How ‘Paradise Lost’ inspired Sauron in ‘The Rings of Power’
After mixed reviews for the first series so far, showrunners for The Rings of Power have confirmed that the finale will set up a much more insidious second season with Sauron taking on a brooding, villainous vibe. This twist follows a slow build-up that established him as a charismatic three-dimensional entity with designs beyond pure evil alone.
Speaking about the character set-up, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay told The Hollywood Reporter: “We felt Sauron should be a character in his own right. We wanted to study the currents running within him in a way that hopefully would reward audiences as they follow him moving forward as he becomes The Dark Lord.”
Adding: “You now know him as a person outside the name ‘Sauron.’ In some ways, we wanted to do an origin story for Sauron. We didn’t want to make a show that was about the hunt for Sauron, but we love the idea of Sauron as a deceiver who could, hopefully, deceive some of the audience.”
Payne adds that the arc was inspired by the charismatic depiction of Satan in Paradise Lost. “In Tolkien, Sauron is a deceiver and we know that in Second Age he appears in ‘fair form.’ So what if he sneaks up on you and is able to get you to sympathize with him and get you to be on board with him so that once you actually realize who he is, that he’s already got his hooks in you?” Payne opined.
Adding: “So it’s not just as easy as, ‘This person is evil, I’m going to back away,’ because you’ve already formed some level attachment to him. What if we could get the audience to go through a similar journey?”
John Milton’s epic poem from 1608 established the modern view of Satan. The grand God and Devil dogfight brings mutual motives to the fore. One seminal Paradise Lost verse reads that might have informed the new incarnation reads: “What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, / Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, / And plunge us in the flames; or from above / Should intermitted vengeance arm again / His red right hand to plague us?”
In essence, his evil is rooted in vengeance. It’s an arc that they feel many of the finest TV characters of all time have followed and they’ll be hoping to add Sauron to the list. Sauron can now just be Sauron,” McKay adds. “Like Tony Soprano or Walter White. He’s evil, but complexly evil. We felt like if we did that in season one, he’d overshadow everything else. So the first season is like Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight is the next movie, with Sauron manoeuvring out in the open.”
It’s a big billing and fans will be hoping that it lives up to it when season two hits Amazon Prime Video sometime in 2024.
