The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’sSeason 2 is a bit more well-received so far when compared to the first. We now have more information on Sauron’s revival after Adar supposedly killed him, and his trickery and manipulative tactics that led him to assume the identity of Halbrand.
After successfully crafting the three elven rings of power with Celebrimbor, he goes back to Egregion to make more rings for the dwarves and men, revealing himself to be a being known as Annatar. Annatar is the identity he chose to trick Celebrimbor by adopting a fair and benevolent appearance.
How Annatar Deceived Celebrimbor And The Elves
Sauron’s Annatar persona wascrafted to win the trust of the elves of Egregion. He claimed to be a friend, a ‘lord of gifts’ who couldteach them ways to enhance their craftsand help them preserve the beauty and longevity of the realms, with themagical powers of the rings.
Most notably,he became a trusted advisor to Celebrimbor, the greatest elven smith of the time andthe leader of the Elven city of Eregion. Through his words, he successfully manipulated events intomaking more rings of poweralongside Celebrimbor, seven for the dwarven lords, and nine for men.
When our work is complete, never again will the world overlook you as the mere sion of Fëanor but will forever on revere you as the Lord of the Rings.
-Annatar to Celebrimbor
Sauron used the guise of Annatar becausehe knew he could not openly approach the elvesor other peoples of Middle earthas either himself or Halbrand.
His past as Morgoth’s lieutenant and hisassociation with evil were well known, and his Halbrand identity was exposed by Galadriel, sohe had to flee the elven kingdom of Lindon.
By presenting himself as Annatar,Sauron exploited Celebrimbor’s desireto create something truly powerful, hence the guise,though he ditched this disguise by the time of the Lord of the Rings movies.
What Happens To Annatar?
Since the timeline for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power isa bit different compared to the books, Annatar’s fate is yet to be explored. In the books,after his creation of the One Ring and his deception being finally revealed to the Elves, Sauronabandons this form and starts a war with the elves.
Later down the line,he is defeated by Númenor’s army and surrenders. He adopts a new, even fairer personato trick the people of Númenorand goes from captive to the upper echelons of the court.
He uses his influence to trick the Númenóreansinto worshipping Morgoth. Eventually,he even tricks the king into attacking Valinor, but this is when Eru Illuvatar, the creator of the world,directly intervened, anddrowned the kingdom of Númenór, destroying Sauron’s physical form yet again.
He was not able to adopt a fair formafter this event andretreated with the One Ring backto rally his armies. This is why we never see him adopt a fair formin either the Hobbit movies or The Lord of the Rings.
