The Rings Of Power: Meet Sauron, Middle Earth’s twisted therapist

SINGAPORE – Think of the Dark Lord as an evil therapist or manipulative life coach and it all makes sense, says the actor playing the main villain in the fantasy series

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power.

Australian actor Charlie Vickers, 31, plays the powerful but evil divine spirit Sauron, also known as Annatar or the Dark Lord.

Speaking to The Straits Times on Aug 23 at Shangri-La Hotel, Vickers explains how Sauron, disguised as the human refugee and lost king Halbrand, is a trickster who has latched himself to powerful characters in the first season of the show.

“In the first season, he was exactly what people needed,” he says. Vickers, along with other cast members, were in Singapore to promote the show.

The second season of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power will premiere on Prime Video on Aug 29.

“He boosts people up. For Galadriel, he was like a therapist,” he says. For the elven warrior and noblewoman Galadriel, played by Welsh actress Morfydd Clark, Halbrand helped give her life a purpose.

“For her, he was a lost king who needed to go back to Middle Earth to reclaim his throne. And conveniently, she needed to go back there as well, to kill some Orcs. Those two things coincided,” he says.

In Season 2, several characters are still unaware of Halbrand’s true identity, among them the elven smith Celebrimbor, played by English actor Charles Edwards.

Sauron desperately wants to fashion the magical rings that will allow him to control the races of Middle Earth, but he lacks the skills, so he worms his way into Celebrimbor’s circle of trust.

“Sauron needs his knowledge, he can’t make these rings himself. So Sauron becomes his life coach, in a way, to benefit. He keeps Celebrimbor’s confidence high and keeps him feeling good about himself,” says Vickers.

Edwards, 54, seated next to Vickers, adds that Sauron is milking Celebrimbor. “It’s a relationship that might develop in a workplace. They spend most of their time together, bickering, arguing. The gaslighting that enters is very similar to some toxic relationships,” he says.

Celebrimbor allows himself to be gaslit because Sauron is a master at identifying, then using, the insecurities of others.

“Celebrimbor has an ego and a need for success. Sauron can zone into those points of conflict and pick away at them like a scab. Sauron undermines him and rocks his belief in himself to get what he wants,” says Edwards.

At the finale of 2022’s first season, it seemed that all the mysteries had been cleared up. Sauron had revealed himself, with the stage set for the forging of the rings, setting into motion an alliance between the races of men and elves to overthrow Sauron.

J.D. Payne, 44, is a showrunner and writer on the show. Speaking to ST at a separate interview at the Shangri-La event, the American promises more surprises in the coming season.

Fifty hours of the show, or approximately five seasons, have been promised, he says.

“In Season 1, we introduced characters onto the board. And now the pieces are set and the game is in motion. Sauron starts Season 2 with nothing. He has to manipulate to get what he wants,” says Payne.

He whets viewers’ appetite for a three-episode battle taking place later this season. “It will get darker and have more psychological complexity. It’s all going to be broader, deeper and bigger.”