Charlie Vickers & Producers Talk About Sauron’s Repentance

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 introduced Charlie Vickers as Halbrand, who was later revealed to be Sauron in disguise. Initially, Sauron appeared to exhibit humility and regret after the downfall of his master, Morgoth. However, by the season’s end, he seemed committed to becoming Middle-earth’s new dark lord, heading towards Mordor. But was Sauron truly repentant? J.R.R. Tolkien left this question unanswered. In The Silmarillion, it is stated that Sauron initially showed obedience to the Valar’s heralds and seemed to repent, possibly out of fear, before defying the gods and vanishing into Middle-earth’s shadows.

Given that Tolkien himself was ambiguous, who better to answer this question than the actor portraying Sauron in The Rings of Power? ComicBook spoke with Vickers about Sauron’s supposed desire for redemption.

“I grappled with that question a lot in the first season, especially revisiting it in the prologue of the second season,” Vickers explained. “There’s a moment with the character on the ship played by Nicholas Woodson where I made a decision. However, I’ve intentionally kept it ambiguous because Tolkien did, and I don’t want to insert my own judgment for the public.”

He continued, “The ambiguity is what makes it interesting. You can watch the whole first season and see Sauron’s interactions with Galadriel as genuine, or you can see them as manipulative. Personally, I had to fully commit to the idea of repentance internally because that’s what Sauron would have done to deceive effectively, regardless of his actual repentance.”

ComicBook also asked showrunner Patrick McKay and executive producer Lindsey Weber about Sauron’s repentance. McKay shared, “As a viewer and fan of Middle-earth, I think he believes he’s genuinely repentant. That said, I also think he’s always hustling.”

Weber concurred, adding, “I think he has moments of genuine regret, but there’s an overriding narrative for him that ultimately wins. But that’s just my theory.”

The Rings of Power Season 2 features an impressive cast, including Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani. The season premieres its first three episodes on Amazon Prime Video on August 29th.