In Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel describes the forging of the rings of power, and how Sauron, in secret, forged the One Ring. “And into this Ring he poured all his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life,” she narrates. Now, The Rings of Power has revealed that maybe Sauron was literally pouring something into the mix.
In a pivotal scene in the penultimate episode of The Rings of Power Season 2, one aspect of Sauron’s creepy new powers has an onscreen justification. Thanks to this scene, the logistics of how Sauron made the Nine Rings for Mortal Men are much clearer. Plus, what seemed like a very random new version of Sauron at the start of this season suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Spoilers ahead.
Black goo Sauron — reloaded
A flashback at the start of The Rings of Power Season 2 revealed an entirely different face for Sauron (Jack Lowden), one we’d never seen before. Just after the defeat of Morgoth, this version of Sauron was ready to lead the Orcs into a new age of conquest, but was betrayed by Adar (Sam Hazeldine), and stabbed to death by Morgoth’s reforged crown. This resulted in something else nobody had ever really thought about with Sauron; the idea that his dark shapeshifting magic might result in a kind of vague black goo material. Like the symbiote in Venom or the Armus the “Skin of Evil” from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Sauron reverted to a black goo monster in this Rings of Power Season 2 prologue, which partially explained his shapeshifting ability and also visually made him into a creature you might encounter in a horror movie.
Turns out though, this oozing, disgusting non-human form of Sauron wasn’t just for show. In Episode 7, it’s made abundantly clear that this dark power is the special sauce that makes the titular rings of power so dangerous.
Celebrimbor realizes Annatar is Sauron
Counting the faceless black goo, we’ve had four versions of Sauron: the Forodwaith flashback Sauron played by Jack Lowden), two Saurons in “fair form,” Halbrand the human, and Annatar, the Elf, both played by Charlie Vickers. All season long, Annatar/Sauron has deceived the Elven-smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) into thinking he’s just a nice helper sent by the Valar to make sure the Rings of Power are completed. But Celebrimbor finally realizes that Annatar has been manipulating reality around him, making him see a well-ordered working area, when, in fact, everything is chaotic and Eregion is under siege outside.
Once Celebrimbor comes to his senses, he also discovers that there’s a bunch of gross black liquid that has clearly been poured into the rings. He seems to be confused as to where the liquid mithril has gone, but then Sauron reveals that this substance has literally been taken from his own body. Sauron says to Celebrimbor: “I have learned so much from you since I came to Eregion. No lesson more lasting than this: true creation requires sacrifice.”
So, Sauron has literally put his own blood and body into the Nine Rings, which are destined for men. Later, when Celebrimbor rants about Annatar’s true identity, he says “If you don’t believe me, cut him open, look at his blood — black as pitch!”
But, Annatar, using mind control on all the elves, shows that his cut hand appears to have normal red blood, rather than the black goo Celebrimbor knows is really running through his veins. This makes Sauron’s powers of evil a bit more tactile than previously assumed. It’s not just that he imbued the rings with his dark magic or evil spells. The new form of Sauron means that some of the rings are physically a part of him.
Of all the tweaks that The Rings of Power has made to Tolkien's canon, this one seems to now be the best. Sauron’s evil wasn’t just metaphysical or vaguely magical. We know now that his entire body was pure evil, and that the corruption of the rings wasn’t just superficial, it was fundamental to their creation.
