It’s slowly becoming a kind of running gag: Because Sauron has only been seen very briefly in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” so far and is supposed to make a surprise appearance, fans have been puzzling since episode 1 as to whether one of the already established characters is possibly Sauron in disguise – especially Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) and the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) who crashed with a meteorite are candidates. After the meteorite man was almost eliminated from the circle of suspects, episode 4 should now fuel the speculation again.
Because at the end of the fourth episode, Waldreg (Geoff Morell) turns out to be a follower of Sauron and the previous owner of the mysterious sword that Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) now carries around. Both characters also know how to make a broken sword into a blade again: Namely, by pricking one’s forearm with the pommel and thus giving the weapon some blood to drink.
Theo already has some puncture holes on his forearm, Waldreg’s scars are clearly visible. And if you watch the trailer for “The Rings of Power” episode 5, there is a scene there where there are apparently marks or scars on the Meteor Man’s bare forearm as well:
Does the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) have wounds on his forearm from Theo’s sword?
THE SWORD OF SAURON – OR IS IT?
Waldreg tells the shocked Theo in episode 4 that the sword is not a sword, but a power created by Sauron himself or his master Morgoth for the ancestors of the Southlanders. At least that is how we understand the lines of dialogue, which are just vague enough to allow for several interpretations.
In any case, it does not seem impossible that Sauron himself also used the sword (which is probably not a sword) and possibly also got such marks on his forearm – as they could also be seen on the arm of the stranger.
Waldreg also mentions that the starfall – the meteorite crash – is a sign of Sauron’s return. This also strongly suggests that the Stranger is Sauron returning to Middle-earth to his followers in the meteorite.
WE STAND BY THIS: THE STRANGER IS NOT SAURON
So even though the speculation is now getting new fuel: Somehow we still don’t believe that the Stranger is really Sauron. His sometimes helpless and sometimes helpful behaviour in the presence of the hard feet just seems too harmless and good-natured for that.
So the fact that episode 4 and the trailer for episode 5 now suggest that he could be Sauron after all is either a deliberately laid false trail (there have already been a few of these in the series) or possibly just coincidence. Or maybe we are just reading too much into small details…
We will certainly learn more in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” episode 5, which will be released on Amazon Prime Video on 23 September 2022. You can find out more about Sauron and the sword in the video embedded above by our YouTube host Sebastian.
