In Episode 1 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, we see the Mark of Sauron for the first time in the prologue. The Dreadlord had etched the symbol into the skin of Galadriel’s brother Finrod (Will Fletcher) – and not even the wisest of Elves could decipher its meaning. In episode 3, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) on the island of Númenor has now made the crucial discovery that not only explains the symbol, but also Sauron’s plan.
When Galadriel compares the drawing of a prisoner of Sauron with the map of Middle-earth, she discovers that the shape looks like the mountain massifs in the Southlands – where Mordor will rise and Sauron will build his fortress of Barad-dûr (yes, that’s where his eye will light up). And that’s exactly what Sauron is planning right now…
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Later Mordor on the map of Middle-earth
In addition to the drawing, the document, which Galadriel is studying with Elendil (Lloyd Owen), also contains a text in the so-called Black Speech spoken in The Lord of the Rings canon in Mordor. And in it the spy who was captured reveals Sauron’s plan: to create a kingdom of his own where evil would not only persist but thrive.
This plan is to come into effect should Sauron’s lord Morgoth be defeated – So it can be assumed that this Plan B was forged by Morgoth and Sauron together, to ensure that an eventual defeat of Morgoth would not spell the end of his plans. These are now simply continued by his successor, who has therefore diligently set about transforming the southern lands into the terror region of Mordor.
The orcs are already enslaving the humans (and some elves too) in the southern region of Middle-earth to clear the land and dig tunnels for them. But Adar (Joseph Mawle) and his orcs are not only driving the (re)construction of Mordor. They are also looking for something, as Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) states in Episode 3. That’s why they turn villages like Hordern upside down, and have even made it into the home of Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin), where they take a striking interest in Theo…
We’re pretty sure the Orcs are looking for the Sauron-themed sword that Theo found. And they might even be looking for Theo himself – because we still don’t know who his father is, and one possibility is even Adar himself, as we explain in the following article:
Galadriel also speaks that if Sauron has indeed returned, the threat to the Southlands is only the beginning. It is no coincidence that as she speaks, she takes the document from the chart table, revealing the territory of what would later become Gondor (whose first rulers will be Elendil’s sons Isildur, played by Maxim Baldry, and Anárion), lying to the west of Mordor. Then Gondor will also become important later in the fight against Sauron…
Side note: It is of course a bit stupid of Sauron to choose as his seal the outline of the area he secretly intends to develop into a realm of evil – and why he also carved this clue into Finrod’s corpse, of all things, will also be explained not clear. But Galadriel had to get some hint in the series.
Next Friday we will find out how Galadriel, Elendil, Arondir, Adar and Co. will continue and whether we are getting a little closer to the mystery of who will turn out to be Sauron in the series. Episode 4 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power comes to Amazon Prime Video on September 16, 2022 at 6am.
