Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay recently revealed that the second season kicks off in the past. So, what happens in The Rings of Power Season 2’s opening flashback, and does it track with J.R.R. Tolkien’s books?
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The Rings of Power Season 2’s Opening Flashback, Explained
Payne and McKay laid out The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2’s introductory sequence in an interview with Total Film. It’s set at the tail end of the First Age, well before Season 1’s Second Age setting. Sauron’s boss, Morgoth, is gone, and the newly elevated dark lord is holding a coronation ceremony to cement his position as the Orcs’ leader. Things don’t go as planned, however.
“We open in the darkness,” McKay said. “An orc walks in, and we see there are thousands of orcs gathered. [Sauron’s] about to be crowned, pitching his vision of Middle-earth, and right before they lay the crown on his head, his right-hand man, Adar, turns it upside down, and stabs him in the back. It’s the assassination of Sauron.”
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At least some of the events described above appear in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2’s San Diego Comic-Con 2024 trailer. Notably, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of Adar skewering someone with a crown (we thought it was Durin III… oops). Whether other flashback-related material made it into the SDCC trailer remains unclear for now, though.
So, why did Adar betray Sauron? That’s a question The Rings of Power Season 2 will apparently answer over the course of its eight-episode run. Even so, Season 1 has already sketched out the general gist of their rift. According to Adar, he turned his back on Sauron after realizing how little regard his one-time master had for the orcs under his command.
Is The Rings of Power Season 2’s Opening Flashback in the Books?
Nope, Adar’s attempt on Sauron’s life doesn’t happen in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books. But then, how could it? Tolkien didn’t create Adar; Payne and McKay did. Heck, there’s no record of any orc (or proto-orc, like Adar) rebelling against Sauron in Tolkien’s works. Pretty much everyone aligned with the dark lord—orcs, trolls, men, and other beasties besides—stays loyal right up until The Return of the King‘s climactic battle.
The only exception is Saruman, who gradually goes rogue. Sauron quickly cottons on to Saruman’s treachery, however, and the White Wizard never really poses a threat to him. Had Saruman tracked down the One Ring, things might’ve been different. But he didn’t, so no direct confrontation (much less crown-stabbing) occurs. Besides, this all happens in the Third Age—a long time after The Rings of Power‘s First Age flashback!
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 arrives on Prime Video on August 29, 2024.
Published: Aug 9, 2024 11:11 am