#rings of power and horror

[ann-atar]

Re: Sauron, iterations in TROP

... or my impressions so far, going in the order we were introduced to them/him.

Halbrand-Sauron My least favorite Sauron! Now I have to preface this and say that I was not spoiled, at all, for any of the first season. I didn't look at anything online except the episodes themselves and the trailers/previews, so I really didn't know much about this character except what we were shown, so my initial impression of Halbrand was, I believe, exactly what I imagine the showrunners wanted it to be.

I thought Halbrand was sketchy and, honestly, a bit gross. Not in terms of looks but, like, everything else. His whole personality got under my skin and I could not stand him. (Kudos Charlie Vickers! I didn't know what you were doing at the time but damn.)

I felt for Galadriel because of all the Men she could come across after going through so much, she had to face off against this rather smarmy dude-bro. I was honestly baffled when she wouldn't be talked out of the idea that he was the lost king of the Southlands because it seemed like a wild supposition despite the fact that he had that heraldry. But Galadriel was -- is -- so traumatized that it didn't really matter who he was, she was going to find a cause and a way to fight the Enemy even if she had to elevate this obviously (to us) sketchy person.

My entire reaction to the evolution of Galadriel's fantasy about Halbrand's character was: girl no, girl please, girl stop. Which, rather ironically, was Sauron's initial reaction too. He tried so hard to shake her and it was almost funny, until it wasn't, because Sauron being Sauron means that he can't help but reach for power in whatever form it takes (imo in his mind there was not much difference between an army from the Southlands and the Uruk army, they could both be turned and/or further corrupted to suit his purpose).

The only times I liked Halbrand at all were when he did seem to be trying pretty hard to carve out a new life for himself with the smiths' guild in Numenor. He was honestly really passionate about making things, and it was too bad he couldn't reach for that new life in an above board, straightforward way. But that little spark, which I suppose we might call a hint of Mairon's lost light, was there again when he met Celebrimbor and helped out in his forge. At that point the story turned into more of a tragedy for all of these characters, Sauron included.

But being mildly annoyed and creeped out by Halbrand!Sauron did not prepare me for ...

Uncanny Valley Sauron The version of Sauron we saw in the flashback when Adar tried to kill him was ... unsettling. Too shiny. Wildly out of place. He made my skin crawl and that short scene was amazing because the tension surrounding him was palpable. A whole crowd of Uruk, and Adar, held somewhat in his thrall and tiptoeing around their erstwhile king -- but why? We can't see exactly what came before but it must have been BAD.

I call this version "Uncanny Valley" Sauron because there was something so off about him, and there was also a sense that he was acting out what he thought someone in his position should be doing, playing dress-up for a day or an age, and in a body that he wasn't quite used to, still figuring out what that body should do and say in that particular role and context.

When Adar made to crown him in front of the assembled Uruk, and he swept his cape around himself with that little flourish, I was holding my breath, not just because I was anticipating the inevitable violence but because he was so ... weird. Seriously. When they attacked it was more visceral than I thought it would be, but Uncanny Valley Sauron didn't even die like a being of flesh and blood, which was also unexpected and impressive.

The Uruk impact the surface of him, they break into the shell of his flesh suit until the real "him" escapes, but because they don't understand much about the nature of his being, Adar and the Uruk interpreted that as destruction, as death. Which of course it would have been for almost any other creature, but Sauron is a Maia and they're ... built different.

At that point I think we crossed over into horror territory, and we get to meet ...

Zhajiangmian!Sauron, a.k.a. The Thing Not everyone liked this version of Sauron but I was cheering wildly because not only does it show that his nature is alien, so far from what we know of the other inhabitants of Middle-earth, but it does something else: it shows us, in gruesome detail, exactly what Mairon, a creature of fire and light, was reduced to under Melkor.

That black ooze? It's not his blood, it's him.

Even in the shadow realm he still appears as blackness, decay, and ashes, even if his skin still burns with some of his lost fire, and that's just awful. Thing!Sauron in the rocks beneath the mountain, consuming any spark of life that got too close and then slithering up and up toward the light ... I don't know if this comparison has been made before, but I'm calling this version The Thing because it reminds me somewhat of the creature in the John Carpenter movie from the 80's. In that movie, the thing/alien/creature consumes and mimics any living being, and it's very hard to tell that the person being mimicked isn't "real," or isn't themselves. Until they're cornered, confronted, and inevitably kill again.

In Carpenter's (horror) movie, The Thing mimics life and can take on almost any form, but it seems more inclined to impersonate living things that can communicate. Why? We don't know, we're not told, but it does have an innate drive to keep going, and to continue down a path of death and destruction for as long as it survives.

Of course this is not a complete parallel with Sauron, but it's close, and I can't help but think that's by design. And that we were supposed to consider what kind of being a Maia is, originally, and how much torture of all kinds would be required to transform a brilliant demi-god into the creature (the filth!) that crawled across Middle-earth with a similar appetite for destruction after Adar's attempt to kill it.

Which gives us a great deal of information on the nature of ...

Annatar!Sauron, Celebrimbor's Lord of Gifts If the black ooze under his flesh facade is him, that means that he sacrificed not blood, exactly, but parts of himself to create the Nine. Living parts, like tendrils forged into molten metal and shaped into the rings, connecting his will to the wearer's, his being forever sundered in a desperate bid to connect and dominate, a power over flesh but also made of "flesh," a power that reaches into the unseen world, but at what cost?

