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In recent years of film and television history, a new type of villain has arisen, one whose motives are less black-and-white evil, and more morally complex to understand, which makes them always tread that line between redemption and destruction. Halbrand’s final reveal as Sauron is no exception, and as a character that many fans of the Rings of Power have come to like over the course of the 8 episode series, his ambiguous nature will feed heavily into the future of the show.
When his true identity is first discovered by Galadriel, who has done the very thing that she feared in keeping Sauron’s evil alive, there are several moments that pass between them where Halbrand tries to explain to her that he doesn’t want fire and destruction, rather he wants to heal Middle Earth and right the wrongs that he and Morgoth caused throughout the First Age of the world. But are his intentions actually as pure as he says, or is it simply another manipulative tactic he is using to ensnare Galadriel into his malicious schemes?
In order to answer this, it is important to look at Tolkien’s original purpose for Sauron’s character. As is well known, Sauron was one of the maiar, the powerful beings who came across the sea, and in the earliest days of his existence, he found joy in the order of the world. He found Eru Illuvatars creations to be a perfect concept, designed and created with such precision and control that they were beautiful.
As such, he began to learn this craft and design himself, wishing also to make ordered, perfect things. But when Eru’s creations came to life, Sauron saw chaos within them and their choices, because they had the free will to go outside of the plans that were laid before them. He, therefore, began to believe that the only way for there to be total harmony, was for there to be total control, so that everything stayed in its correct order and place.
With this discovery, he joined forces with Morgoth, who he believed would be able to help his gain the power he needed to put the world to rights. However, Morgoth’s intentions were entirely different, for he was jealous of Illuvatar’s powers of creation, and sought not to organize and help them as Sauron did, but to destroy them altogether.
This is the difference that Halbrand tries to make Galadriel see, when he first reveals his true identity to her. He wants her to understand that he has good intentions for the world, and that he wants to achieve total power and domination in order to save the elves and men from themselves and their own destruction of one another. In his mind at least, this is his way of healing the chaos and the anarchy that he sees within them.
When he first traps Galdriel in her own mind, he appears in the form of her brother Finrod, and he tries to calm her rage against him by placing her in the beautiful and heavenly realm of Valinor. He tells her that he is proud of her for carrying on Finrod’s legacy, and that she has done well, soothing her with all of the things she wants to hear from her brother but never got the chance because he was killed too soon. But the warning bells are going off in her head, and she tells him “Your task was hunting Sauron.”
At this, Halbrands mind control shifts slightly, and he replies “My task was ensuring peace. But I learned, that was Sauron’s task too. He was seeking a power, not to destroy Middle Earth, but to heal it”. The tragedy behind these words is that at this point, this is genuinely what he believes of himself, a savior and a hero, rather than a tyrant and destroyer.
As Galadriel begins to break out of his spell, he switches the scene to their first meeting aboard the raft in the Sundering Seas, and again he tries to explain to her that he never intended the cruelty and annihilation that Morgoth unleashed upon the world, and that all he wants now is the chance to rectify the consequences of their joint actions. But when he says he wants to rectify it, to him this means control it, break any free will from it and order it into submission away from any divergence or growth, for then it will remain perfect, which, to Sauron, means peace and harmony.
He tells Galadriel “Together we can save this Middle Earth.” But she can see within him that his version of saving their world would mean squashing out all individuality, all choice, all creativity, so that there is nothing left but order. Galadriel demands of him “Save? Or rule?” and his response sums up the entire problem with his fundamental beliefs “I see no difference.”
He genuinely does wish to heal the world, to right the wrongs of the past, to save all of the beings and creatures from war and greed and devastation, but in achieving total dominion of the world, he cannot see that is the exact evil he sees and wants to cull in everyone else.