[+] The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - SPOILERS ALLOWED

[Hriston]

Clearly, Halbrand has a tendency to become ultra-violent when the pressure's on. That scene reminded me of Nicholas Cage in Wild at Heart. His ancestor swore allegiance to Morgoth, so maybe it has something to do with that. I think his secret identity has already been revealed. He's the hereditary king of "the Southlands" aka Mordor, and he's running from his destiny for the same reason as movie Aragorn, fear he will fail just like his ancestor.

I think he has another secret left to reveal, though...

Spoiler

Who was that kid's dad, and who left that family heirloom behind?

 

[Ryujin]

I am totally NOT getting "Halbrand is Sauron" vibes. I am getting proto-Rohirrim vibes though. The Stranger is totally Gandalf.

"The Southlands" would seem to be the right place for him to be the king of what would become the Rohirrim. If you haven't seen this yet, it's definitely worth a look:

Interactive Map of Middle-Earth - LotrProject

High resolution interactive map of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth with timeline of events, character movements and locations.

lotrproject.com

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

"The Southlands" would seem to be the right place for him to be the king of what would become the Rohirrim. If you haven't seen this yet, it's definitely worth a look:

Except that that idea is largely in violent disagreement with the source material; Rohan isn't founded until much later in the Third Age and the House of Eorl comes from the northern end of the Anduin. If this Halbrand guy takes his people north in the end it aligns, but the Rohirrim did not originate from people who were already in what became Gondor.

 

[Hriston]

Adar, the name of the leader of the orcs, is Sindarin for father. I don't think he's Sauron, but he's clearly part of Sauron's plan to establish himself in Mordor, and I guess he's an elf?

 

[Ryujin]

Except that that idea is largely in violent disagreement with the source material; Rohan isn't founded until much later in the Third Age and the House of Eorl comes from the northern end of the Anduin. If this Halbrand guy takes his people north in the end it aligns, but the Rohirrim did not originate from people who were already in what became Gondor.

Sure, except that we already know that the Tolkien timeline is right out the window.

 

[RuinousPowers]

Adar, the name of the leader of the orcs, is Sindarin for father. I don't think he's Sauron, but he's clearly part of Sauron's plan to establish himself in Mordor, and I guess he's an elf?

I would love it if it was a werewolf or vampire, since we haven't seen them onscreen yet.

 

[Hriston]

The map of Númenor isn't in the appendices, so that must be one of the things for which they got permission from the estate.

 

[Hriston]

I think there's some heavy misdirection, one way or another, with regard to the true identity of the Stranger. He befriends Nori's family in this episode, but if he's Sauron, this could prefigure his befriending of the elves of Eregion as Annatar when he poses as an emissary of the Valar.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Nope, they were just wide open and, well, crazed. I just rewatched it. I will say, however, that breaking a forearm with just pressure like that isn't an easy thing. It's not like he wound up and smashed it against the edge of the doorway, either. He just pushed.

Barbarian rage?

I think he has another secret left to reveal, though...

Spoiler

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Which was why I pointed out the translation of his name. Whilst "Halbrand" would normally refer to a sword with a single cutting edge, I believe an alternative, more literal, translation could be "half of a sword". Which implies the existence of the other half...

But linguistically, the name ties him to the Rohirrim.

I would like a closer look at his symbol though. It's clearly meant to resemble Aragorn's at first glance, but I suspect there is something else hidden there. Suspiciously, all the publicity shots of Halbrand are cropped or otherwise conceal his necklace.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think there's some heavy misdirection, one way or another, with regard to the true identity of the Stranger. He befriends Nori's family in this episode, but if he's Sauron, this could prefigure his befriending of the elves of Eregion as Annatar when he poses as an emissary of the Valar.

The Stranger would seem to be a candidate for the Annatar identity. But I think the main reason for these "who's Sauron" shenanigans is to avoid the situation where the elves look like chumps by being taken in by an obvious villain. If he can fool elf lords he ought to be able to fool a (mostly human) TV audience!