Wildest Rings of Power Theory Suggests Halbrand isn't Sauron After All
Theorizing is the bread and butter of fanbases on the Internet. Sometimes their theories are remarkably accurate, sometimes too clever by half, and sometimes just bizarre and wild.
Season 1 of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has seen its fair share of theories in the latter category.
Some of them make borderline sense. Sauron using his shape-shifting powers to disguise himself as another character, perhaps Isildur, who was lost in Mordor at the end of Season 1, actually sounds reasonable - but only if the actors can pull it off.
The Stranger not being Gandalf, despite all the obvious hints that he is Gandalf? Well, hints are not proof, there are other characters in Tolkien's legendarium that could be used as the Stranger's true identity... but this theory assumes that the show is much less predictable and straightforward than it has proven itself to be so far.
The appearance on the show of previously absent characters from the lore, such as Glorfindel, Tom Bombadil, or the Entwives, is not impossible; it's just that there's been no evidence to suggest it.
Some theories have been wilder. For example, some fans have suggested that the disappearance of the Elves and their connection to the need for mithril was actually part of a devious plot by Sauron to get the Elves to create the Rings of Power so that he could exploit their handiwork. Well, the end of season 1 largely disproved that, but it is still not impossible that this theory could end up being true.
But perhaps the most bizarre theory of all is that Halbrand cannot actually be Sauron. Or rather, that the Halbrand revealed as Sauron in episode 8 is not the Halbrand seen in the rest of the season.
The explanation given is that the real Halbrand was actually killed, or perhaps only injured and captured, during the eruption of Mount Doom in Episode 6, and Sauron assumed his identity and feigned injury so that he could be brought to Eregion to continue his devious plans.
The problem with this theory, of course, is that hints of Halbrand's true identity were not exactly subtle throughout Season 1. So no, we're not likely to see the charred corpse of the real Halbrand somewhere in Mordor in Season 2, and we're even less likely to see him alive.