Few villains are scarier than the ones we cannot see. J.R.R. Tolkein knew this, which is why the Lord of the Rings novels never described the Dark Lord Sauron in any detail. We knew he had a body, and... that’s pretty much it. Peter Jackson’s original trilogy followed this rule as well; the films never revealed Sauron in flashbacks, instead showing us only his flaming eye at the top of Barad-dûr. Sadly, Amazon’s TV series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has decided to squander all that mystique.
The Rings of Power has already shown Sauron in the flesh. During the Season 1 finale, we found out that Halbrand—a stranger from the Southland who has a very, erm, interesting relationship with Galadriel—is actually Sauron himself. In a Season 2 teaser released Tuesday, however, Amazon unveiled our big bad villain’s new wig, and frankly, it’s simply too much.
Sauron does not speak in this brief clip, but he does do a powerful energy thing with his hands. All morning, I’ve wondered why Amazon decided that Sauron should look more like a rejected Death Eater from Harry Potter than a formidable sorcerer who will one day subjugate all of Middle-earth, but then again, I guess you should never judge a book by its cover.
