Did The Rings of Power Just Copy a Major Lord of the Rings Scene?
Making its debut in 2022 with a massive audience amidst controversy over deviations from the original storyline, “The Rings of Power” not only increased viewership on Amazon Prime but also sparked sales of Tolkien’s books. The showrunners, Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, revealed (through THR) that it serves as an origin story for Sauron, literature and cinema’s most infamous villain. In the first season, Charlie Vickers portrays this villain in his original form as Halbrand, and reappears in season 2, adopting the lore-friendly guise of Annatar. Interestingly, Jack Lowden previously played Sauron in a single scene that seems to draw heavily from the trilogy.