Galadriel only started suspecting Halbrand on The Rings of Power after he took interest in Celebrimbor and the creation of the rings.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has concluded its first season run with the availability of season one, episode eight in October 2022. The season finale provided multiple open-ended conclusions since the series is already shooting its second season.
The season one finale also provided some answers to longstanding questions that were left open-ended throughout the season.
One in particular was the not-so-surprising revelation about who Sauron is in the series, which was revealed as Halbrand after he admitted it when confronted by Galadriel.
Who else was suspected to be Sauron?
Like any good mystery series, The Rings of Power did not reveal the identity of the Dark Lord Sauron to the viewers immediately. Instead, it misdirected the viewers to other characters in the series before the finale “big reveal”.
Whether the series was successful in this misdirection or not is a matter or argument as it seems that most people had already suspected Halbrand.
But within the series itself, it attempted to misdirect viewers into thinking that Sauron had initially possessed the body of The Stranger.
Rings of Power: Why did Galadriel suspect Halbrand?
Most viewers of the Amazon Prime Video hit original series The Rings of Power suspected that Halbrand was Sauron from the moment he was introduced during season one, episode one.
In season one, episode one, Gil-galad had already warned Galadriel that she will unknowingly bring the evil that she seeks.
Therefore, when Galadriel coincidentally met Sauron as Halbrand, the long-lost King of the Southlands, at the Sundering Seas, there were signs of the similarities between Halbrand and the Dark Lord.
But because of his manipulative nature, he fooled Galadriel enough for her to set to war in the Southlands and when he was injured, Galadriel was the one who made the decision to take him to Eregion.
Upon his arrival, Halbrand formed a friendship with Celebrimbor, taking a keen interest in creating and suggesting rings to hold the concentration of the dying magic of the Great Tree.
It was then that Galadriel started suspecting that Halbrand was Sauron. He confirmed this during their confrontation before he enchanted her and was able to escape before she woke up from the enchantment.
The last we saw of Sauron is when he made his way to Mordor. His arrival on Mordor was reportedly a key plot point into the events of the season, which was confirmed to be in production as early as October 2022.
How did Sauron become Halbrand?
The Rings of Power did not go into much detail about Sauron’s activities and actions before he debuted as Halbrand during season one, episode two.
But it is believed that after the death of his physical body, he had to recover his powers, which resulted in him eventually being able to conjure a fresh body while hiding away in Rhun.
This consequently allowed him to seize the Southland’s crest of Southland and return as Halbrand, after the last king died over 1 000 years before the events of season one.
Charlie Vickers on playing Halbrand/ Sauron
Charlie Vickers is the actor who earned the role of Halbrand/ Dark Lord in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
However, when he was going through the six to seven auditions required to get the role of Halbrand, he did not know that the character would eventually be revealed as the Dark Lord.
But during his last couple of call backs he had “an inkling” that his character would take a dark arc as he told Entertainment Weekly in an interview that:
“They gave me a monologue from Richard III at the end, when he’s standing over a body and is basically being really evil. Then, the other one was from Paradise Lost, the poem by Milton, and it was literally Satan.”
Why is Charlie Vickers as Sauron special?
While a character like Galadriel, who is portrayed by Morfydd Clark in The Rings of Power, is a character that was played by Cate Blanchett in The Lord of the Rings and in the The Hobbit series of film releases.
Interestingly, Charlie Vickers, in the role of Halbrand/ Sauron, marks the first actor to play the physical manifestation of Sauron. Before this, there has never been an actor who played the physical manifestation of a character that was also just a fiery eye.
This excites the actor as he teased details about season two by sharing, “Going back into Mordor is the first stage of that plan. I’m not going to spoil it, but it doesn’t take long to find out in the second season.”