Things are heating up in Middle-earth. And we don’t just mean the forge in Mount Doom that Sauron will soon use to create the One Ring. No, as we head into The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season three, we’re particularly interested in the fiery tangle of relationships that exist between Galadriel, Sauron, and Galadriel’s previously missing husband, Celeborn… What The Rings of Power‘s showrunnes have even called a “love triangle.” Of course, the relationship between Galadriel and Sauron has been a center point of the first seasons of The Rings of Power. And the relationship between Galadriel and Celeborn is complex, but clear. But, it turns out, the last of this trio also has a little bit of a past between them. Charlie Vickers, who plays Sauron in The Rings of Power season three, tells us that Sauron and Celeborn are no strangers to one another; in fact, they have “their own shared history.”
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Celeborn and Sauron Met Before The Rings of Power Season 3, Shares Charlie Vickers
Well, consider us seated. Vickers reveals, “I mean, the thing with Celeborn is… When Sauron meets Celeborn, if Sauron meets Celeborn… Well, let’s face it, they’re going to meet at some point. They have their own shared history. They’ve both been around for hundreds of years. So they have this kind of thing. Vickers indicates with his hands the idea of two people meeting and recognizing one another, “Oh, it’s like, oh. And then there’s also this other added thing of, by the way, I’ve been hanging out with your wife.”
Celeborn and Sauron’s History in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Writings
We note the bit about “hanging out with your wife,” and honor it. But in this piece, we’re more curious about the “shared history” between Celeborn and Sauron in The Rings of Power. So we begin, of course, by looking to the lore.
In Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings writings, Celeborn and Sauron do not have a rich history in the time before the Second Age of Middle-earth, a period marked by the end of the War of Wrath with Morgoth. The Second Age of Middle-earth is also, of course, when The Rings of Power begins.
The first known encounter between the pair is in Eregion during the Second Age, when Sauron initially comes to deceive the elves and forge the Rings of Power alongside Celebrimbor. Galadriel and Celeborn are both suspicious of Sauron, even in his Fair Form, but their reservations are not enough to waylay the Dark Lord from his aims. Of course, in The Rings of Power, Celeborn is not at all present for the fall of Eregion, which happens in a different way than in Tolkien’s books.
There may have been an opportunity for Celeborn and Sauron to encounter one another during the War of Wrath in The Lord of the Rings‘ world, as Sauron fought for Morgoth in that war, battling against the elves. However, Tolkien’s writings do not clearly place Celeborn as having fought in the War of Wrath or any of its component battles, and so this would be at most speculation as far as Tolkien’s texts are concerned.
What Does ‘Shared History’ Mean in The Rings of Power Season 3?
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, however, opens a much wider door for a “shared history” between Celeborn and Sauron. For one, in The Rings of Power, we know for a fact that Celeborn fought in the War of Wrath on behalf of the elves. Galadriel tells us in season two that she last saw Celeborn when he went off to war. She reveals, “The war seemed so very far away then. When he went to it, I chided him; his armor didn’t fit properly. I called him a silver clam. I never saw him again after that.” We already know that when Galadriel’s brother, Finrod, went to war in The Rings of Power, he came face to face with Sauron, who marked and murdered him. It’s even possible that Finrod and Celeborn served in the same battalion, given their familial connection to one another. And so it seems quite reasonable that Sauron and Celeborn met in battle at some point.
Additionally, we know that Celeborn was captured and kept prisoner “in the Middle-earth equivalent of sadistic Alcatraz for a thousand years.” That certainly sounds like an operation that Sauron might have been running at some point. We don’t know exactly when during the War of Wrath Celeborn was captured, or what happened to Middle-earth Alcatraz after a) Morgoth was destroyed, B) Adar stabbed Sauron, forcing his temporary absence. But as Vickers notes, “They’ve both been around for hundreds of years.” And so, it seems likely that at some point during the war or after it, Sauron heard of/visited a massive dark prison and perhaps met Celeborn, one of its important prisoners.
How Well Do Sauron and Celeborn Know One Another in The Rings of Power?
But Vickers seems to imply more than just animosity between Celeborn and Sauron in The Rings of Power, but almost a familiarity. How did that come to exist between them? Well, we’re only theorizing here, but Sauron doesn’t seem to have that much respect for his own troops. We know from previous seasons that he doesn’t really have much respect for the Orcs (or Uruk). He sees them as kind of disgusting necessities to wrinkle his nose at, and ultimately a race far beneath him. But Sauron has always had an interest in elves and corrupting them. In The Rings of Power, we see him first try to slither into Galadriel’s mind, and then do the same to Celebrimbor. Often, he destroys his elven objects of interest, but nevertheless is pulled to them.
We can see how, if Sauron encountered Celeborn in a prison in the time before The Rings of Power began, he might be similarly fascinated by the elven prisoner. And Celeborn, an elf who sees light and seeks joy, might well have tried his luck reasoning with the Dark Lord… All for Sauron to end up hanging out with his wife! Tut, tut.
We’ll learn more about Sauron and Celeborn when The Rings of Power season three premieres on Prime Video on November 11. The full release schedule can be found here. If you’d like to get yourself ready for this return to Middle-earth, you can pick up The Fall of Númenor: And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth or The Silmarillion and read more about Tolkien’s vision of the time when the show takes place.
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