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

The genius of Sauron’s manipulation is that he technically never lied in the entire season. Galadriel and many others assumed that Halbrand is the King of the Southlands. As a Dark Lord who once ruled over his minions in the Southlands, that is technically true. Halbrand said he has done many unforgivable acts to survive; that is also true. He said that the man to whom the royal crest belonged had made a blood oath with Morgoth. That makes sense since Sauron was Morgoth’s lieutenant.

Throughout the story, Halbrand acted like a man who did unforgivable acts and experienced great failure in the Southlands, until he became the man filled with regret that Galadriel met. It was later revealed that Sauron eventually saw Morgoth as evil and regretted doing unforgivable acts in his name. He later tried to "heal" Middle-earth to repent, but failed when Adar betrayed him.

With Galadriel by his side, Halbrand found the strength to start his "noble" cause in God-King who will bring further chaos to Middle-earth. Halbrand's journey was intentionally made similar to Aragon's, as the reluctant king archetype destined to return to his kingdom. The same narrative was just applied to an evil man.