This is not the Sauron story I expected Rings of Power Season 2 to tell

This article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is telling a surprising and original Sauron story in season 2. When showrunners suggested that their show would be “An origin story for Sauron,“I admit that even 25 years of Tolkien puritanism can inhibit my excitement (via THR). I was concerned that Sauron’s significance and symbolism might have been mishandled, which would have been a shame, as Tolkien had an important anti-tyranny message to circulate through his iconic character. But the prospect was irresistible, and I’m still hooked, despite (or perhaps because of) season 2’s crazy twists.

Season 1 debuted the mystery box of Sauron’s true identity, while The rings of power The season 1 ending opened the box for good, declaring Halfrand to be Sauron. Now that Sauron is out in the open, season 2 is leaning fully into his origin story, showing the villain with unprecedented detail and intimacy, portraying private thoughts and feelings that are normally the preserve of Tolkien’s heroes in the books. All the original material still hasn’t stopped me, and I’m glad to see that the villain’s claws only make him more apparant. But season 2 is serving up some divisive developments that give me pause for thought.

The Rings of Power Season 2’s Sauron Story makes the Orcs less villainous

Orcs are trying to defeat Sauron

The rings of power Season 2 makes Orcs more sympathetic and less villainous through their opposition to the homicidal Sauron. I can’t help but do a male orc resist warPushes his leader, Adar, to peace. This is underlined by how he goes to cradle his family – a female orc and a baby orc. The Orcs resist war, but not as much as they resist Sauron, which might be even more laudable. Orcs were disposable to Sauron during his cruel experiments, and now Adar is leading them to fight the elves of Eregion to get to Sauron.

Unfortunately for Adar and his orcs, Galadriel is right when she says that this is just as Sauron wants. Adar plays in Sauron’s handsBut his intentions are noble. Most likely, I think this is a triumph of storytelling, sensitively refining a debate that Tolkien wrestled with his entire life – the origins of orcs and the nature of evil. However, it doesn’t necessarily build up Adder’s forces as a center of evil that the heroes of the show must oppose, which can detract from the story a bit, perhaps more so for some than others.

Sauron looks weak for not going after Adar in the Rings of Power

Sauron may have dominated Adar

Sauron did not yet openly fight in Adar or his army Rings of power Season 2, despite Sauron’s Jack Lowden form being brutally betrayed and violently murdered by them about 1000 years before the events of Season 1. Instead, Season 2’s first episode showed Sauron, in his Halberd guise, surrendering to Adar and exchanging his freedom For a promise of information on the new form of Sauron – a bold strategy. Besides, this could have seemed weak to him, and I look forward to seeing Sauron get his revenge on AdarNo matter what strange form of respect I have developed for the orc progenitor.

While a prisoner, the disguised Sauron told Adar that Sauron was indeed in Eregion, where he was trusted, and proceeded to be released on a mission to gain information. With Sauron freed by Adar and then safely ensconced in Eregion, he ditches his halfling guise for his elvish form of Annatar and retreats to await Adar’s inevitable impatience and attack on Eregion. I might have found Sauron confronting Adar equally scary. Without the element of surprise, Adar would have lost to Sauron in a fightAnd Sauron could have subjugated many Orcs by force.

Why The Rings of Power’s Sauron Story Still Works (Despite Its Flaws)

Sauron manipulates his way to the top

While I think a confrontation between Adar and Sauron is brewing and also necessary to complete Adar’s arc, which I’m sure will end in tears, I also see how Sauron’s manipulation makes more sense than direct confrontation, in many ways. Sauron is the great deceiverAnd that’s the archetype the show is leaning into. While the Sauron of the Peter Jackson movies was a big brother figure pressing Middle-earth and seeing all, the Sauron of The rings of power Draws on religious imagery to paint Sauron as a satanic influence and the father of lies.

I see the sense in this, in the context of Tolkien’s world, which gravitated heavily towards Christianity – Tolkien is a devout Catholic. Despite Tolkien famously rejecting his work as an allegory, he affirmed that it had allegorical elements, just like most stories. Morgoth and Sauron reflects elements of the DevilWhile the 15 Valar recalled Archangels and the one god Eru Iluvatar has much in common with Tolkien’s god. Norse mythology also echoes throughout the story, but Sauron’s demonic deception is always key to the story, which Rings of power Acknowledged.

I can see Sauron fighting Adar with brains, rather than Bronn, from a logistical standpoint as well. In the show’s logic, Sauron can shapeshift at will, apparently going from Halbrand to Annatar in the blink of an eye. so, Sauron may have taken some monstrous form to frighten the orcs In obedience. However, it expends less energy and collateral damage for him to trick them into fighting his war. Thus, the forces of Adar can destabilize Sauron’s Elvish enemies in Eregion and weaken themselves, making themselves ripe for his eventual resurgence in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Source: THR