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How Sauron Looks In The Rings Of Power Compared To Lord Of The Rings
The shadow of Sauron falls quickly in Amazon Prime's long-awaited prequel series, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; but his appearance may seem strange to viewers familiar with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The most well-known enemy against Middle-earth's peace and prosperity is introduced less than seven minutes into the first episode as the "most devoted servant" of Morgoth. In the introductory sequence, Galadriel calls him a "cruel and cunning sorceror" responsible for "much sorrow" and the spread of orcs to "every corner of Middle-earth."
Much as Sauron was the powerful but largely unseen force driving the action in The Lord of the Rings, his shadow will loom large over The Rings of Power. Close viewers will have recognized the shape of the darkness that rises into the sky as Morgoth snuffs out Valinor's light-giving trees, Telperion and Laurelin. The darkness briefly morphs into a form reminiscent of Sauron's headgear in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As Galadriel continues recounting the violence that led to the death of her brother Finrod, the first glimpse of Sauron in physical form arrives on-screen.
Following a depressing, grimy battle scene in which Morgoth's fellbeasts get the better of the great eagles, the camera sweeps over a legion of orc soldiers making way for a tall, armored figure. Nothing of his face or true form is shown. His armor is dark and pointy; his cloak sweeps the ground. In his left hand, he carries a slender staff-like weapon that appears more spear than wizard's (or sorcerer's) crystal-topped cane. While much remains to be revealed, it's clearly the Dark Lord Sauron.
Why Sauron Looks Different In The Rings Of Power
Sauron is shown forging the One Ring within the first few minutes of The Fellowship of the Ring. His previous appearance is far more visually distinct since he is highlighted by the fires of Mount Doom. A close-up of his headgear is featured before a full-body shot reveals armor that appears to be more bulky than the Rings of Power version. The six spikes rising from Sauron's headgear are still there, but Amazon's Sauron has additional horizontal spikes jutting out from the sides. The visual similarities between the two depictions of Sauron may come from John Howe, who was Tolkien's illustrator for The Silmarillion and did concept art for The Lord of the Rings movies. Howe also serves as one of the concept artists for The Rings of Power.
The biggest difference between Peter Jackson's Sauron and Amazon's is Sauron's weapon of choice. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Sauron wields a huge mace which he uses to sweep several men and elves off their feet and fling them across the battlefield. In The Rings of Power, Sauron bears what appears to be an ordinary (but still terrifying) spear. He also appears to favor his left hand in the new series, while in the movie he fights with and carries the One Ring on his right.
Overall, the Sauron shown briefly in Rings of Power is sleeker of form and more reserved in function. Amazon isn't trying to copy Peter Jackson's depiction of this Maiar turned evil. In fact, with several Rings of Power characters suspected of being Sauron or being possessed by him, there may not be much of the Sauron glimpsed in the introduction shown throughout the rest of the series.
How Sauron Is Different In The Rings Of Power
When it comes to Sauron, The Rings of Power is leaning away from Peter Jackson's films and into J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. In the Second Age of Middle-earth, Sauron plays a much different role than he does in The Third Age covered by The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Silmarillion depicts Sauron as a shape-shifter, at times appearing as a vampire, a wolf, and a snake. More commonly, however, he appears to men and elves in the attractive human-like form of Annatar, and he's also known as The Lord of Gifts. Sauron's whole plan is to achieve Morgoth's goal of taking control of Middle-earth, but through politics, guile, and treachery instead of via open war.
According to Christopher Tolkien's fifth volume of The History of Middle-earth, Sauron is no longer able to take on an attractive form after the fall of Numenor which is likely to be shown in The Rings of Power. He still appears humanoid and taller than most men, but his body gives off great heat, so much so that when he touches Gil-galad (played by Mark Ferguson in Rings of Power), he almost burns him to death. Isildur, who sliced the ring-bearing finger from the Dark Lord in battle, described his hand as black, yet burning with fire. In short, everyone who meets Sauron later on will immediately be able to tell his vibes are off.
The Rings of Power has a lot of leeway when it comes to depicting Sauron. In The Silmarillion, Tolkien describes him as "a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms..." With that in mind, and remembering that Sauron is one of the Maiar, the same type of angel-like being as Gandalf and Saruman, it's not a far stretch for him to take on several visual iterations throughout the series.
