The third episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power introduced audiences to the season's Big Bad: Adar (Joseph Mawle), a menacing elven figure who leads the orcs of the Southlands.
I think most of the objections have been against Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), who is the Black elf. He's one of the immortal elves of Tolkien's legendarium. The legendarium is, broadly speaking, the lore behind the universe explored in Tolkien's books.
These elves are different from the Moriondor in history, who were twisted and tainted by the evil or Morgoth, as introduced by Adar in the recent Rings of Power series. The dark elves were elves who did terrible things of their own volition, and the most famous example is Eol.
Adar. As explained in the previous episode's recap, “Adar” is Tolkien's elvish word for “father,” and it's the name the orcs overtaking the Southland use for their mysterious leader. Now we've seen who they're talking about, and he turns out to be an elf himself.
Adar as the Elf Who Became the First Orc, Created by Morgoth
He is one of the elves Morgoth “tortured” and “twisted” into “a new and ruined form of life.” She called those elves, the first orcs, “the Moriondor, the Sons of the Dark.”
Adar is an elf who was manipulated with evil magic. He served under Morgoth and claims that he killed Sauron. He does not seem to recognize Halbrand as Sauron, and yet he carries out what we can assume is his master's evil bidding by setting in motion the events that burn the Southlands and create Mordor.
When Halbrand and Galadriel captured Adar, Adar seemed not to recognize Halbrand as Sauron. Adar also claimed to have killed Sauron after watching Sauron experiment on the orcs, whom Adar sees as his children. It's possible Adar was pretending not to recognize Sauron as part of a ruse.
While The Rings of Power season 1 includes no overt clues to suggest a direct link between Harfoot characters and the Fellowship Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, several subtle details indicate that Nori Brandyfoot could potentially be an ancient relative of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.
Because of his age, Adar would have had a prominent place in Morgoth's army, but he was still subservient to Sauron. So, when Sauron took over, Adar became his servant until Sauron started to experiment on Orcs. Because they were his children, Adar rebelled, and to his knowledge, they killed Sauron.
This revelation refutes any lingering theories that The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), the man who fell from the sky at the start of the season, is in fact Sauron, with the finale confirming he's actually one of the Istari, Tolkien's version of Wizards.
A mysterious individual of the Second Age was referred to as Adar, or "Lord-father", by Orcs, presumably because, according to Galadriel, of his status as one of the Moriondor, the first Elves to be captured and tortured by Morgoth.
As soon as the Mystics realize the Stranger isn't Sauron, they label him an "Istar." With this label, and several other hints throughout the episode and the season, The Rings of Power has all but confirmed that the Stranger is everyone's favorite wizard: Gandalf the Grey.
If Adar was an Elf captured by Morgoth, he must've been one of the earliest Elves to awaken in Middle-earth. As the Enemy's prisoner, Adar and his fellow captives would've been tortured, twisted and corrupted into the very first Orcs - the Moriondor.
“Getting to meet him meant a lot of different things at the same time, because I've been a huge fan since childhood." What people may not realise is that, according to Córdova, Arondir is an ancestor of Legolas. Not only are they prominent Elves in Tolkien adaptations: They're family within the fiction.
Theo's father is a bit of a mystery in all of this as well--the obvious implication is that he's actually half-elven and Arondir is his dad, which is certainly plausible.
One thing episode 6 of The Rings of Power completely puts to rest is the theory that Adar could be Sauron. Adar certainly knew Sauron, but he wasn't a fan. He tells Galadriel that in his quest to master Middle-earth, Sauron sacrificed many of Adar's children. Because of this, Adar killed Sauron.
Adar, therefore, seems to honestly believe he killed the Dark Lord. He's almost certainly mistaken. Sauron is one of the Maiar - angelic and immortal spirits from the beginning of time. Since the Maiar are divine, primordial beings, they don't die in the traditional sense.
That is, until Nori reassures him that he is good and meant to be the light in that darkness. It's that friendship with Nori that develops throughout the season, according to Weyman, that shows the Stranger the path forward to becoming (we assume) Gandalf.
Elanor "Nori" Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh), that Hobbit ancestor known as a Harfoot, is the Frodo/Bilbo piloting this ship. She has eyes as wide as Elijah Wood's and a matching wonder about the world, a curiosity that often gets her, and by extension, her best friend Poppy (Megan Richards), into trouble.
The story was abandoned, but Tolkien reused the characters and events. Isildur features briefly in voiced-over flashback sequences of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The video game Middle-earth: Shadow of War departs from Tolkien's narrative by having Sauron make Isildur into a Nazgûl or ringwraith.
Adar revealed his entire story to Galadriel, and what he told her will change her mission in the Second Age. Adar is an original Orc, and he served Morgoth and Sauron. His life has been one of darkness, but his attack on the Southlands is a desperate attempt to create a home for his offspring.
Curiously, Halbrand never actually reveals how Adar wronged him... Rather than killing a loved one, therefore, maybe Halbrand seeks revenge because Adar killed him, and "chased me from my homeland" referred to this betrayal.
