A new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power teaser trailer has revealed more about the mysterious villain introduced in episode 3. So far, Adar – played by Game of Thrones' Joseph Mawle – has been a complete enigma: a clear view of his face hasn't even been shown yet.
Thanks to the new teaser, which you can see above, we find out slightly more about the shadowy figure and his motivations. "You cannot defeat Sauron," he says in a raspy voice. "Soon, Middle-earth will be ours." He appears to be talking to an assembled army of Orcs holding flaming torches, who cheer when Adar speaks.
Adar is an original character created for the show, and, judging by these words, it seems unlikely that he's actually Sauron in disguise… unless it's all an elaborate ruse meant to conceal his true identity, of course. The character might actually be an Elf, though – in Tolkien's writings, the first Orcs were Elves who'd been tortured by the villainous Morgoth.
What we do know for sure about Adar is that he's the leader of the Orcs seen in the Southlands. Just what they're doing there is a mystery, but it's possible they're digging for the broken sword discovered by Theo, which bears Sauron's mark and appeared to drink his blood. Arondir the Elf is currently being held captive by the Orcs, forced to dig for them, and episode 3 ends with Adar walking to meet with him. We also found out in episode 3 that the Southlands will soon become Mordor – so it's not looking good for Arondir.
We won't have long to find out what happens next – the fantasy show drops a new episode on Amazon Prime Video weekly, and you can check out our The Rings of Power release schedule to find out exactly when the next installment arrives in your time zone. In the meantime, check out our roundup of the best shows on Amazon Prime Video to fill out your watchlist.
