The big question of the entire season of RINGS OF POWER, the shell game of it all, has been who is Sauron? Thankfully the entire season has not been sent with this as the driving question, it's just been bouncing along in the background.
But in episode eight, the writers waste no more time teasing us. First scene, Boom, we're told the Stranger is Sauron. A little unexpected, but it's just nice to have it settled. I love it as a writing move, too. No dragging it out until the end of the episode. We've teased it long enough. Now we just lay it out.
Annnnd thennnn we get the next scene, in which it's revealed very clearly that Halbrand is Sauron. And somehow that's even more satisfying, I think because it's very much a show don't tell. After seven episodes of half-hearted reluctant hero Halbrand, who is really pretty annoying, now suddenly we get full on deceptive buddy, whispering "wise" words into Celebrimbor's ear. It's such totally different behavior and style than we've seen from Halbrand in the past, very much Evil Dude Hijinx. It very much comes off as progress; we're done with that old phase of things, and now we're moving on.
The real trouble with making the Stranger Sauron is that that information doesn't really change anything. He still doesn't know who he is, he's still tortured. There's so much more we need to be given. Halbrand as Sauron instead is like an opened Christmas present. No more questions. The battle joined.
(Plus, how satisfying is it to see Galadriel discover that the person she has spent hundreds of years hunting is actually right in front of her, and has been for months, and in fact she just saved his life.)
One could ask, why bother with the initial head fake of the Stranger? Why not start with Halbrand? It's not a bad idea. But fundamentally the issue is driving story. The Stranger's finale story is dealing with the Weird Witch People. If he starts from a position of antagonism, where does the story really have to go? Far better to lead off with the idea that they're here to worship him and then flip it. When we cut back from the Halbrand story, suddenly we're in on a secret the witches don't know, which puts us in that very fun position of watching the puzzle pieces drop for them (and for the Stranger). It gives his story in the finale great dramatic tension.
TOMORROW (I HOPE*): HOW TO (AND NOT TO) SHARE WISDOM
*I'm going on vacation for a week starting tonight and getting things together has been a little bit crazy, i.e. I actually thought I posted this article on Tuesday. So we'll see if I can get tomorrow's posted before I leave. Fingers crossed!
