One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
Bind them...? I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere… wait, is it this one?
Not to mention this scene where she prompts him to bind himself to her...
So, what is all about again? I was talking about my wishful thinking that it would be fascinating to see Sauron forging the One Ring because of his desperate desire for Galadriel as well as about recurring motifs in the series that I sometimes wonder if they might mean more than what’s shown on the surface.
Why would they use the word "bind", being fully aware that it is the accent of the iconic phrase engraved on the One Ring, the focus of the show?
Perhaps the famous inscription on the Ring hints at their bond, relationship or cosmic connection or whatever you call it. It seems evident that Sauron sought to bind himself to Galadriel, not for domination, but so she could balance him. He wanted to be connected to light, to help heal the world from Morgoth’s corruption.
Sauron is not naive and he understands the depth of his own corruption and, by his confession to Galadriel on the log and his emotional breakdown after killing Celebrimbor (a friend he values, though it was twisted of course), he is well aware of it.
This is why he seeks a powerful source that might restore or heal him. At first, he believes it could be Galadriel herself, through her love and understanding. When that hope is lost, he turns his focus to Nenya, which is also denied to him.
When leaping off the cliff, Galadriel told Sauron, “Heal yourself,” taking the magic ring with her. The moment is bitter because Sauron had watched Galadriel and Adar from afar, fully aware of the healing power Nenya could offer. Perhaps, then, the forging of the One Ring was not solely about domination or controlling the other Rings, it was also an attempt to heal himself, to regain the sources of restoration that were denied to him, like Galadriel and Nenya.
How could it be possible?
When forging the One Ring, Sauron literally "split" himself and poured his power into the ring.
The treasure of the Enemy, fraught with all his malice; in it lies a great part of his strength of old.
What is this "strength of old"? Is it the power Sauron inherited from Morgoth, his mastery of dark sorcery? Perhaps he sought to split his own personality, pouring his dark power into the Ring as a way to purify himself from corruption, after all, "nothing is evil in the beginning". At the same time, he could wield the Ring for his own purposes, including ruling the other Rings. He may have believed that by separating a part of himself, he could use its power without being affected by its corrupting influence. In reality, however, he was mistaken: the Ring became his obsession, his Precious, dragging him deeper into the very corruption he sought to escape.
