8 Ways The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Told You That Halbrand Was Really Sauron

In The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, there was a shadow that Sauron was secretly one of the characters we were following. The biggest suspect was The Stranger, the mysterious nameless man who came from the stars like a meteor and has powerful abilities. The other was Adar, for being the villain who commands an orc army.

Then again, The Stranger and Adar were too loudly announced as mystery boxes for the eventual reveal to be surprising, leading fans to theorize Halbrand as the likely Dark Lord for the exact reason that he was hiding in plain sight, yet has a mysterious backstory too. As the episodes loomed near their last, the evidence kept piling up, until it was finally revealed in an epic scene with no ambiguity that Halbrand is the iconic villain of The Lord of the Rings franchise. The twisted irony of Galadriel's obsession with finding Sauron, only for him to be close to her side all this time.

Today we look upon the Eye of Evil and review the moments in the season that hinted at Halbrand being Sauron. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, the Devil was literally in the details, as most of Halbrand’s biggest qualities mirror what we know of Sauron in personality and of Tolkien lore.

In the sixth episode, Adar was captured by the heroes. To get information out of the commander of the orcs, Galadriel questioned Adar about who he is and his connections to Sauron. It is revealed that Adar was one of the first elves corrupted by Morgoth. When Morgoth was defeated, he followed Sauron until he was disillusioned by his master’s treatment of the orcs. He turned on Sauron and struck him down, believing for centuries that he had killed him.

When referencing Sauron's mission to conquer all other life, Adar said these words as if remembering his former master's own:

He sought to craft the power... Not of the flesh... But over flesh. The power of the Unseen World.

At first glance, it is a reference to the future rings of power. However, this reference ended up being something more when Celebrimbor was making an impassioned speech to Gil-galad about the formation of the Rings of Power. Without knowing it, Celebrimer was using Halbrand's words as if they made a subtle impression. These words were:

We are at the cusp of crafting a new kind of power. Not of strength, but of spirit. Not of the flesh, but over flesh. This is a power of the Unseen World.

Somehow, Halbrand repeated the same words as Adar's. At this point, Halbrand's identity was all but confirmed, planting seeds of doubt in Galadriel, until there was nothing else but his friend's confession.