After Celebrimbor, The Rings Of Power Must Do 1 Thing Different With Sauron’s Next Victim

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has an important lesson to learn from Sauron and Celebrimbor’s arc in season 2. The Rings of Power season 2 centered on Charles Edwards’ Celebrimbor, taking some of the attention off Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel. As the showrunners confirmed, the show is an origin story for Sauron, and while Sauron was focused on deceiving Galadriel in season 1, he moved onto Celebrimbor in season 2. Sauron’s lovers-to-enemies dynamic with Galadriel worked wonders but was unfaithful to the books, whereas his faithful manipulation of Celebrimbor actually didn’t quite land to the same extent.

Sauron will have a new victim in Rings of Power season 3 or 4. In season 3, Sauron must hand out the Rings of Men and forge the One Ring, growing ever more powerful. In season 3 or 4, Númenor’s new leader, Pharazôn, is set to hear of this power and come to challenge it in his reckless pursuit of colonial expansion. Pharazôn may be gleeful as he takes Sauron prisoner, but the joke will be on him, naturally. The show should apply what worked in Sauron’s manipulation of Galadriel and Celebrimbor to Pharazôn and learn from what didn’t work.

The Rings Of Power Season 2 Never Committed To What Sauron’s Relationship With Celebrimbor Really Was

Rings Of Power was on the fence about Sauron and Celebrimbor’s relationship, and it showed. Season 1’s Sauron-Galadriel romance tease was undeniably gripping but unfaithful. Meanwhile, season 2 also teased a romance between Sauron and his victim, Celebrimbor (THR). This romance was more canonically probable than the one teased in season 1, but the tease was not as well executed. Regardless of any romance, the show clearly tried to portray a genuine bond between Sauron and his victims, but this only really worked in season 1. Season 2’s bond (Sauron and Celebrimbor) was hindered by inconsistencies.

At first glance, Rings of Power season 2 was laying it on thick with Sauron’s all-out evil. The bare-faced liar promised Celebrimbor Lord of the Rings status, and everyone knows how that turns out. Sauron was increasingly withdrawn, impatient, snappy, and controlling towards Celebrimbor before descending into physical torture and delusional levels of victim-blaming (“You forced me to torment you”). Aside from making him look slightly stupid, this delusional victim-blaming showed that Sauron lacked respect for Celebrimbor, who he saw as an untrustworthy fool hindering the path to Middle-earth’s healing. Poorly written lines aside, this Sauron was completely canonically viable.

Lord of the Rings’ Sauron was delusional and thought he was healing Middle-earth. But under the surface of this evil, faithful Sauron lay the new, modern, relatable figure that cried as he killed Celebrimbor. This emotion suggested respect. Vickers confirmed that these tears were unplanned (THR). But they aligned with “this relationship… its closeness, and… the sexual tension” that was described by showrunner Patrick McKay (THR). Perhaps it was clumsy dialogue or perhaps cast and crew never agreed on whether Sauron respected Celebrimbor, but the inconsistency in their dynamic inhibited their scenes’ impact.

The Rings Of Power Shouldn’t Be As Ambiguous With Sauron & Pharazôn

Whether it crops up in season 3 or 4, The Rings of Power can keep its Númenor arc top-tier by maintaining a tight grip on Sauron’s victimization of Pharazôn. As Pharazôn’s prisoner, Sauron will manipulate him to rise to power. Sauron will act the part of a worshipful advisor while concealing his malicious scheming to destroy or subjugate Númenor, almost recalling the psychology of an undercover agent. This will inevitably entail a complicated and layered relationship, though possibly one less marked by romance than the relationships Sauron cultivated with his victims in seasons 1 and 2.

The screenwriters should dispense with the hesitant compromise and inconsistency of season 2 and write a script as bold and uncompromising as season 1’s.

Depth and nuance were what was fun about Sauron’s manipulation of Galadriel and Celebrimbor, and that should be maintained with Pharazôn. The Celebrimbor arc improved on the Galadriel arc for faithfulness, and the Pharazôn storyline should be able to keep this standard high, being pulled straight from the legendarium. But The Rings of Power cast, directors, showrunners, and writers should agree on how Sauron and Pharazôn really feel about each other throughout their season. Then, the screenwriters should dispense with the hesitant compromise and inconsistency of season 2 and write a script as bold and uncompromising as season 1’s.

Sauron Is More Likely To Despise Pharazôn Than Respect Him

Sauron respected Galadriel and was obviously meant to respect Celebrimbor, despite the flawed execution of it, whereas Sauron may not ever respect Pharazôn. Pharazôn was a villain’s villain and will only get worse from season 3 onward. He may be one of the most evil characters in The Lord of the Rings, aggressively expanding his realm with no consideration for the environment or the natives. Maybe Pharazôn’s Machiavellian ruthlessness will strike a strange chord with Sauron, and Sauron will develop a far more genuine rapport with Pharazôn than he did with Galadriel or Celebrimbor.

However, Galadriel and Celebrimbor were ambitious, relatably conflicted, and respectful of good craft and beautiful things. Pharazôn was more basic and power-grabbing, threatening Sauron’s pride and dignity by taking and keeping him prisoner. Although Sauron was happy to be given this avenue to infiltrate Númenor and could have escaped eventually, it seems unlikely that he would easily forgive what even a far less hateful person may struggle to forgive. Whatever Rings of Power decides about Sauron’s feelings for Pharazôn, it should pick a route and commit to it.

Why Sauron & Pharazôn’s Relationship Is So Crucial For The Rings Of Power’s Future

Unprecedentedly, Rings of Power is set to show Lord of the Rings’ Fall of Númenor, and it may be the biggest Tolkien story the show has the chance to tell. The Númenor arc is also the show’s last chance to portray Sauron in a fair form, since he will lose the ability to take forms that hide his evil afterward. Judging from the character-driven psychological thriller focus of seasons 1 and 2, Sauron’s manipulation of Pharazôn will form the centerpiece of this story. The formula works, the writing room just has to trust in its radical vision.

The screenwriters fumbled the Sauron-Celebrimbor arc by compromising between faithfulness and modern relevance.

The show’s script works best when its writers are uninhibited. They shone writing Sauron’s relationship with Galadriel and the whole character of Adar. Modern TV needs strong character development, and this original material showed it in spades. The screenwriters fumbled the Sauron-Celebrimbor arc by compromising between faithfulness and modern relevance. The result was confused, diluted characterization. With a level of faithfulness built into the Númenor plotline, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power only has to plan well and follow its heart to write Sauron and Pharazôn with depth and realism.