The Rings of Power season 2 trailer revealed several big moments to look forward to, but it might have shown too much regarding Sauron’s story. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the teaser is that the Dark Lord’s elf form, Annatar, will finally make an appearance. According to Tolkien canon, Sauron’s fair form is supposed to trick the Elves of Eregion into making the Rings of Power, and it certainly seems that this will play out in The Rings of Power season 2. However, this intriguing storyline might not last as long as we would hope.
Though Sauron was a giant flaming eye in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, the villain could take virtually any form he wanted during the Second Age of Middle-earth. He was a shapeshifter and a trickster, and the former skill came in handy for the latter. In The Silmarillion, Tolkien explained that Sauron had used a beautiful Elvish form called Annatar, a name meaning “Lord of Gifts,” to deceive the Elves, though they did eventually realize they had been swindled. The promise of this plotline has been a significant draw for The Rings of Power, and it’s finally happening in season 2.
As exciting as it is that Annatar’s deception will finally be adapted to the screen, the trailer for The Rings of Power season 2 already revealed the scene in which the Eregion Elves catch him. The teaser sees the villain looking mischievous as a group of Elvish soldiers surrounds him, weapons drawn, and Galadriel’s voiceover chimes in with the words, “he is Sauron.” It’s all very dramatic and exciting but also a bit disappointing. This should have been a moment that The Rings of Power season 2 worked up toward, but its inclusion in the trailer shows that it might not hold much weight in the overall season.
The Dark Lord’s stint in Eregion could have spanned the entirety of The Rings of Power season 2, but the fact that his deception was revealed in the trailer indicates that it won’t last too long. If the scene were meant to be a big moment at the end of the season, it wouldn’t have been revealed months before this next installment began streaming on Prime Video. In fact, the clips of Annatar seen in the trailer may come from only a couple of episodes or even just one, which could potentially explain the odd design choices for his character.
Sauron’s Annatar disguise isn’t quite as clever as we might have expected. Rather than a brand new face, the elf version of Sauron just looks like Halbrand with a clean shave and long wig. He isn’t nearly as ethereal as Tolkien’s works implied, and it isn’t yet clear how Celebrimbor, who met Halbrand in Rings of Power season 1, would fall for the disguise. Prime Vidoe’s version of events may see the Dark Lord take on this form for only a short time—just long enough to get his hands on Celebrimbor—and Annatar won’t be as lengthy a presence as was implied in The Silmarillion.
Though Sauron may not use his rather unclever Annatar disguise long in The Rings of Power season 2, the trailer implies that he still gets around to creating his Rings of Power. One of the included scenes saw Celebrimbor encounter a bright light and a silhouette, which implies that Sauron will still influence him in one way or another. Later, the elf is again shown, beaten and bruised, dumping a handful of rings into a fire as if trying to destroy them. In the scene where guards surround Sauron, Celebrimbor is shown off to the side, again covered in wounds and bruises—this may be a prime clue.
Rather than taking on a whole new form to deceive Celebrimbor into making the Rings of Power, it seems Sauron uses violence and force to do this in Rings of Power season 2. Additionally, the wave of magic that Annatar uses at the end of the trailer appears to ripple across Mordor and create Barad-dûr, which might mean that Sauron kidnaps Celebrimbor and brings him to his fortress, where the Elves show up to rescue him only after the Rings are complete. Of course, only time will tell, but it’s safe to assume that the story in Rings of Power season 2 will differ from how Tolkien wrote it.