Full spoilers follow Episode 8 of The Rings of Power, also known as Alloyed.
The Showrunners Rings of Power revealed that Sauron’s big reveal was almost spoiled by a specific creative decision made during the creation of the second episode.
Speaking during the preview of The Rings of Power Episode 8, which was attended by TechRadar, co-creators JD Payne and Patrick McKay made it clear that the identity of the main antagonist of The Lord of the Rings was nearly ruined in a much earlier episode. Reason? A specific high-fantasy shot from the Prime Video series, shot by the director of episode 2 JA Bayon, almost gave the game away.
Major spoilers are coming. Turn around now if you don’t watch the final episode of The Rings of Power!
As viewers will find out, Charlie Vickers’ Halbrand was the nickname of Sauron throughout. The Dark Lord himself pretended to be the so-called King of the Southlands from the moment he met Galadriel.
However, as Payne and McKay remind us, the first shot of Halbrand we see is Vickers, facing the camera, turning his head to glance at Galadriel, who is asking to board a temporary seagoing vessel. According to the Bayona duo, he filmed this short scene in such a way that only one of Halbrand’s eyes is visible to viewers.
It is a shot that acts as a clear call to the Eye of Sauron, which is the only part of the Dark Lord’s essence that remains – in the Third Age of Middle-earth – after his defeat at the hands of the Last Alliance of Elves and Humans. Payne and McKay, however, feared that Bayona’s creative choice would ruin the big surprise surrounding Halbrand’s true identity. So much so that they asked Bayona to shoot a different version of Halbrand’s intro.
“We were terrified that people would see this and work [Halbrand’s real identity] Payne said. “We asked ME to change, but he said,” Nobody will notice! ” Fortunately not”.
As Payne noted, very few, if any, viewers of Rings of Power have noticed the obvious reference to the true character of Halbrand. So, while fans have long had their suspicions that Halbrand really is Sauron, his final disclosure got even more shocking in The Rings of Power season one finale.
The release of Episode 8 was also a great relief for the cast of the hit Prime Video. With the start of shooting for the first season in February 2020, the show’s main stars had to hold on to that secret for over two and a half years, Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) and Tyroe Muhafidin (Theo) told us in early October.
For Vickers, Clark, and Charles Edwards (Celebrimbor), this specific burden of Sauron was finally lifted. Speaking exclusively to TechRadar prior to the Episode 8 release, the trio was much more relaxed in the whole ordeal.
Check out our Rings of Power Summaries
“It’s nice!” Vickers told us calmly. “But it’s a strange feeling. When you do press, you get so used to talking about a certain topic in a certain way. Of course you have to be careful what you say. but it’s fun to talk about everything below right now.
“I had my suspicions from the beginning!” Clark said. “And I know Charlie did it too, because he was asked to read something that was essentially like the devil’s speech. So it’s like, “Hmm, that seems pretty bad.” I think Charlie did a great job to start a press appearance that I don’t know how he did. I would be terrified if I had such a big secret.
“This is really weird [to discuss Sauron]Edwards added. – You know, we had to bear this burden on our shoulders for so long. It’s a blessing to have it finally in the world.
For more exclusive Rings of Power content find out when Vickers found out he was going to be playing Sauron or find out everything that Stranger disclosure from the cast of the series.