Lord Celembrimbor is going to do something he swore he wouldn’t. He’s going to help craft nine rings for men. In The Rings of Power‘s “Halls of Stone,” Annatar used the elven smith’s ego, vanity, and guilt to manipulate Eregion’s leader into doing the Dark Lord’s bidding. Before he did, Sauron saw firsthand what it takes to make a ring that will bring its wearer into the Unseen world. With that knowledge, and his time as Annatar coming to an end, the question must now be asked: Will we see Sauron forge the One Ring during the show’s second season?
Celebrimbor’s refusal to make rings for “easily corruptible” men led Annatar to try making them himself with the other smiths of Eregion. That ploy did more than tempt Celebrimbor. It also allowed Sauron to learn from trial-and-error. Mirdania was working with a ring that featured more mithral than previous ones.
When she put it on she vanished from sight and ended up in a place Frodo will one day know all too well. Mirdania went into the Unseen world, “a place, like this, but shrouded in mist and darkness.” There she saw a tall being of flames with eyes “pitiless and eternal” that reeked of “death.”
Lord of the Rings fans also know that realm as the wraith-world, because Sauron’s One Ring will draw the Nazgul into that dimension. That flawed ring might be the most important failure in all of Middle-earth, because it might have taught Sauron what he needed to know when he forges his ultimate ring alone in Mordor.
This episode also saw Sauron learn something important about how to bend the rings to his will. King Durin’s ring has made him different. His son says he is “colder, quicker to anger” and suddenly greedy. Sauron said that’s because they made the dwarf rings under a pall of deception. Celebrimbor lied to his High King about what was happening in Eregion. Sauron might be lying about that cause and effect, but he loves to deceive by bending the truth. And he certainly was honest when he told Celebrimbor “these are matters of spirit, as much as craft.”
The Dark Lord’s time in Eregion is proving tremendously fruitful. Each iteration of rings make its wearers more and more corruptible. This is reversed from official lore, yet will still work in the same way. We know from The Lord of the Rings how each generation of rings will work (or not) on Sauron’s behalf. And on The Rings of Power nine mortal men doomed to die will soon wear rings Celebrimbor swore never to make. Those rings will connect those men to the Unseen world Mirandia visited.
Once the rings of men are made the only thing left for Sauron to do is make the One Ring to rule them all, to find them to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them. With his partnership with Celebrimbor almost done, it’s very possible Sauron will end season two by finishing his life’s work.
Fortunately when he does he will seemingly forget about another lesson he learned in Eregion. He also told Mirdania that the crafting of the rings left Celebrimbor “diminished.” It surely has, just as the One Ring—whenever he forges it—will leave Sauron diminished, too.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. A ring of power would not corrupt him (maybe). You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
