The following contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1, Episode 8, "Alloyed," now streaming on Prime Video.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power always seemed like it would hide Sauron from viewers in plain sight. Yet, fans were still pretty surprised when the Season 1 finale, "Alloyed," delivered not a Sauron that was just evil incarnate, but one that fans had started to root for -- and perhaps suspect a little -- during the first season of the show. It turned out the Dark Lord himself was none other than Halbrand, Galadriel's traveling companion for most of the season and presumed King of the Southlands.
CBR had a chance to sit down with Charlie Vickers, who plays Halbrand, aka Sauron, to discuss the fan reaction to the big reveal. He dove into his own preparation to hide Sauron in the character of Halbrand and what viewers can expect from the Dark Lord going forward in The Rings of Power Season 2.
CBR: Are we going to have to refer to you as the Dark Lord now?
Charlie Vickers: Yes, the Dark Lord. Exactly that from now on.
On that note, have you had a chance to look at the online reaction to the Sauron reveal? You've had a few days to sit with it and let people process it. Have you gotten a chance to see the tweets -- or the memes?
[laughs] No, not really. I've had people sending me some things, and some things have been nice to see. It's exciting. I think it's a very exciting moment in the history of this amazing world that we're getting to see Sauron in the Second Age, which is so different, as is the way we've seen him portrayed on screen so far. But no, I haven't been online and looked in depth.
The reaction has been viscerally good, and there are a lot of people really excited about the villain. Sauron has been this big evil thing without a face for so long. How does it feel to give him a human face and then see the reaction?
Yeah, I think that's cool. That's one of the amazing things about a character like Sauron -- he's such an iconic character, and we have gotten people to, without really knowing, root for him. I think that's something that we may be aiming to achieve... that I aim to achieve in the second season. Hopefully, it's going to be really exciting to watch his journey because you're going to see him pulling the strings and making things happen openly. Not amongst the other characters in the world, but at least us as an audience can watch because we know. We can watch him manipulating everyone as he moves through the story.
When we talk about Sauron's motivations, do you think he really wants to heal Middle-earth? Is that part genuine?
Yeah, completely. I think he definitely thinks he's doing the right thing, at least at this point, until he sort of descends, and then he will just become completely obsessed with power. At this point, yeah. For him, it's reorganization and rehabilitation. It's a combination of what's come before. In the First Age, there was a lot of chaos and division and destruction. Morgoth was quite nihilistic, and I think Sauron, since he was a Maiar, loved perfection and order. You can see it in his history and his love of all things beautiful. I think he wants Middle-earth to return to that state, that paradise. He thinks that the easiest and fastest way to get there is for him to be in charge, so he can just do everything the way he wants.
He makes an offer to Galadriel in the finale, telling her that she binds him to the light, and he binds her to power. Does he really want her to bind him to the light, or is he just telling her what she wants to hear?
I think there's an element where she does that for him. She binds him to good. He has been associated with Morgoth for so long, then he meets this angelic being that is synonymous with all things good, and he probably thinks, "I could use a bit of that, and I can learn from that." Having said that, I do think that he sees it as an opportunity for his own personal gain in that there's a sort of manipulation as well in saying to her, "You can have this, and things are going to be okay." I very much think he's the one in charge, and he will end up being the one in charge, and he would get to that point of corrupted power with or without her. I think there's an element of both, but I would lean more towards he's using her in that moment and trying to manipulate her.
Once you find out who you were actually playing, how did you incorporate that into your performance so we could get to Episode 8 and both think, "Yes, that makes sense," and "No, it makes me so sad that he's Sauron"?
Yeah, I think there's a bit of both there. I mean, I knew from the third episode, so I only had one scene in the second episode, and I think even in the writing there, there are some little hints. So, I was kind of suspicious that something was going on, but it did enable me to think about it. As the show progressed, I did think a lot about different moments where you would look back as a viewer and think, "Oh, well, that makes sense now." So, while I was completely committed to playing Halbrand, there were things in the writing and things in sort of the subconscious work that I've done which informed those moments.
Acting-wise, there's a moment where you can see the switch. You can see Halbrand becoming openly Sauron. How do you prepare for that moment?
At that moment, part of it is subconscious, and part of it is the work that I've done in order to build Sauron inside Halbrand. Then, when the moment comes to set Sauron free, albeit for a very brief amount of time, I think that just naturally came. Then there were conscious decisions that I made, which is part of the craft. The thing I love about acting is the transformation and the real kind of commitment to the craft. This is such an honor and privilege to be able to do this role. It's something where I can use this craft that I'm working on and trying to get better at all the time. So, things like... my voice changed a bit, and my posture changed a bit, and just my thoughts -- the thoughts and the internal monologue changed. I tried to change the trajectory of thinking like a human to thinking maybe like a Maiar would think, which is a bit different.
You seem to be a big fan of this world. So, with all we know is coming next for Sauron, is there anything in particular that you're hoping to get to act out?
When you look at the Second Age, there are some amazing moments, some real highlights of The Silmarillion, like the crafting of the rings, the downfall of Númenor, and the war of the Last Alliance. I'm not privy to the plans, but I would love to be a part of all of that. I know they've mapped this out. So, I would hope that we go through all those events, and I'd be really excited to have a hand, a small part in them. They all excite me. As far as I know, next season, being able to see Sauron manipulating and doing his thing and us as an audience watching him manipulate and knowing when other people don't... I'm looking forward to that. Yes. I'm really looking forward to what's next.
To see Charlie Vickers's journey from Halbrand to Sauron, the first season of Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now available to stream.