【Winter Wonderlust (2015)】

The Winter Wonderlust (2015)third episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerintroduced audiences to the season's Big Bad: Adar (Joseph Mawle), a menacing elven figure who leads the orcs of the Southlands. His origins — and whether or not he's actually Sauron — were left somewhat unclear... until The Rings of Power's showstopping sixth episode, "Udûn."

Adar may be an entirely new character created for The Rings of Power, but as we learn when Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) captures and interrogates him, he has roots deep in J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology of Middle-earth. Turns out, Adar was one of the first orcs ever created — explaining why the orcs call him "father" in Sindarin.

As Galadriel explains, in the First Age, the Dark Lord Morgoth captured and tortured elves, turning them into twisted, ruined creatures that would later become the orcs as we know them. The first elves were known as the Moriondor, or "the sons of the dark." Adar prefers the term "Uruk," the word for "orc" in the Black Speech. Here, "Uruk" bears no relation to the fighting Uruk-hai our heroes encounter in the Lord of the Rings trilogy — those are created by Saruman.

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Interestingly, this story of the first orcs was not Tolkien's only idea about how the orcs came to be. The corrupted elf origin comes from The Silmarillion, but Tolkien later decided orcs shouldn't be elvish. In some of his other versions of the orc creation myth, Morgoth made the orcs from stone, or crafted new corrupted creatures based on the forms of elves. None of these versions are 100% the most definitive, although when it comes to adaptations, Peter Jackson's movie trilogy also cites the tortured elf story.

With Adar, The Rings of Power is clearly making a choice about an ambiguity in Tolkien's work. It pays off: Adar's genuine love for his orc children and his desire to make a home for them is a pretty nuanced take on Tolkien's baddies. Do I think killing and enslaving humans and setting off a massive volcanic eruption is the best way to go about this? Absolutely not. Do I have a greater sense of what Adar stands for beyond general evil? Most definitely.

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If Adar isn't Sauron, who is?

The orcs on their way to serve Adar, who is NOT Sauron. Credit: Matt Grace / Prime Video

One thing episode 6 of The Rings of Power completely puts to rest is the theory that Adar could be Sauron. Adar certainly knew Sauron, but he wasn't a fan. He tells Galadriel that in his quest to master Middle-earth, Sauron sacrificed many of Adar's children. Because of this, Adar killed Sauron. (Cue gasps.)

Adar's revelation shakes the entire foundation of the show. All this time, Galadriel's been searching for someone who is (supposedly) dead. However, this show being named The Rings of Power, I have a feeling we'll find out that Sauron is alive and well. Not only that, he'll be returning shortly. After all, he's the entire reason the Rings of Power exist!

Sauron's shape-shifting abilities make it hard to determine who in The Rings of Power is Middle-earth's Next Top Dark Lord. He could be anyone! Or we may not even have met him yet. However, fans have speculated that Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) could very well be Sauron. Sure, he's apparently the lost king of the Southlands, but he could also be lying. Maybe he just stole the pendant belonging to the real lost king and played up the "lost hero" shtick to gain Galadriel's trust.

I was initially skeptical of the "Halbrand is Sauron" theory until one line in this episode. Before Halbrand tries to kill Adar, he asks him, "Remember me?" Adar, seeing a human man above him, assumes he caused Halbrand pain by killing a loved one. But what if Halbrand was a disguised Sauron seeking revenge for Adar's attempt on his life? And what if him asking whether Adar remembers him was a way of checking the quality of his disguise?

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Of course, this is all intense conjecture. Halbrand could just be what he appears to be. But the threat of Sauron's looming deception hangs over the entire Rings of Power, forcing finger-pointing within the showitself and the fandom at large. Luckily, our game of "Spot the Sauron," just got a tiny bit easier. We know Adar is officially out of the running.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Prime Video. New episodes release every Friday at 12 a.m. ET.

UPDATE: Sep. 30, 2022, 1:30 a.m. EDT This piece was originally uploaded on September 9 and has been updated with the new information revealed in episode 6 of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power."

Topics Prime Video Lord of the Rings