#The Tolkien fandom has been touchy for the past few years so I feel the need to say that I'm just sharing my own take and 100% respect that

[mhevarujta]

Sauron and Galadriel in The Rings of Power

There's been a lot of talk about Sauron and Galadriel's arc in the show. I've seen reactions vary from 'this is a cheap fanfic and completely against anything Tolkien would ever do' to 'they are in love with each other' depending on the audience and what they desire from the show.

Then there is the MC's recent interview, leading to fans speculating on whether Sauron will try to bring Galadriel to his side again etc. 

My own approach of this show is finding a silver lining of examining as its own thing and examining the characters arcs having in mind broader themes and the fact that his is a condensed timeline, so the entire arc of a character will be basically dealth in about 5 seasons when in the book it spans several ages.

With this in mind, this is the way I perceived what is being done with Sauron and Galadriel: I genuinely don't believe that the writers are going for a romance or for some version of badboy Sauron who becomes darker because he was rejected by Galadriel. I don't even believe that he starts with a genuine chance of redemption as Halbrand on the raft.Since the beginning, Sauron was quite willing to let any companion die. The first time he allows Galadriel to board the raft, she is the sole other survivor and he had let her fend for herself.  The second time, after they had talked, he had already seen her as potentially useful. I've seen the argument that Mairon may feel things that Sauron doesn't, but I don't think that the duality of Mairon/Sauron is prominent at all, if it even exists. 

For one thing, throughout it all he is always presented as someone who tells the aspects of the truth that suited him and that could sway her and those around him to the perception of events and to the course of action that suited him. Moreover, by this point in the show's canon he HAS experienced Morgoth's downfall and his experiments to have power over flesh have happened after his failed attempt at redemption.His choice has already been made.  I feel that he cares for Galadriel because he sees a conflict in her. He doesn't know of the specifics of Galadriel's journey, but he perceives that in a way they are similar... and they are, but it's a juxtaposition that they create.  Galadriel does not go to Aman in 1x01 because she didn't feel peace and didn't want to pursue a version of it for herself while the world was in turmoil. Based on Sauron's own arc in the Silmarillion, after Morgoth's defeat he MIGHT have genuinely repented for a while, but it was because of the fear his master's fall awoke in him. Sauron did not go to Aman because he was afraid of judgement.  In the show Galadriel was afraid of failing her own sense of duty and necessity in a way. But based on what we know... he? He was afraid of uncertainty. To seek redemption, he basically needed impunity in advance if he was to even put in the effort. 

Galadriel's conflict is something he can use. It's something that he can also relate to on an emotional level (but not in terms of its moral context). Her utility, the way he can channel that to manipulate AND the fact that she's beautiful strong and resilient are all factors that capture his interest.  I feel that to an extent he lusted for her, as we know Morgoth had for Luthien.  Nevertheless, what leads to him wanting her by his side is that 'feeling' he addresses in 1x06. Some interpret that  as a romantic confession. Personally I feel he was speaking of control.When fighting by her side he had someone to pull him back and limit him in a way he could not manage himself. If he had that when Morgoth fell he might have managed to be redeemed.  But his tendancies prevail. 

Where one could consider what he felt as a need for companionship and of genuinely having people close to them, for Sauron it's accompanied by an idea of order and control; of binding it to his very being. He twists it into a corrupted notion that just clicks when he meets Celebrimbor and the idea of an object of power comes and clicks with it. He wants that feeling of certainty AND his own twist on power, which beats any purity that feeling that awakened in him might have had, and which is why he sells to Galadriel the idea of them ruling together, even though with control he'd have over her through the ring would basically cancel out any chance she had at setting limits. But it's the feeling and the illusion of it all that matters to him and with regard of himself only. 

Even as he presents them as the saviors of middle earth, she asks something along the lines of 'save or rule?' Sauron not seeing the difference between the two and seing his own dominance and vision as salvation is exactly why he is lost and at the point of no return. It also clearly separates the two. Galadriel WAS tempted in both the book and the show, and in the show she's clearly drowning in her rage and desire for vengeance (I feel that her hunting of Sauron in the show is inspired by that line about her wanting to follow Feanor and thwart him), but ultimately their goals and worldviews are very different, which is why she CAN pull herself back every single time. She has a sense of self and of others that he never had and it's why she can choose to 'remain Galadriel' and not lose everything that makes her who she is because of a desire of power that most people have in one way or the other.Of course, the moment Sauron is rejected, he is very much willing to let her die. I feel this was a pretty big indication concerning how the writers see these two and the fact that, while Sauron may still see uses for her and have his eyes set upon her, there's no chance of the show exploring them as actual love-interests or even allies.

 Then why build this arc in the first place? Because of the themes and the juxtaposition, as I mentioned earlier. Even if we look at their names, there's something interesting there. We have the Dark Lord and the Lady of Light; the Lord of Gifts and the Lady of Gifts; Artano and Artanis; the Lord of the Rings and the Lady of the Ring; the Black Master and the Mistress of Magic; the Black One/Master and the White Lady; the Shadow in the Forest and the Lady of Golden Wood. I don't know, I just feel that the idea of exploring this comes from the right place and was done quite well in season 1. Of course some may disagree and that's their prerogative.