consequence of what his ancestors once did (and believe you me, we pulled many muscles stretching as far as we did).
For one week before the season ended, the finale was promoted with the tagline: “Evil reveals itself.” Having been attached to Halbrand, therefore, the following exchange warranted from us intense anguish, more careful consideration and reflection, and many an exclamation:
Celebrimbor: “Who’s there? Reveal yourself!“
Halbrand: “Is Galadriel here?” (1×08).
The finale had such an effect that night (on me, specifically), that I stayed up until… way too early in the morning… to recall all of the signs, parallels, and connections that we voluntarily overlooked.
My Aim
The purpose of this blog is not only to give me a place to compile my thoughts, but to possibly provide a bit of assurance or comfort to anyone who might be frustrated by rumors or slandering (hence the name: Beyond Darkness). With the amount of work and dedication devoted to this series, there is no need to overlook anything, or throw up our hands and say, “This doesn’t make sense.” J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay, and everyone else involved, know much more than I ever will. Where there are questions, there are answers.
We’re all constantly talking about: How do we elevate and layer every piece of this? […] There’s so much content! […] Every line everyone says is there for a reason, and connects to something else; and there’s references and cross-references to everything within the show. And if people find it to be a rich text, that would be the highest aspiration and goal for us.
I have made several attempts to outline all of the connections I found (and kept finding), by way of video edits, a single essay, and other methods. My first attempt was to create a little Google Slides presentation (initially for only me and my sister), believing I would finish it within the week.
Title page to Part 1 of the presenation. It is still a work in progress, and some of my ideas have changed.
Meanwhile, here we are, three months later.
Well.
— Melanie, 2 January 2025 (two years later)
Those means alone did not seem sufficient enough to contain everything. The further I delved into the material, the more I found, and things opened up. It did not take long before I was under the necessity of splitting the Google presentation into two parts, amounting to a total of almost 350 slides. I have spent nearly every day since the finale attempting to reach the bottom of the barrel, to no avail. Will we reach an end before the release of season 2? Only time will tell.
There was an attempt.
— Melanie, 2 January 2025
This is not surface-level storytelling. For example, in The Rings of Power Podcast, Felicia Day asked if the eruption of Mount Doom was Adar’s plan. Patrick McKay said that it was actually Sauron’s plan that Adar used for his own purposes, and after explaining a little bit of reasoning and backstory (which we shall address later), he said:
That’s the kind of layered lore that we’re trying to build into it, and hopefully, maybe if you really do the deep, deep, deep dive, you can pick up on all those things. And if you don’t, that’s okay, too.
Elsewhere, speaking about the reveal of Sauron, Patrick explained:
We’re really not all about playing games with the audience. I know there were definitely some folks who were like, ‘When are we going to get an answer to these questions?’ But it’s right there all along! […] We’re much more interested in the character dynamic between, in this case, a character who turns out to be Sauron, and our heroine. That’s the story! What his name is, is not important. What’s important is: Moment to moment, what is he struggling with? What is she struggling with? What is the friendship that they’re developing […] and how is that changing each of them?
This endeavor began with focusing on Sauron exclusively (he’s clearly still the main focus, as he is in the show), but I have learned that he seems to be connected to every single character in the show (in other words, he and/or his influence is everywhere), and each character is incredibly crucial to the plot. Therefore, as a consequence of analyzing everything related to Sauron, not a single character will go unnoticed.
So here, we follow Sauron’s advice:
“See what happens when you stop galloping, and you give yourself a moment to think?” (1×04).
I readily admit that I may be dead wrong about some things. That being said, this series is what caused me to pick up the books for once, and has only enhanced what experience I might have had before. I have J.D. and Patrick to thank for that. The show already made sense to me when I knew nothing about the lore, but the more I read the books, the more sense the show made! I hope I am not the only one who is having this much fun. We are only through the first season, and it already aligns so well with the books, analysis does not even require a separation of the two.
If a single soul happens to read this one day, I hope you will bear with me as I freely brainstorm. I leave you with a quote from Galadriel, as it applies to myself. I’ll proceed with caution when offering predictions or theories, and will do my best to provide concrete evidence.
“Palantiri show many visions, some that will never come to pass” (Galadriel, 1×04).
