Was Sauron always destined to be a guy obsessed with controlling people through the bewitching force of magical rings? If two seasons of The Rings of Power have taught us anything, it's that the origin story of the actual Lord of the Rings himself wasn’t as deliberate or masterful as we thought. Throughout The Rings of Power Season 2, we’ve learned that Sauron’s journey to his more familiar role in the classic novels and beloved films was fairly circuitous, with the Dark Lord often finding unique opportunities and exploiting them. Towards the end of the Season 2 finale, Galadriel accuses him of having masterminded every single thing that has taken place, but Sauron replies, “The road is ever winding, not even I could see all its paths.”
Funnily enough, the great deceiver is being honest in this moment. Earlier in the same episode, an epic scene pointed out just how catch-as-catch-can Sauron’s journey has been. And because of this great scene — perhaps the coolest in all of Rings of Power so far — the idea that Sauron pursued one destiny has now been utterly upended.
