Katria Raden

Commission of a Warden for @mothrodent ! Thank you so much.~

Private commission.

Which, I mean - and yes forgive me for stating the obvious - but that’s kind of important! It suggests that Sauron’s supposed repentence and reluctance to take up the Dark Lord mantle again was real. Because this was a golden opportunity that literally fell into his lap - Galadriel is seriously out there spinning her secret kingship theories and collecting him an army all on her own, with Sauron barely having to lift a finger. And then he just…truly doesn’t seem to want it? Like I don’t think the show will ever tell us just how much of his early relationship with Galadriel was real and how much was a con, but it took the time to provide actual evidence that his reluctance to take advantage of what she was offering him here was sincere. I’m not saying he necessarily planned to start saving kittens from trees and donating all his salary to orphanages, but if he was only looking for a new path to power, then the one Galadriel gave him was a million times more efficient than staying behind in Numenor as a smith. So like, I think a part of him genuinely wanted to give it a try. He really had a moment where forsaking earthly power and kingship and just hanging around a forge on Numenor making swords and vibing seemed like a legitimate life path.

And I think that’s also interesting for his relationship with Galadriel. Because yes, obviously a part of it was just him jerking her chain to make her dance [’kneel’ pffffft okay dark lord we get it] and laughing to himself at this absurdly lucky opportunity to sink his claws into the famous Noldor elf who’s been obssessed with murdering him for a couple millenia. But if a meaningful part of him doesn’t actually want to regain his power in Middle Earth, then why would he need to manipulate Galadriel into giving it to him? I mean sure he’s an opportunist and the temptation is kind of too big to turn down [and yeah to no one’s surprise he does eventually give into it], but at the same time, their dynamic really does come across like he’s conflicted about getting closer to her - and in ways that I think genuinely could have driven Galadriel away, rather than just playing hard-to-get to reel her in more.

All of which is to say that I think this suggests that part of the temptation was really just Galadriel herself. And I mean there’s not enough evidence in the show to prove this either way - you could argue that Sauron was exclusively conflicted over whether or not to pursue power again, and Galadriel was an incidental cog in that temptation. But I find that take less convincing [and less fun], because so much of the push and pull of their relationship is happening even before Sauron has made the choice to use Galadriel to take power in the Southlands [and then later to scheme his way into Eregion &etc]. He risks his life to save her at sea before he’s decided to become the Dark Lord again. All the little jokes he plays on her, convincing her to trust his intentions and his advice, cornering her into a confrontation about her brother - he does all that before he’s even sure what he wants to use Galadriel for. He could easily have discarded her at any point and saved himself considerable trouble. However useful keeping her as an ally might theoretically be, he didn’t need her for any of his immediate goals, and he’s clearly playing with fire vis a vis tricking the bloodthirsty military commander out for his head into spending more time with him. She’s potentially useful, sure, but also a much more immediate risk. So why keep her around when she serves no clear purpose? Why keep her alive at all if she doesn’t further his goals?