It's almost too much, that cost, and talk about horror! Sauron's living essence was forged into the rings, but near the end, in Eregion, it was smeared across Celebrimbor's desk, it was on his skin and under his fingernails, it was in Celebrimbor's hair. Annatar's corrupted essence is all over him, but in the end it doesn't dim Celebrimbor's light ...

After writing that I'm not sure how to convey why Annatar!Sauron is my favorite so far. I suppose I could say that he's the best/worst one to date, and that those actors together, playing Annatar and Celebrimbor, have created a phenomenal version of Sauron in general, and I'm pretty pleased with where this adaptation is taking him.

Sauron is no longer just the final boss in the spiky headgear we saw in the PJ films; after he transformed himself into this "lord of gifts," he's clearly a Maia who was tortured into insanity, whose essence was corroded and corrupted, turned dark and viscous when his nature was bold and bright, who still wants to create something even after ages spent twisting in the dark with no hope of regaining the light. It's a credit to the actor that we can accept that sketchy, sly Halbrand turned into a version of Sauron who was so nuanced and alien, and a credit to the showrunners who were able to let us see that progression.

Anyway.

I've already posted a lot about this latest version of Sauron, and rather than go over old ground and ramble even more wildly I'm going to link a few earlier meta posts here:

Finale Thoughts: Annatar, Celebrimbor, Galadriel

Pre-finale: Annatar, and Celebrimbor understanding the pattern

The Sauron Effect: TROP's Sauron is a great villain

Durin's immunity to the Sauron-effect

I'm still thinking about the relationship between Annatar and Celebrimbor, and the impact that will have on the forging of the One, and will doubtless have more thoughts on that in the future. If you got to the end of this post or have replied to my meta thank you, I'm enjoying the hell out of this show, the performances, and the fandom in general!

[gauntletgirlie]

[aquitainequeen]

Isildur: Hi everyone, I've returned at last! Berek searched through the wasteland to find me, he's the best, and we went on a epic journey, and I fought giant spiders, and I had to eat part of a giant worm - that's not a euphemism - and there were walking talking trees, and I fell in love and got my heart broken practically the same day, but I also got to help an estranged father and son heal their relationship, and in conclusion it's all just been a lot. I'm really sorry it took me so long to get back; you all must have thought I was dead or something!

Isildur: Hey, where are dad and Valandil?

Isildur: ...did something happen while I was gone?

Ar-Pharazôn: ......

Eärien: ......

Kemen: ......

Míriel: ...well? He's waiting.

[monakisu]

more shido's cognitive goro being a creepy horror monster please!!! i wish there'd been more build-up to his presence in the ship, like the occasional pair of red pinprick pupils watching from the shadows, some disjointed footsteps in an otherwise empty room, the player noting a foreboding feeling of being watched, movement disappearing around a corner the second you step foot into a new room, etc etc etc...

he's just suchhh a weird creature. a doppelgänger with twisted ideals and thoughts deeply different from the original’s. who knows what the hell he’ll do? he’s unpredictable!! and a cutie pie :]

[carnation-damnation]

Sketches from the AU I'm cookin' over on Discord.

Faker AU - Shadow wakes up in an artificial world powered by the phantom ruby where he and Sonic have switched places within the story, and Shadow is seemingly the only one who knows something's wrong.

[nitewrighter]

Animal Man #23 (1990)

[schellis]

In A Blink, Stop The Clock!

Closeups under the cut :]

[sauronpilled]

i love this image so much because of the implication that isildur about to be put in More Situations.

[gil-galadhwen]

Haunt Me

(Wuthering Heights x Haladriel)

"You said I killed you, so haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth.”

Written for Day 5 of @hellghoulweek - Grave

( Dividers by @saradika-graphics )

[athanoraa]

i miss him already :(

[poopsiekitten]

“𝔅𝔢𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔴 𝔡𝔬𝔱𝔥 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔟𝔲𝔯𝔡𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰.”

It’s Nosferatu season and we would all like to see a vampire!Sauron, right?

This is by far the longest I have ever spent on a drawing, but I really wanted to play more with the oil brushes. So 36 hours later…here we are

[gauntletgirlie]

Original screencap from @thiddleston’s post.

[mr-dead-inside]

[fukutomichi]

Maaan, Sauron almost acting as The Thing, with him using his blood to infect and control an entire city makes him even more frightening to me imo. The moment he entered Eregion, it was doomed. The moment they bring The Dog Thing into the research camp, it was over. You talked to Sauron and had a few laughs over a drink? You're under his control and basically a goner. Him being a shapeshifter, disguising himself and BARELY managing his elvish mask this season, just to get what he wants as soon as possible. Using doubt and lies and turning everyone against each other. GASLIGHTING EVERYONE. And who would know him better than Adar and what he's capable of at this point. No wonder the moment he finds out who he is, he wants to level Eregion to the ground before he escapes or takes on another mask.

"Childs, Mac wants the flamethrower."

[helenvader]

Whoever came first with the name BLOBRON deserves a medal. :-)

[rhymeswithfart]

Hello my friend I’m ayaa brother

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Adding pictures for reach: