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

[Paul Farquhar]

But then there is this quote from "The Hunt for the Ring" in Unfinished Tales:

Now Sauron had never paid heed to the "Halflings," even if he had heard of them, and he did not yet know where their land lay.​

Which fits fine. These Harfoots have no homeland, and the area they migrate across will become the Brown Lands in the 3rd age, a dead wasteland.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Hmm. My take on it was that he vanished during the war and she wants to find him. Others assume that he died, but she didn't. I didn't gather any sort of weakened condition. Maybe I'll go back and re-watch the first episode.

Well, in order to assume someone has died (in obscurity), you must first believe they are not invulnerable.

 

[Maxperson]

Well, in order to assume someone has died (in obscurity), you must first believe they are not invulnerable.

They aren't, but it takes more than an Adar to kill a maia. There were Valar, Maiar and elf lords in the batter to take down Morgoth. She might think one of them killed him.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

They aren't, but it takes more than an Adar to kill a maia. There were Valar, Maiar and elf lords in the batter to take down Morgoth. She might think one of them killed him.

It's Gil-Galad who suggests that Sauron might be dead, if I remember correctly.

And if you go through the folk who might could have killed him, well, Gil-Galad would know if it was him, Galadriel knows it wasn't her, and Glorfindel (AKA Sir Not-appearing-in-this-TV-show) would have presumably have mentioned it. Next rank of beings would be random balrogs (werewolves, vampires), and unknown quantities, such as Adar.

Or

Hercule Poirot: "And where you on the night in question, Monsieur BOMBADIL?"

 

[Paul Farquhar]

They aren't, but it takes more than an Adar to kill a maia. There were Valar, Maiar and elf lords in the batter to take down Morgoth. She might think one of them killed him.

The same goes for them as does for Glorfindel, they couldn't kill Sauron without knowing, and they would report to Gil Galad. The only way for Sauron to be killed by one of those powerful beings and Gil Galad not to know for sure is if they were fellow servants of Morgoth. Which would put Adar squarely in the frame.

Galadriel doesn't think Sauron is dead, that is Gil Galad's theory, passed on through Elrond.

 

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[TheSword]

There is a lot being discussed based what X said to Y. Lots of rules about this or that being included or not allowed to be included because of these conversations. When in fact how would Gandalf know that Sauron didn’t know or care about hobbits? Particularly if the ones Sauron interacted with are all dead. Characters can be wrong in the books or just plain confused.

 

[MarkB]

The Hobbits of the Shire were primarily Harfoots though.

of course this particular clan of Harfoot wanderers could get exterminated (poor Nori)

The little echo of Bilbo's Aragorn poem in Poppy's walking song does at least suggest a direct line of cultural continuity between these particular harfoots and the hobbits of the Shire.

 

[Hriston]

Which fits fine. These Harfoots have no homeland, and the area they migrate across will become the Brown Lands in the 3rd age, a dead wasteland.

Yes, I agree. My point is that according to that quote he had (or could have) heard of them. He just didn't know where the Shire was which in the show, as you correctly point out, did not yet exist as a homeland for halflings.

ETA: I was responding to someone who said they didn't believe the Stranger could be Sauron because of what Gandalf says in the LotR. Not to mention that what Gandalf says is that the fact of their existence was "overlooked" by Sauron rather than being information to which he didn't have access. Also, that what Gandalf says is a statement of belief, rather than fact.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

There is a lot being discussed based what X said to Y. Lots of rules about this or that being included or not allowed to be included because of these conversations. When in fact how would Gandalf know that Sauron didn’t know or care about hobbits? Particularly if the ones Sauron interacted with are all dead. Characters can be wrong in the books or just plain confused.

Well, we (and Gandalf) know Sauron didn't know where the Shire was, because the black riders go round asking for directions.

The rest is just speculation.