celebrimbor pointing out the imperfection in sauron's fabricated reality, as both of them match in skills as a creator. sauron can craft the most appealing illusion in the entire world, but celebrimbor will always sees right through the deception, due to sauron's need for order. the reality he crafted is perfect. too perfect. nothing in this world is perfect. the patterns of the mouse, and the candle is the flaw within his works. celebrimbor merely critiques it.
One lore change in ROP that does make me sad is a particular aspect of Celebrimbor's death: that he died protecting the Nine, instead of the Three.
In the show, he dies protecting the Nine. But hours later, Sauron ends up with the Nine anyway, which makes Celebrimbor's sacrifice feel...not hollow...but futile.
On the other hand, in the book, he dies protecting the Three. And Sauron *never* gets his hands on the Three, in large part because of Celebrimbor's bravery and determination. It makes Celebrimbor's sacrifice feel all the more triumphant and crucial, in that he actively thwarted Sauron from gaining even more power and influence than he already had.
It's a little thing, but it always makes my heart feel heavy and sad when Sauron picks up the bag of the Nine Rings, because in the end Celebrimbor died for something Sauron was going to get anyway.
the celebrimbor/annatar moment immediately after mirdania sees sauron's true form was such a good scene while also being really uncomfortable and unsettling, as most of their scenes in this episode were given the nature of what was happening but this one...
it felt so explicit in what it was saying: that this is an abuser, using weaponised incompetence to lure their victim back into their grasp after they've escaped them and the look on celebrimbor's face said it all.
this moment makes both you, the viewer and celebrimbor question what was really going on in that moment. like, obviously it was deliberate but the thing with manipulators and abusers is that you can never really be sure. even if you are 100% certain, there's always that tiny moment of doubt that makes you question if you're actually right. that makes you question if you can fully trust your own perception of the truth or reality or if you're simply thinking the worst of them when you shouldn't be and that's what this moment kind of does and it does it in quite a scary accurate way.
because it leaves you questioning if sauron deliberately endangered the mirdain in that moment, if he really doesn't know the right or most appropriate way to make the rings or if he knew what could happen if they added more mithril or if he simply made a mistake etc. etc.
and as i said, celebrimbor's face really does say it all...
whether this was intentional or accidental, sauron's got exactly what he wanted. celebrimbor realised in this moment that he has to be involved, one way or another, he has to be involved and contribute in making the nine despite being completely against it because who knows what might happen if he isn't.
"Love is a double-edged sword: it can heal you or wound you".
On the poster below their swords merge into one through Morgoth's crown, creating a double-edged blade that can cut both ways. He still believes his healing lies through Galadriel, that’s why he needs her, wants her. He gazes at her with an intensity and a smile playing on his lips as if knowing she won't be able to resist.
Meanwhile, Galadriel sees her feelings for him as a curse. She’s wounded emotionally. She can’t hold his gaze, knowing that if she does, she might fall into the abyss of her own emotions.
I think it’s significant that Morgoth’s crown is what merges their blades, especially given that, at the end of their confrontation Sauron will stab Galadriel with it.
Their intertwined swords symbolize their fates, showing that they are now bound together through darkness, a connection forged in shadow. This bond will linger for millennia, never truly fading.
Sauron, Galadriel, & Tolkien's Theology of Repentance - Part One
Summary: Character meta analysis on Sauron (and Galadriel, through the lens of Sauron). Based on both Silmarillion & RoP canon. 3.5k words. Discussion of Catholic theology involved. Blanket TW for discussion of violence, manipulation, etc., because Sauron. Spoilers for S1 & S2 and the Silmarillion, of course.
The tragedy of Sauron is that he gets offered so many legitimate chances at redemption and forgiveness, and he denies them every single time. But we know he wants absolution, because that’s what he sees Galadriel as: his chance to bind himself back to the light, to be Mairon again, to heal the pain that he caused and that was caused to him under Morgoth. But because he has such a warped view of himself and his actions, he dismisses genuine extensions of compassion, forgiveness, and care as simultaneously beneath him and too good for him. And yet, he still pursues redemption, but through none of the channels offered to him.
