The mysterious elf ruler of orcs in The Rings of Power has drawn a lot of attentiom from Middle-earth fans. While viewers look for clues that might prove that the character is in fact Sauron in disguise (which is, might we remind you, still a fan theory), others delve into the portfolio of the actor who brought Adar to screen – Joseph Mawle.
In fact, Mawle is no stranger to big TV projects. Before Adar in the Lord of the Rings prequel, he was famous for the role of Benjen Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
A First Ranger of the Night’s Watch, Benjen is the youngest child of Lord Rickard Stark, the head of House Stark. One of the show’s central characters, Jon Snow, viewed his uncle Benjen as a hero; in fact, Benjen somewhat inspires his nephew to join the Watch, even though he tries to warn Jon that he is about to sign up for a hard life.
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Benjen was also the first one to start spreading warnings that something is wrong on the other side of the Wall. At some point after he goes north of the Wall on a ranging, he goes missing. Since then, only his horse returned, and his companions were later found dead.
However, Mawle’s character appeared in the show once again, only for Game of Thrones fans to find out that he was not entirely dead, stuck in between being a White Walker and a living human being. He is not controlled by the Walkers and is able to speak and think for himself; however, like all the dead, he cannot pass through the Wall.
For Mawle, Game of Thrones was perhaps one of the biggest projects he got to work on.
“It was a wonderful thing to be a part of that and it is a real privilege to be a part of something that becomes successful,” he told Offcamera back in 2019. “But it doesn’t matter if the budget is 180 milion or 50 000 pounds. Every character is the same – I care about them all. I care about all characters that I’m gonna play.”
Now, Mawle went on to take part in the project that boasts an even bigger budget than Game of Thrones: Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel is estimated to be the most expensive TV show as of now, with the first season alone costing more than $460 million.
The Rings of Power’s Adar is almost as mysterious as Mawle’s Game of Thrones character, because Middle-earth fans are not yet able to understand whether he is a villain, or, you know, an even bigger villain. Adar is weirdly triggered when someone calls him Sauron, but the way he acts makes it only natural to believe he might actually be the dark wizard in disguise.
