‘The Rings of Power’: 4 Characters Who Could Be Sauron in Disguise

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has presented viewers with plenty of mysteries since its debut on Prime Video. And one of the biggest questions fans have been asking is this: where is Sauron? The entire show is building to Sauron’s return and rise to power. However, it’s unclear if we’ve seen the Lord of the Rings villain yet. Given his shape-shifting abilities, it’s possible he’s disguised as a character we already know. Here are five characters who could turn out to be Sauron in The Rings of Power.

[Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Rings of Power Episodes 1-5.]

1. ‘The Rings of Power’ fans think Halbrand is Sauron

When it comes to which character could secretly be Sauron, Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) remains a popular possibility among The Rings of Power fans. From the moment he introduces himself to Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), it’s clear there’s a darker side to him. That’s not to mention the fact that he straight-up tells his new companion that “looks can be deceiving.”

Halbrand also has a convenient interest in Númenor’s forge and knows exactly what’s happening in the Southlands. Sure, that could be because he’s their lost king. However, his sentiment that he took his necklace from “a dead man” could prove true if he’s Sauron posing as the real king.

Revealing Halbrand as Sauron would also make sense of Gil-galad’s (Benjamin Walker) warning that Galadriel staying in Middle-earth would make the rising darkness worse. After all, she’s the one dragging Halbrand into the fight — and giving him access to important people.

2. Adar is looking less and less like Sauron

Given his mission to claim the Southlands and his influence over the Orcs, Adar (Joseph Mawle) seems like an obvious choice to become The Rings of Power‘s Sauron. In fact, Arondir’s (Ismael Cruz Córdova) friends suggest as much during The Rings of Power Episode 3.

And although the name Adar doesn’t appear in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, Sauron does take the shape of an Elf named Annatar for a time. Adar’s storyline could be inspired by that, but there’s one problem with this theory.

During The Rings of Power Episode 5, Waldreg (Geoff Morrell) bows before Adar and swears his allegiance to Sauron. Adar becomes angry at the mention of Morgoth’s former lieutenant, suggesting he may not be the Dark Lord, but rather, another villain to contend with.

And to be fair, introducing Adar and immediately suggesting he’s Sauron would prove an anticlimactic reveal. However, it’s not completely off the table yet.

3. It’s unclear whether The Stranger is good or evil

It’s hard to say if the meteor from The Rings of Power Episode 1 was a good or bad omen, especially with the identity of The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) still up in the air. Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) is convinced that her new friend is “good” and there “to help.” But even she begins having doubts at the end of The Rings of Power Episode 5.

What we do know about The Stranger is that he fell from the sky and has some powerful abilities. He can’t remember much about where he came from, and he may not be able to control his powers. However, he is capable of doing harm with them, something we see when he briefly controls a group of fireflies.

In general, fans believe that The Stranger is one of the Maiar, immortal beings sent to Middle-earth by the Valar. That could make him one of the Istari, like Gandalf, Saruman, or one of the Blue Wizards from J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings. It could also make him Sauron — though it’s unclear why Sauron would be sent to Middle-earth again, especially since he was already there during Morgoth’s downfall.

Still, Waldreg took the meteor as a sign that darkness was rising. Whether the Valar were sending someone to deal with it or the fiery mass represented the darkness itself remains to be seen.

4. We don’t know much about the White Cloaks

Most Sauron candidates were introduced during the early episodes of The Rings of Power, but the Amazon series brought in several new characters during episode 5.

Three angry-looking people in White Cloaks showed up at the spot where The Stranger crash-landed during the premiere. They don’t look happy about his arrival — though, without any dialogue, it’s hard to say why that is.

If The Stranger does turn out to be one of the Istari, these newcomers may be evil. Sauron would certainly view the Meteor Man as a threat, as would any of his followers. And while we’d hate to judge a book by its cover, the trio look like they have ill intentions. That’s especially true of the person leading them.

Of course, we’ll have to wait to see more of them before deciding where their allegiances lie.

Sauron might be pulling the strings from behind the scenes

Although all four of these Rings of Power characters could wind up being Sauron, it’s also possible we haven’t seen the Amazon show’s villain yet.

Something has pushed Gil-galad and Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) to hurriedly create a Forge. And although it could be as simple as the Eldar fading, it could be someone manipulating them from behind the scenes. That’s how Sauron gets his hands on the Rings of Power in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, so we could learn that someone’s been feeding the Elven leaders lies in Amazon’s show.

It’s also possible Sauron’s still in hiding, biding his time before returning to Middle-earth. After one defeat, he’d no doubt want to ensure his victory this time around.

Wherever he is, Sauron’s sure to make an entrance when The Rings of Power decides to bring him in.

New episodes of The Rings of Power debut every Friday on Prime Video.

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