Viewers were shocked to see a different actor playing Sauron in the Season 2 premiere of The Rings of Power, but there was a very specific reason for the change.

In The Rings of Power Season 1, Sauron’s true identity is kept secret until the finale, when it is revealed that Halbrand (played by Charlie Vickers) is actually the Dark Lord in disguise.

Vickers was confirmed to return as Halbrand/Sauron/Annatar in Season 2, which made it even more surprising when Sauron was seen in the Season 2 opening scene being played by a different actor.

Did They Recast Sauron in The Rings of Power?

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After it was revealed that Charlie Vickers’ Halbrand was actually Sauron in disguise, many fans instantly began associating Vickers with the Dark Lord.

Vickers was marketed as Sauron after Season 1 was released, and the actor was confirmed to return for the show for Season 2 to reprise his role and take on Sauron’s fair form which is known as Annatar, or the Lord of Gifts.

However, when the Season 2 premiere began, Sauron was seen in the fortress of Durnost in Forodwaith (the same fortress that Galadriel visited in the Season 1 premiere), but he wasn’t being played by Vickers. Instead, an actor named Jack Lowden was portraying the Dark Lord.

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Some may have been confused or thought that Sauron had been recast, but there was an in-universe explanation for why a different actor was playing him.

As seen in the premiere, Lowden’s version of Sauron was killed by Adar (read more about why Adar killed Sauron here). With his dying breath, Lowden’s Sauron emitted a beam of light and energy from his body which froze all of Forodwaith.

After dying, the body of Lowden’s Sauron was completely gone. It is possible that it was destroyed after he blasted the energy from inside him, or it could have just disappeared.

However, Sauron’s body dying didn’t mean his spirit/soul died with it. Instead, black blood was seen falling down into a cave below Durnost, and it eventually settled into a small pit.

Then, many years later, it was revealed that the blood was actually Sauron’s spirit or soul, and it had gained enough power to escape the cave.

Appearing as just a black sludge, Sauron’s soul eventually made its way to a road where it found a traveling human. Seizing its opportunity, Sauron’s soul then entered the human’s body, thus giving Sauron a physical form once more.
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This is when Vickers took over as Sauron in Season 2. It is important to explain that Sauron could have continued to look like Jack Lowden’s version of the character if he wanted. The Dark Lord has the ability to shapeshift whenever he would like, but he specifically chose the physical form that Vickers portrays.

As seen in Season 1, Sauron knew he needed to look like a man and one specifically from the Southlands, so that he could trick Galadriel and all of the other characters.

If he had turned back into Lowden’s version of the character, Adar and any other character who saw him in the past would recognize him and his cover would have been blown.

So, Sauron wasn’t really recast, as Vickers will continue to play the character throughout most of The Rings of Power. Instead, he just had a different physical form at one point in the timeline, and the only way to make that work was to use a different actor to briefly portray him.

It is also worth noting that Lord of the Rings has always used different actors to portray Sauron. Although his actual face was never shown, the physical version of the character was played by Sala Baker in Peter Jackson’s original film trilogy but was voiced by a completely different actor, Alan Howard.

Will Sauron Change Forms Again?

Sauron’s Halbrand disguise was used throughout The Rings of Power Season 1, but he didn’t stay in that specific form for very long in Season 2.

After arriving at Eregion and being welcomed back in by Celebrimbor, Sauron changed his appearance once again. Instead of looking like a dark-haired man from the Southlands, he appeared with long, light blonde hair and pointy ears, claiming to be a messenger known as Annatar and saying the Valar sent him.

However, Vickers still portrayed this version of the character, so a different actor was not needed.

Without getting into any specific spoilers, fans can expect Sauron’s physical form to go through another major change at some point in The Rings of Power.

Down the line, a major event happens to a place that Sauron is in which will change him forever, and he may even need to be recast at that point.

It is important to note, though, that it likely won’t happen until later on in the show. It seems as though Amazon Prime Video is still planning on The Rings of Power lasting five seasons, and, if that is true, this specific event will likely happen in that last season.

[ Sauron’s Annatar Form Explained, Who is the ‘Lord of Gifts’? ]

The Rings of Power is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, and new episodes are released every Thursday at 3 a.m. ET.