Rings of Power<\/em>\u2018s return<\/a> has put the spotlight of its season two story firmly on Sauron, especially now that he\u2019s made himself known to Middle-earth after slumming it as Halbrand in season one<\/a>. But in doing so, it gave the show a chance to show us just what it actually means for the Dark Lord to transform himself into new form\u2026 in ways expected and unexpected.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rings of Power<\/em> season two opens with a bit of a sideways step. Or rather, a step back<\/em>, all the way to the climax of the First Age<\/a> and Morgoth\u2019s defeat, as we witness Adar and Sauron attempt to rally the remnants of Morgoth\u2019s dark forces to accept a new leader. Except, Sauron is not played in this flashback by Charlie Vickers, but Jack Lowden\u2026 because we have to watch him be turned on by the orcs, slaughtered, and undergo a horrifying, viscous transformation as he seeks new flesh in order to survive.<\/p>\n \u201cWe felt it would help you understand how he sees himself and what he\u2019s endured, and also maybe make you look at season one through a different prism and see it through his eyes,\u201d showrunner Patrick McKay told io9 at a recent press junket, speaking about the decision to open season two with the First Age. \u201cSort of see what he was after in a fresh way. It felt like a great place to start.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of that, as we mentioned, was getting to glimpse a vile form we\u2019ve never seen Sauron in before: after he\u2019s attacked by Adar and the orcs, Sauron\u2019s body transforms into a goopy, stringy mass of black flesh, devouring anything and everything it can get its tendrils on as it climbs its way out from the darkest depths and back into Middle-earth, where a feast on a passing human allows him to finally transform into the man we knew as Halbrand.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amount of time and fun we had designing the puddle creature, as we called his most evil, pure form that he has to crawl back from murder and betrayal in\u2026 we looked at weird viruses and bacteria and like\u2026 things you can\u2019t<\/em> kill,\u201d McKay continued. \u201cRotting meat, Francis Bacon paintings. It was one of the real joys of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Vickers did not actually play the amorphous black glob that he came from, opening the season with Sauron\u2019s personal history was a huge boon for the actor. \u201cRevisiting Halbrand at the beginning, right from the beginning of the [First] Age, and seeing his journey in the prologue, that was really rewarding. Because to be honest, it\u2019s one of the things about working in something like this\u2026 it answered a lot of questions for me.\u201d Vickers reflected on the opening. \u201cAnd it was very rewarding to really go through that process and get that out of my system and then be like, \u2018Now we\u2019re doing it, now we\u2019re doing Annatar.\u2019 And we were super lucky that that was all chronological, and all our scenes [between Vickers and Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor] were chronological as well.\u201d<\/p>\n But as Vickers notes, the black-goop-into-Halbrand glow-up is not the only transformation of Sauron\u2019s we witness in the opening episodes of the season. After managing to slowly worm his way back into Eregion and Celebrimbor\u2019s orbit, despite Galadriel\u2019s orders for no Elf to ever treat with \u201cHalbrand\u201d again, Sauron makes his big play and reveals to the Elven forge smith he\u2019s not who he says he is. In a moment, Halbrand\u2019s affable human nature twists, and he becomes distant and knowing\u2026 before stepping into the fires of Celebrimbor\u2019s forges and emerging reborn as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, a fair, Elven form that leaves Celebrimbor in awe.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was all on one day,\u201d Vickers said of shooting Annatar\u2019s revelation scene. \u201cWe had the Halbrand bit [of the scene], and then I went and got changed, and then did the Forge bit. It was very cool to experience that. But I remember the top of the scene, that really felt special, like a meeting again of these two characters and that question\u2014\u2019did the rings, did they work?\u2019\u2014felt very truthful.\u201d<\/p>\n Edwards, playing the increasingly doomed role<\/a> of Celebrimbor, had an awe in the moment akin to the Elf craftsman as well. \u201cIt was an amazing day, shooting that forge stuff\u2026 the flame and everything. You read it on the page, but you don\u2019t know how it\u2019s going to be shot, you know? They had this\u00a0huge<\/em> camera that ran along the ceiling of the entire set on a line, but the extent of it, the scale of it, was extraordinary.\u201d \u201d<\/p>\n He continued. \u201cI remember watching from side stage, we were watching Charles do the sequence\u2014because it\u2019s all one take, the fire comes on, you knock this thing over\u2014and it\u2019s amazing. All of that coming together, the level of craftmanship,\u201d Vickers added. \u201cI think I asked Patrick [McKay] at the end of the day, I was like \u2018So, what do you think?\u2019, and he was just like \u2018It\u2019s a miracle.\u2019 I think it\u2019s a miracle that it all worked, and the Annatar thing worked, and everyone was really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, everyone except the denziens of Middle-earth, it seems, because Sauron\u2019s Annatar thing working means that dire times are only going to get direr.\u00a0Rings of Power<\/em> season two is now streaming on Prime Video.<\/p>\n Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n Trending Products<\/strong>![\"Rings](\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/rings-of-power-sauron-rebirth.jpg\")
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