Prime Video‘s second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power might just be giving Middle-earth fans the Lord of Gifts himself, Annatar.
Also known as the big bad himself, Sauron, Annatar is merely a form that Sauron took to trick the Elves into trusting him so that they would forge the famous rings of power.
Charlie Vickers, who stars as Sauron but in the fair form known as Halbrand, may not be the only actor playing the big baddie in Rings of Power season 2.
According to a fan theory mixed with a casting rumour online, actor Charlie Rich (Morris Men, Arina) has reportedly been cast as an unknown character.
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Last month Rich posted a selfie of himself in full “costume” whilst “on location” of a seemingly secret project which sent Rings of Power fans into a frenzy of theories.
See below for the image of Rich in what fans of the series believe to be the costume for the live-action Annatar aka Sauron in the second instalment of Rings of Power.
As of writing, Amazon Studios has neither announced the actor Rich nor the character Annatar for their second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
However, this fan theory might just have some weight to it when considering how much work Sauron potentially has left to do in the upcoming instalment.
Sauron Still Needs To Forge 17 More Rings
Let’s first start this theory breakdown by diving into the fact that The Rings of Power‘s Sauron still has a lot of work to do in regard to the forging of the titular rings.
Season 1 Spoilers: During the events of the first season, Vickers’ Halbrand was only seen deceiving the Elves which led to their three rings being forged by Celebrimbor.
The Elven rings of power are Narya (the Ring of Fire) worn by Gil-galad, Nenya (the Ring of Water) worn by Galadriel, and Vilya (the Ring of Air) worn by Elrond.
These three rings are briefly seen just moments after Galadriel discovers Halbrand’s true identity and before the ending of the first season’s finale.
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Halbrand aka Sauron, however, has much more work to do due to there being a whopping total of 17 more rings needed to be forged before he finishes his evil plan.
In total, there should be 20 rings of power expected to be seen throughout the Rings of Power series: three for the Elves, seven for the Dwarves, nine for the race of men, and lastly the iconic One Ring as forged and worn by Sauron himself.
Meaning that the second season, and any additional instalments, will most likely be Sauron figuring out ways to continue deceiving the people of Middle-earth in order for all of these rings to be forged.
Could Annatar Be Sauron’s Next Form In TROP?
When taking everything we know so far about the upcoming season, especially when it comes to the number of rings Sauron still needs to forge, it soon becomes plausible that Vickers’ Halbrand will need to take on another fair form to further deceive.
For one, Galadriel now knows Halbrand is actually Sauron which means he will most likely not be able to use that form for much longer, at least when tricking people.
So this new theory that actor Charlie Rich is one of the potentially many forms Sauron is set to take in Rings of Power season 2 might just end up becoming a reality.
As explained, Sauron still needs to deceive various sets of people in Middle-earth to both forge and wear rings of power. Why? So he can attempt to take control of them using his powerful One Ring as seen in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Assuming that Amazon Studios’ Rings of Power team plan on staying as true as possible to J. R. R. Tolkien‘s original lore, that is.
Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is expected to premiere in 2024.
