SDCC 2022: Is Anson Boon playing Annator or Sauron in Rings of Power?

San Diego Comic-Con has given us another look at Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of PowerIt is good. The world of IP-driven property has to do more to make us all genuinely excited. The Rings of Power’J.R.R.’s world was revealed in the trailer. Tolkien’s world that felt thrilling and tactile, a return to a Middle-earth we could reach out and touch.

In the new SDCC trailer, Galadriel is shown as Morfydd Clark trying to get people awake to the Dark Lord. She fears that he will destroy the land. The trailer also shows us dwarves from Moria, including a scene of elves recovering after a long battle, humans starting a new culture, and hobbits remaining quiet. Amid it all, there’s a man (Anson Boon) sowing seeds of fire, lurking in a gray cloak and generally looking like he’s up to no good. The internet rushed to fill in the blank: This was our first glimpse of Sauron, the big bad who’s gathering power during the Second Age. But the truth is… that’s not (yet) true.

It is clear that the trailer sets up Marshall Mathers-like appearance. someone, though there’s no confirmation yet on who exactly Boon It is playing. Put differently: It’s very likely the trailer was trying to set us up to think of Boon’s character as Sauron. But even if he is Sauron, he’s definitely not the flaming eyeball that Lord of the Rings fans are familiar with from Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.

There is a problem when Sauron is found in any trailer. The Rings of PowerHe was known as Annatar in the Second Age and had the ability to shapeshift freely. This power allowed him to conceal his evil nature as much as possible. He’s described in the books as the “Lord of Gifts,” and as having a fair (meaning pale, but also pretty) appearance, which Boon’s character — whoever it may be — certainly does. And with that fair face, Sauron manipulated the elven smith Celebrimbor into teaching him how to make a ring that could manipulate the minds of those who held Celebrimbor’s Rings of Power, which, as we know, led to a whole thing.

Behind the creative team The Rings of Power has said that in this series, we’ll be seeing Sauron in multiple forms as he tries to assume total power over Middle-earth. Boon may in some ways be Sauron. But he can also act as an underling, an ambassador, or a minor villain unattached from the Great Evil Galadriel wants to warn about. Exactly how she succeeds (or doesn’t) remains to be seen — but given that the SDCC panel had Stephen “LOTR nerd” Colbert saying that The Rings of Power is a “story the creators are going to tell over the next five seasons,” it seems likely we’ll find out eventually.

The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of PowerPremieres September 2nd on Amazon Prime Video

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