The Rings of Power Finale Solves the Two Biggest Mysteries of the Season
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season one is officially over. The Amazon Prime Video series ended on a high note in its finale episode, touching on so many canon Easter eggs that it had us pausing each scene only to replay it again. As we should have known, The Rings of Power season one ended with the creation of the first set of the rings of power. But not before blowing many minds in the process.
Now this is where we get into spoiler territory.
There have been two prevailing mysteries throughout The Rings of Power, the Stranger and Halbrand, both of which are finally answered in Episode 8. Early on in the episode, we learn that the Stranger is not Sauron but one of the Istari—the Wizards. He was a red herring after all. While he might have fallen out of the sky to land in a crater shaped like the eye of Sauron, the Stranger has been a wizard all along, sent by the Valar to Middle-Earth when they felt Sauron rising. Although the Wizards don’t appear in Tolkien’s world until the Third Age, The Rings of Power is adjusting the timeline to introduce an Istari who we would bet our money’s worth is actually Gandalf, the Grey (before he was Grey). In his last scene of the season, the Stranger (who is still unnamed) embarks on a journey to Rhun with the harfoot Nori. To her, she says, “When in doubt, Elanor Brandyfoot, always follow your nose.”
Which is almost exactly what Gandalf says to Meriadoc in the Lord of the Rings movies: “If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose.”
Meanwhile, Halbrand's reveal turned out to be even more treacherous than we anticipated. Since the first episode, fans have been throwing all kinds of theories out there: that Halbrand is the King of Dead, one of the Nazgul, or even Sauron. It turns out that the last theory turned out to be true.
The imposter Southlander king worms his way to Galadriel’s good graces to be allowed inside the elven city of Eriador, where he convinces Celebrimbor to create rings from the mithril. (Perhaps taking the place of Annatar in the books.) Galadriel catches on to his tricks and confronts him, which leads to the craziest “what if?” in the Tolkien universe. Halbrand, aka the shapeshifting Sauron, defends his actions as cleansing Middle-Earth, and attempts to lure Galadriel to his side. The two have been sharing insane—and unexpected—chemistry since the start of the season, which Sauron takes advantage of when he asks Galadriel to rule with him as his queen. Cue the “WTF” faces.
With the way the whole scene was framed, the entire thing could be crazy canon after all. Credits to the writers. To Galadriel, Sauron says, “I alone can see your greatness. I alone can see your light. I would make you a queen. Fair as the sea and the sun. Stronger than the foundations of the earth.”
For hardcore Tolkien fans out there, those lines triggered goosebumps. Because in the Peter Jackson films, Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) says, “In place of a dark lord, you would have a queen. Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn. Treacherous as the seas. Stronger than the foundations of the earth.”
What if Galadriel said yes? What would Tolkien’s world look like if she and Sauron became the ultimate power couple? Could the Lady of Light have tempered the Dark Lord? Something from the Tolkien scholars to debate about.
Season one ends with the creation of the three Elven rings… while Halbrand/Sauron makes his way to Mount Doom. Season two is currently being filmed in the U.K., so it might be years before we see the continuation of this story. Until then, you can rewatch The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video.
