The showrunners The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerI didn’t want the mystery of Sauron’s identity to dominate the stage before we discovered more about Middle-earth.
Talk to the Hollywood Reporter, co-showrunner Patrick McKay said, “It would be very tempting to make the first season of this show The Sauron Show, very villain-centric.”
Also, read: Who is Adar?
“But we wanted that level of evil and complexity of evil to emerge out of a world that you’re invested in – not because evil is threatening it immediately. We wanted you to fall in love again with Middle-earth,” he added.
McKay said that they want the audience to understand and relate to the struggles that each of these characters are having before getting tested in a way they’ve never been tested before.
There have been many theories about characters from Halbrand to Adar. It has been speculated that Sauron might be hiding in plain view in the show. This is exactly what showrunners wanted to see.
J.D. was the co-showrunner. Payne continued, “It’s another Tolkien thing where when a shadow spreads – which is part of what is happening in our show – it affects everyone’s relationships.”
“Even Frodo, Sam. They’re the best friends in all of Middle-earth, yet they started to mistrust each other because that’s a manifestation of that shadow. So having an audience suspect this person or that person could be Sauron is drawing them into that thing where the shadow is overcoming all of us and making us suspicious of each other,” he said.
Payne said that Sauron may make a comeback, but in a way people don’t expect. The character made a brief appearance in the show’s prologue, but was covered by heavy armor.
The Rings of PowerPrime Video releases new episodes every Friday.
We will reveal more… There are still two episodes. You can watch Episode 7 on Friday, 12:01 ET. @PrimeVideo. #TheRingsOfPower pic.twitter.com/TkRf7ZDdMs
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) October 5, 2022
Also, read: What does ‘Udûn’ mean in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’?
