The Rings of Power’s newest thriller is a grasp of orcs

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has saved one factor secret and secure for everything of its manufacturing: Who within the present is taking part in the position of chief antagonist, the notorious Dark Lord Sauron? And within the present’s third episode, we get one other character to toss into the pile of Sauron Potentials.

Now, Rings of Power hasn’t out-and-out mentioned that is Sauron — but. But right here’s what we can say.

[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for episode 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, “Adar.”]

Photo: Matt Grace/Prime Video

From the very first moments of the episode, the identify Adar is on characters’ lips. Arondir and a slew of people and several other elves have been captured and press-ganged into digging orc tunnels, and the orcs appear to report back to somebody referred to as “Adar.” Arondir’s elf buddies even speculate out loud that Adar is one other identify for Sauron.

In the episode’s remaining scene, Arondir is dragged earlier than a determine who appears to be Adar, however is shot in a heavy blur that obscures his options. All we are able to inform, earlier than the present cuts to black, is that he seems to be elven or human, and is pale with darkish hair.

Who is Adar?

We don’t know. It’s simply as seemingly he’s an authentic character created for Rings of Power as he’s Sauron. In The Lord of the Rings, Sauron had intermediaries between himself and orcs on the entrance traces — generals, captains, Nazgûl, heralds just like the Mouth of Sauron — and allies who labored for his goals, like Saruman. Adar might be one thing comparable, a corrupted man of the Southlands.

But yeah, it’s attainable that he’s Sauron. At this period within the Second Age, Sauron was build up his first foothold in Mordor, neighbor to the present’s Southlands. He might nonetheless take bodily kind on the time, and used his skill to shapeshift to look in a good and pleasant method. Under the identify Annatar, he claimed to be an emissary of the gods and satisfied Celebrimbor to show him ringcraft, ultimately placing his secret little enchantments on the lesser rings.

Arondir’s companions observe that Sauron glided by many names, and it might be that in Rings of Power, Adar is one in every of them. Arondir notes that Adar is an elvish phrase — it most likely means “father” in one of many two elven dialects that Tolkien created, which we all know from Tom Bombadil’s elven identify, Iarwain Ben-adar, which suggests “Oldest and Fatherless.”

Could Adar be Sauron below a brand new identify? It’s attainable! But most likely the most important inform he gained’t be revealed because the Dark Lord himself subsequent week is that Arondir’s elf buds already urged that half out loud. Hell, perhaps he’s Tom Bombadil.