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Caution: Spoilers For The Rings Of Power Season One Finale Ahead
The stars of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power banded together when hit with some major racial backlash to their casting. Of course, all of the racism leveled at the casting choices in The Lord of the Rings prequel series is far from the only hurdles co-creators Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne have had to traverse.
J.R.R. Tolkien fans of all ages and statures, including Elon Musk, had some notable critiques of the series. Some called the Amazon Prime show one of the most expensive disasters ever made, while others didn't like how modern politics were force-fed to them through the world of Middle-Earth. Then there's been more thoughtful critiques involving the series' disjointed storytelling, muddy tone, and, in some cases, the lacking chemistry between the stars.
All of this culminated in the recently released Season One finale which addressed some of the show's biggest questions, including the identity of Sauron. The results were mixed... no surprise there.
In an interview with Vulture, the co-creators discussed their rationale for the Sauron reveal as well as how they are paying attention to all the criticism ahead of Season 2.
Sauron's Identity In The Rings Of Power
According to their interview with Vulture, Rings of Power co-creators Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne plan to explore the "weight and complexity" of Sauron in the second season. While this could go in many directions, not every fan has been happy about the reveal that Halbrand was Sauron in disguise this whole time. This, of course, could cause problems for them as they try and win back the audience in the second season.
But the co-creators told Vulture that the Halbrand/Sauron connection was something they wanted to do right off the bat.
"One of the earliest ideas we had for the storyline came from the moment in The Fellowship of the Ring when Galadriel is tempted by Frodo’s offer of the Ring," Patrick McKay explained.
"She talks about how well she knows and understands Sauron, and there’s a quote where she says, 'I know his mind, and he gropes ever to know mine, but still the door is shut,'" Patrick continued. "She clearly has a darkness — that turning down the Ring is a test she feels she has to pass to finally go West — and that the darkness in her is linked with her feelings about Sauron."
It was therefore necessary to have the two meet up early on. And since Sauron is known for changing forms, it made sense to have him trick Galadriel as another person.
Why Wasn't Annatar In The Rings Of Power?
In J.R.R. Tolkien's books, Sauron does something similar. While he doesn't trick Galadriel firsthand, he does sneakily convince the Elves into making the rings of power. And he does this not as a man named Halbrand, but as an Elf named Annatar, AKA The Lord Of Gifts.
"We were concerned about a situation where the part of the audience steeped in lore is six or seven episodes ahead of the characters," Patrick said of why they chose not to use Sauron's disguise of Annatar.
"If deception is an important part of the journey, we wanted to preserve that experience for book readers too," he continued. "The idea that the shadow can take many forms was part of what we were attracted to. The reference to gifts is a nod to the Annatar of it all."
However, Patrick did suggest that Sauron's Elvish disguise could be used in the next or future seasons of the show.
"At the end of season one, three rings have been crafted, and as you know from the song Fiona Apple sings at the end of the season, there are still seven for the dwarves, nine for the men, and one for the Dark Lord to come. There are more gifts yet to come."
What Will Change In The Rings Of Power Season 2?
While some of the backlash to the Halbrand/Sauron reveal may not have affected Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne's plans for Season 2, other criticisms might have.
"We’re certainly listening to the critics and to our audience," J.D. admitted to Vulture. "You don’t want to give any one voice too much weight, but figure out what people are responding to in the aggregate. I don’t know if I want to point to any specifics."
Despite what his co-creator said, Patrick claimed that their experience making the show, versus the publics' opinions, is what is ultimately changing things moving forward.
"The second season has been written for some time now, and the storytelling grows and goes in different directions. That is informed by what we learned on season one on our own," Patrick said to Vulture. "There are things that seemed to really work and others that didn’t work as well as we might have hoped. The storytelling will be different next time, not because of the response to the show, but because of the experience of making the show for us."
One of the areas where Patrick and J.D. seem to want to grow is their focus on the intention of each scene and how it should play into the larger narrative. Everything has to go back to the fate of Middle-Earth.
"It’s a high bar for anything to clear to deserve a spot in the story," Patrick explained. "Starting this journey five years ago, J.D. and I had an idea of what that bar was. Having gone through the process, we have more specificity of what really feels like Middle-earth and what doesn’t. Hopefully, we have raised the bar for the show going into season two."
