Charlie Vickers plays Halbrand, a mysterious (non-book) character who has become a fan-favorite topic of The Rings of Power theories. Early on, people have been speculating about Halbrand’s identity and not surprisingly, fans believed he could actually be Sauron. Well, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 8 finally brought Halbrand to Eregion where he doesn’t waste time in meeting with Celebrimbor. The mysterious character gives the craftsman the idea of forging the mithril with other metals to enhance its strength. In the books, this is something that Sauron does and the repeated advice would later lead to the creation of the Rings of Power.
It’s a stunning reveal (although most fans already anticipated it) that Vickers admits he didn’t learn about until he was already filming for The Rings of Power. “I didn’t know for sure until the beginning of the third episode,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We filmed the first two episodes and then the show went on hiatus because of COVID. Toward the end of the hiatus, the showrunners [J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay] sat me down and told me. I filmed that sequence on the raft [in Episode 2] not knowing. I filmed it as Halbrand wholeheartedly.” This may have been a good thing considering that Charlie Vickers’ portrayal of Halbrand was sincere. With that in mind, we can’t wait to see this version of Sauron in the second season.
