All That Sauron Speculating Was Just As Fun For The Rings Of Power's Writers
This post contains spoilers for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," a high fantasy series loosely inspired by the extended prequel writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, dares to ask the big questions: What was Isildur (Maxim Baldry) like during his angsty, teen years? Did Elrond (Robert Aramayo) ever rock a side part? What was Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) like during her angsty (immortal) teen years? In fairness, there are a lot of characters — some of their core conflicts were bound to get repetitive. Chief among these mysteries, however, was that of a hidden identity, one so curious that its very revelation could spell great change for the series. No, we're not talking about The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), or Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) — insert an ironically repetitious joke about narrative repetition here — but Halbrand (Charlie Vickers).
The internet doesn't believe in courting private discussions for spoilers so it's common knowledge that Halbrand reveals himself to be the great dark wizard Sauron. For clarity, that's the Big Bad in Tolkien's epic in five parts. He's not the Biggest Bad, mind, that title belongs to Morgoth ... but since Tolkien's version of Satan hasn't made a live action appearance yet, we're not going to worry about him. In "The Lord of the Rings," Sauron is best remembered as being a giant, flaming eye ball who tends to stalk Hobbits, but in "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," he's just a dude with pretty hair and some five o'clock shadow. Fans, of course, didn't know that until the end of season 1, so they had a great time guessing if the quasi-immortal sorcerer was going to make an appearance. As it turns out, the writers loved that part, too.
Gennifer Hutchinson lives for the memes
In an interview with Game Rant, writer and executive producer Gennifer Hutchinson (who's resume includes "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul") admitted that she thoroughly enjoyed the fan speculation about Sauron's secret identity:
"It was actually really fun, and people made some very funny memes about it, which I absolutely love and enjoy. I mean, I love fan engagement like that, and I think if you can get people guessing, especially if they're having fun with it ... that's really a great part of the job. We write shows to connect with people and to get people to feel things and ask questions, and so, if everybody's like 'that's Sauron, that's Sauron,' great, we did our job!"
Hutchinson went on to say that she struggled to keep her knowledge secret and that she hated the idea of disappointing anyone with the reveal. Fortunately for her mental well being, the excitement from those who guessed the twist — which featured some pretty cool references to "The Silmarillion" — correctly held strong balance against her anxieties. To her everlasting credit, Hutchinson dedicates all of her talking points to positive fan reactions. It was a healthy decision, nobody's arguing that, but not particularly representative of the internet's actual critical consensus, which skews negative (via Rotten Tomatoes).
That being said, the social hive mind loves to hate almost more than it loves to love, so perhaps we can forgive Hutchinson's stubborn determination to enjoy something she poured years of her life's work into. That can hardly be considered a fault.