Who Is Sauron in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’? Showrunners Weigh In on What to Expect From “Sexy Sauron”

Where’s Sauron?! It’s the question that propels Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) to edges of Middle-earth’s map and it’s also what folks will be asking after watching The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premiere on Prime Video. Sauron is supposed to be the villain who tricks the elves to make the titular “Rings of Power.” His devious plan to create the One Ring in this era is what sets up Frodo’s journey in The Lord of the Rings proper. So where is he?? Where is Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power???

Maybe the question we should be asking isn’t where Sauron is in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but who Sauron is.

The first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power take us back to the Second Age of Middle-earth. The elves believe that evil in the form of First Age baddie Morgoth has been vanquished, but Galadriel isn’t so sure. After her brother Finrod (Will Fletcher) is murdered by Morgoth’s lieutenant Sauron, she takes it upon herself to scour Middle-earth to find him.

Now we know from Tolkien’s other works that Galadriel is right. Sauron isn’t dead. In fact, during this time Sauron puts on the “fair form” of Annatar, lord of gifts. He cozies up to elf smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and helps design the rings of power, all while holding back the very important information that he’s forging the One Ring to, you know, rule them all. Once the elves and men realize they’ve been had, they forge a last alliance to face Sauron and his hoards at the foot of Mount Doom.

But where is Sauron now? Who could Sauron be in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? Have we already met this “fair form” of Sauron? And is the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), aka Meteor Man, secretly Sauron? Here’s everything we know about Sauron and the Stranger in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power so far…

Is Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?

Well, we don’t know yet! I mean, he will eventually be in the show. However we don’t know if he’s a character we’ve already met — like The Stranger or Galadriel’s mysterious new pal Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) — or if he’s still off-screen.

One thing we do know, however, is that Celebrimbor has not met a version of Sauron yet. That idea he has for a big tower that they need to build by spring? That’s pure Brimby! There’s no Annatar whispering in his ear (yet). We know this because Decider recently asked actor Charles Edwards if Celebrimbor has met a version of Sauron.

“He knows of Sauron as everyone does,” Edwards said. “But no, he certainly doesn’t know any version of him. He’s never come across any version of him that we may meet as we go down the line.”

Is The Stranger, aka Meteor Man, Supposed to be Sauron?

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power does introduce a mysterious man with magical powers in Episode 1. The Stranger is a man whom harfoots Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards) discover in the crater where a red comet fell to Middle-earth. The comet’s arrival coincides with both Galadriel feeling pulled away from Valinor and Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) discovering evil is afoot in the Southlands.

So who is the Stranger? Is he Sauron? Is he a Second Age version of Gandalf? And when will we find out how he is tied to Middle-earth?

“He’s sort of an onion that we will peel back layers of over time as people get to know more and more about his true identity,” Rings of Power co-showrunner J.D. Payne told Decider. “And so there are some things you will discover in the first couple episodes. There are some things that will take a little bit longer to discover and even behind that there will be yet more mysteries.”

So what have we discovered about him so far? The debris of his meteorite flames out in a pattern like the Eye of Sauron and Nori says the crash site is cold. (Galadriel mentions early in Episode 1 that cold equals evil.) The Stranger is able to seemingly predict — or cause?? — Nori’s father’s ankle injury. He also whispers to the fireflies in a way that is reminiscent to Gandalf (Ian McKellan) whispering to the moths in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The fireflies don’t seek out the eagles for help, but create a constellation…before dying.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s executive producers were emphatic that these nods to both Sauron and Gandalf were thought through.

“I would say every frame of the show is chosen with care. That is every frame is packed with storytelling from all sorts of our department heads: costumes, our production design, our score, our direction, the set deck… It is all very intentional,” executive producer Lindsey Weber said. “So it is part of the journey we hope our viewers will take to look those things, maybe look at them more than one time and see what clues there are to discover.”

Co-showrunner Patrick McKay added: “So if the Stranger, you know, whispers to a firefly in one moment and then the firefly dies in the next moment, those are both very conscious choices. And what they seem to suggest about who he is or where he’s coming from, or what choices he will make in the future…”

While the Stranger seems like the obvious contender to be Sauron, there’s another new character that fans are speculating could be a seductive version of the villain…

Is Halbrand Secretly Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?

Sauron is supposed to be so likable and handsome in this era that the elves fall for his charms. (We’ll get to the lore behind this in a minute.) In just the second episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power we see a mysterious, good-looking, extremely lucky, haunted dude win the steely Galadriel over.

We’re told that Halbrand is a refugee from the Southlands, the part of Middle-earth where men sided with Morgoth in the First Age. Because of the South’s betrayal, elves like Arondir have held vigil over them for centuries. In the last trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Halbrand warns Galadriel, “I am not the hero you seek,” and she tells him, “Whatever it is you did, be free of it.”

Okay, but could it be that Halbrand was…Sauron? And if he’s not, could he, through his Southlands ancestry, fall to darkness over the course of the series. (Look, we’ve also got to meet the Witch-king of Angmar before he becomes a ring wraith!)

“I think there are certainly elements of his past, being where he’s from, where there is that connection [to darkness] through his ancestors. They fall on the wrong side at the end of the First Age,” Charlie Vickers told Decider. “As to where his character goes, as we watch the plot unfold, I think there are certainly questions that develop in his mind about both his past and his future. Questions through meeting different people, encountering different obstacles on his quest to  start a new life away from the Southlands.”

“And I think it’s best to leave the question of where it takes him specifically unanswered at this stage.”

Will Sauron Be “Sexy Sauron” in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?

Because much is made of Annatar having a fair form, fans have jokingly referred to Second Age Sauron as “Sexy Sauron.” The idea is that Sauron is so damn fine, everyone is just like, “Yes, hottie, tell us how to hustle towards our doom.”

Decider asked the executive producers how hot their version of Sauron would be on a scale of 1 to 10 and Patrick McKay said, “If Sexy Sauron is any less sexy than a ten, we have failed. So we will do our best to meet that bar.”

Given that confirmation of “Sexy Sauron,” I’m personally going to go out on a limb and say the creepy blonde cult member (?) we’ve seen in trailers is not Sauron. No offense, but I’m not feeling the heat from that glare. It also might take the Stranger out of contention as Poppy mentions he’s not pretty like an elf, but maybe he gets a makeover in a later episode.

So keep your eyes peeled for a hot dude in the weeks ahead on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. That man could be Sauron.