Sauron's sword in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, explained

Theo in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — (Image credit: Amazon Studios)

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 6! Turn back now if you're not caught up on Amazon Prime Video!

The Rings of Power has many mysteries baked into its story, but the sword that Theo found in a barn during the opening episode does have an explanation. Adar and his Orcs were looking for Sauron's evil blade, and the sixth episode revealed what it's used for. Spoiler: it's not for chopping onions.

So, let's deep dive into the dark blade and find out what secrets it's been hiding and the possible origins behind the catalyst for a near-apocalyptic Middle-earth disaster.

What is the sword in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?

"It is no sword," the elderly man Waldreg told Theo in the show's fourth episode. "It is a power, fashioned for our ancestors by his master’s own hand."

That master, of course, is Sauron. As confirmed in the fifth episode, the blade once belonged to the Dark Lord and was seemingly the weapon he used during the so-called "War of Wrath" when Sauron was Morgoth’s general. Considering the sword is in The Southlands, where many humans swore allegiance – and still do – to the forces of evil, it makes sense for Sauron's weapon to be here.

We had been guessing for weeks about the blade's true intentions. One theory was that it was the Morgul blade, the sword carried by the Witch-king of Angmar during the Third Age. Another theory suggested that the sword may be the legendary black blade of Gurthang, one of a pair of swords forged during the First Age by a Dark Elf. And while either of those ideas could still be true, the show's sixth episode revealed the blade has a bigger purpose.

While Adar's forces are beaten, an elderly man took the blade to a pedestal high up in the hills overlooking the village and used it to trigger the lowering of a dam, with the onrushing water flooding the chambers and tunnels which led into a dormant volcano. This caused it to erupt, raining fire down on the victorious soldiers and terraforming the Southlands forever. Hello, Mount Doom.

That's not to say Sauron's blade will not have another, even more nefarious, purpose. But, for now, its job to be used as a key to destroy part of the Southlands is complete.

Check out our Rings of Power release schedule to make sure you don’t miss a moment of the show. If you’re looking for more on the show, we’ve also compiled a Rings of Power character guide, our best theories on who The Stranger is, and broken down where the show appears on The Lord of the Rings timeline.