Thread by @CameronBorgQeen

On the 12th Day of Sauron... a list of the things that I hope The Rings of Power gives to me, most of which have to do with Sauron, Galadriel, metaphysics, and moral complexity. #12DaysOfSauron. 1 day until the premiere of @LOTRonPrime 🧵1/24 #TheRingsOfPower #Sauron

You've probably noticed I like Sauron. Not that I'd want to have tea with him or anything—that sounds like a bad idea—but I mean I enjoy him as a character, which is something a lot of people find odd, because they see him as one-dimensional or without need for complexity... 2/24

or because they don't understand why anyone would find a villain—any villain—interesting. Certainly no one is obliged to, but if modern fandom is any indication, it's not really such an unheard of thing. Villains *can* be very interesting, especially (I think) their Falls. 3/24

I was an odd one out back in 1998~2005, before I drifted away from online Tolkien fandom. It's safe to say that by the time I came back in 2015, the landscape had changed. There had been an infusion of fanworks and fan analysis that included the in-universe history of Sauron 4/24

That was something I had been doing, essentially alone, since my teen years, so to see it happening more widely was exiting. It had started for me as a reaction to how deeply terrifying I found Sauron's presence in the LotR despite him never appearing in it himself. 5/24

Why did I find this character so terrifying? What did Elrond mean when he said "nothing is evil in the begining, even Sauron was not so"? I spent a long time in the 90s digging my way through HoMe looking for clues. What I found was a character full of contradictions. 6/24

During this the Second Age became the temporal center of my Tolkien obsession, partly for it's focus on Sauron (natch), but also for the sense of mystery surrounding it. In terms of Tolkien-written close narrative, we have very little. But the *potential* of it is massive. 7/24

So when I learned we were going to get a series about the Second Age my immediate response was roughly half excitement and half trepidation. So much could go wrong! I have strong opinions, and no adaptation has ever truly made me happy. But also so much could go right! 8/24

What could possibly be a more cataclysmic narrative and set piece than Akallabêth? What could delve into intermingled art-making and tragedy like the forging of the Rings of Power? There's fertile ground there for moral complexity, romance, horror, adventure, nostalgia, 9/24

Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles. But it means allowing someone other than Tolkien to write it. And I'm more OK with that than I was with a LotR adaptation, because I accept there is relatively little to go on. 10/24

So what do I hope to see tomorrow during Rings of Power? A world that holds together with an internal consistency that reflects the richness and solidity of Tolkien's Middle-earth, that understands the importance of its tone and themes and metaphysics. 11/24

An adaptation that doesn't cheapen the world, or pretend it isn't dark and full of tragedy; an adaptation that struggles with the Problem of Evil as much as (I believe) the source does, but which also finds the beauty, joy, silliness, and light-heartedness in it as well 12/24

A complex Galadriel—like the one who refused an offer of pardon and wants her own land to rule (not *just* one that is strong or arrogant or fallible), but who, through however many seasons, grows and matures into someone wiser, first a mirror and then a foil to Sauron. 13/24

An Ost-in-Edhil of hope and light and collaboration, of many peoples coming together as one, a place of art and science and love of knowledge, but not one that can't be interrogated. What do those who aren't a part of the Ring project think about it once it begins? 14/24

A Numenor that sinks to the depths shown in the Akallabeth. I know being a family friendly show limits what can be portrayed there somewhat, but I hope they do the best they can with the freedom they have. Akallabeth is a deeply grim look at just how awful Men can be. 15/24

A fair and nuanced portrayal of the lands we rarely if ever see in Tolkien's own texts, those places to the East and South that have their own cultures and peoples and day-to-day struggles. Including the lands that would one day become Mordor. 16/24

A story that isn't afraid to take its time. My biggest worry is with the time compression. I understand why it might seem necessary. But the long slow build to the dramatic Fall is one of my favorite things about The Second Age, and it's a hard thing to lose. 17/24

A chance to see the Second Fall of Sauron play out on screen. I want the whole gamut of who that character has the potential to be. I want the possibility of a redemption that slips away, a road that was almost taken but wasn't, balanced on the same knife edge as Smeagol. 18/24

I want TO WANT to see that redemption happen, and when it doesn't I want to see a Sauron who becomes as fully horrible as Akallabêth shows him to be. I want a show that can make me pity even Sauron the way we are meant to come to pity Smeagol—a pity that saves the world. 19/24

I want a show brave enough to explore the question of why and how a being who loved order and coordination and genuinely (on his good days) desired to do good by the Children of Eru ended up serving a nihilistic chaos god and committing uncounted horrific acts. 20/24

I want it to feel real enough to walk through and yet just 3-degrees-to-the-left-of-that enough to feel like Faerie. I want Recovery, I want Escape, I want Consolation. I want to visit these places again in 15 years and cry when I see them like I do with Hobbiton. 21/24

I want a show that doesn't shy away from moral complexity. I don't want anyone to be able to escape scrutiny. I don't want a world where people are wholly bad or wholly good. I want everyone in this show to have to grapple with their choices. 22/24

(There's that other moral complexity—the kind that involves corporate power and extreme violation of workers' rights and crushing monopoly, and how to approach my consumption of this show in light of that. That's a question I think each fan has to answer for themselves). 23/24

Will I get any of that? Will I walk away tomorrow night relieved and excited or dissapointed? I don't know. I've had some mixed feelings about what I've seen, but they’ve been more positive of late, so I'm cautiously hopefull. 33 hours to liftoff. See you on the other side! 24/24

Find Day 11 here:

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