The following contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1, Episode 5, "Partings," now streaming on Prime Video.

Before The Rings of Power was released, its showrunners warned fans that the series was going to keep Sauron's identity a mystery for a long time. That was definitely the truth because, after four episodes, fans still didn't know which character will end up being Sauron. The first few episodes made it seem like Meteor Man was the manipulative Maiar. Since then, however, a lot of fans have jumped on the "Halbrand is Sauron" bandwagon. That's not even considering that the mysterious, priest-looking man could also be Sauron.

Episode 5, "Partings" did little to resolve the case of the missing Sauron, but it did give fans some evil foreshadowing. In The Lord of the Rings, the event that announced Sauron's reemergence was his building and taking up residence in the tower of Barad-dûr. He built his stronghold in Mordor because of Mount Doom -- and The Rings of Power might have hinted that Mount Doom is about to erupt.

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Rings of Power theo sword on fire

While Sauron is the big bad for The Rings of Power, Season 1 has focused on Adar. Over time, the fallen Elf has been secretly building an army to take over the Southlands, and in the past few episodes, he's launched his offensive. As "Partings" neared its close, the civilians at the tower of Ostirith were the only people standing between Adar and total control. That was when Arondir made a discovery about Theo's evil sword.

The sword hilt has been a talking point for months. Fans hypothesized that it could be a Morgul blade or an ancient sword of Morgoth. However, "The Great Wave" confirmed a different, damning origin for the blade. Adar was specifically looking for it, so it was clearly a weapon of significance. That episode also confirmed that either Morgoth or Sauron made it as a gift for the leader of the Southlands. Finally, Waldreg told Theo that the weapon was no mere sword -- it was a "power."

While Waldreg's words had to be taken with a grain of salt, Arondir seemed to confirm the sentiment in "Partings." When Theo showed the sword to Arondir, the Elf immediately recognized it. Hidden behind some vines at the tower, there was a statue of a Man with a weapon, resembling Theo's sword. That makes sense because the evil Men of the First Age built Ostirith, and there would naturally be a statue of their leader and his weapon. Except, the statue may not be a simple piece of stone. According to Amazon's General Trivia information, there were rumors that Ostirith itself contained traces of dark power.

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The Rings of Power's Isildur looks on in shock in Mordor

Although Arondir didn't know the details, he knew that the sword was some kind of key. It was how Morgoth ensnared the people of the Southlands, and it was also how Adar planned to conquer the lands. Running with that information, Reddit user DamnitDogan hypothesized that the "hilt is definitely a key to ignite Mount Doom and make it erupt so that the orcs can flourish in the Southlands." While that may seem farfetched, it's actually quite feasible.

Adar spoke of giving the Orcs a home, and that significantly points to Mordor. The series has done a good job of documenting how much Orcs hate sunlight, that's why many of them lived underground in LOTR. However, a ton of Orcs also lived in Mordor because the clouds from Mount Doom kept the sunlight at bay. So, given Adar's plans to become a god and literally block the sun, it only makes sense for him to ignite the fires of Mount Doom.

As further proof, there's a shot in The Rings of Power's official trailer that showed Isildur with fire raining down in the background. While a trebuchet could have shot the fire, it's increasingly likely that the trailer showed the first explosions of Mount Doom. It also makes sense that Sauron would allow Adar to get the fires of Mount Doom flowing before emerging to eliminate the fallen Elf and take up his throne in a newly-burnt Mordor.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power streams Fridays on Prime Video.