The Meteorite Man is Sauron! Halbrand is Sauron! Adar is Sauron! Fans of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” go through a veritable roller coaster of speculation in the first three episodes, in which a different character appears as the most likely candidate for the big villain of the “Lord of the Rings” series focus shifts. Yet is the mysterious Adar really Sauron? We believe: no.
It is of course implied quite clearly in Episode 3 of The Rings of Power: why would the Orcs call their leader by an Elvish name, Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) rightly asks, to which Revion (Simon Merrels) replies that Sauron once is said to have had many names. Also, what little we see of Adar gives off a very sinister, Sauron-esque look. Yet the mystery behind the character probably lies in the meaning of the name “Adar”.
Beware of possible spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power!
“Adar” means “father” in the Elven language Sindarin. The Lord of the Rings fans may recall that Arwen (Liv Tyler) also occasionally addresses her father Elrond (Hugo Weaving) as “Adar” in the Peter Jackson films. We have already discussed the meaning of the word in our article on Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) and the possible candidates for his missing father.
Presumably the explanation of his name is simply that that he is something of a father figure to the orcs, a leader and protector – but not Sauron. The fact that he has an Elvish name and that Arondir speaks to him in Elvish in the Episode 4 trailer (“Who are you?” he asks) suggests to us that Adar is an evil Elf.
Even if it may come as a surprise: Tolkien actually does. The “Silmarillion” talks about some elves who were caught in the fight against Morgoth and were broken by him. Then they were released and were supposed to sneak in with the other elves for Morgoth.
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Rumor has it that Adar is such a broken Elf. Since the previous rumors about his appearance and relationship with the orcs have come true, we actually see no reason to doubt it. And – Another spoiler warning – he shouldn’t just be any elf, but one of Galadriel’s brothers (Morfydd Clark), but of course not Finrod (Will Fletcher), who died in episode 1.
Although Adar’s face is not yet shown in “The Rings of Power” Episode 3, the actor’s name is actually mentioned in the credits: Joseph Mawle, known as Benjen Stark from Game Of Thrones.
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Adar (Joseph Mawle) in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
In the picture above you can see the figure in all its glory. The armored gauntlet and the sword, for example, which can also be seen on one of the first posters (see title picture above), are clearly recognizable here. There is a high probability that there will be more of Adar in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerEpisode 4, which will be released on September 16, 2022 at 6am on Amazon Prime Video.
Our YouTube moderator Sebastian also addresses the whole question of Adar’s identity in his video above. It starts at minute 13:13.
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