In The Rings of Power, he’s given the explicit instruction to change for the good in the village after he’s reborn. He’s given the chance leave his past behind and work meaningfully in Númenor. He’s given the chance to redeem himself by Galadriel's offer of friendship (or love, depending on your interpretation). In the Silmarillion, he's even given the chance by Eönwë himself, and comes close to leaving Morgoth behind completely!
Let's look at this passage from Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age (emphasis mine):
When Thangorodrim was broken and Morgoth overthrown, Sauron put on his fair hue again and did obeisance to Eönwë the herald of Manwë, and abjured all his evil deeds. And some hold that this was not at first falsely done, but that Sauron in truth repented, if only out of fear, being dismayed by the fall of Morgoth and the great wrath of the Lords of the West. But it was not in the power of Eönwë to pardon those of his own order, and he commanded Sauron to return to Aman and there receive the judgement of Manwë. Then Sauron was ashamed, and he was unwilling to return in humiliation to receive from the Valar a sentence, it might be, of long servitude in proof of his good faith; for under Morgoth his power had been great. Therefore when Eönwë departed he hid himself in Middle-earth; and he fell back into evil, for the bonds that Morgoth had laid upon him were very strong.
This passage is clear that Eönwë is willing to pardon Sauron--he simply did not posses the power to do so. But when Sauron was told he must appeal directly Manwë, he gave up entirely and skulked back to Middle-earth. There are a few ways to read this:
1. He was not wholly repentant
Sauron simply wanted the protection of a new master in the absence of Melkor. i.e., he was rather fickle and simply wanted to be on whatever the "winning" side was. This is supported by the text literally saying that at least some of his obeisance was completely false, and that he only made a point of feeling bad about anything once his master had been chucked into the Void and his armies and strongholds were being destroyed (Thangorodrim). In this reading, perhaps Eönwë saw Sauron's treachery and referred him to Manwë knowing that it would be a test of his true intent. However, while a valid interpretation, I believe this to be the less holistic of the two.
2. He was truly repentant
Sauron did truly feel badly and "abjured all his evil deeds," but he was unwilling/unable to humble himself after being so fundamentally broken by Melkor and developing an insatiable power lust (hey, he isn't defined in the narrative by lust and pride for nothing).
Earlier in this same chapter, Tolkien wrote that Sauron could "...deceive all but the most wary." This is in the specific context of his physical shapeshifting. But, I would argue that this can also be tied to his lies. Tolkien has a specific ethic of beauty, where physical perfection is equated with moral goodness. Sauron completely inverts what is otherwise a hard and fast rule within Tolkien's writings by being the character most frequently described as "fair"--seven times to Lúthien's six, and she was the most beautiful woman to have ever lived!
(Side note: I have another post on Tolkien & beauty in the works where I'll get more into this idea)
Why does this matter?
Even though this interaction with Eönwë takes place in the First Age, Sauron could at this point be in the demonic form Mirdania describes in the forge. And, I am inclined to believe that Eönwë, as the head Maiar and herald of Manwë, would be a pretty wary guy, and thus able to sense any of Sauron's trickery. I read this to mean that Eönwë looked at Sauron and saw his potential to be Mairon again, either in absence of his evil form or in spite of it.
Because Sauron is incredibly beautiful. And even if it is a disguise of the true, depreciated form of his spiritual essence, he presented himself to Eönwë at his most beautiful. He wanted, even in his act of repentance, to make himself more favorable in Eönwë's eyes. To show up as Mairon (who was likely close friends with Eönwë before everything went down, since they are considered to be two of the most powerful Maia and would have worked closely together).
But I don't think this was all manipulation on Sauron's end. I agree with the scholars mentioned in the text who believed that Sauron was truly repentant--which is why Eönwë even bothered referring him to Manwë instead of kicking him into the Void with Melkor.
And this is the tragedy: Sauron is told exactly how to repent, and believes fundamentally that it is an impossible path for him. And yet, he still longs so intrinsically for it! He was, under Aulë, a Maia of precision, perfection, and order. Under Morgoth, he feels disordered, dis-regulated. He needs to correct the fundamental imbalance within him, so why does he flee Eönwë?
It comes back to Sauron's pride.
If he follows through with this path of reconciliation, there is no way he can hide or pretend his actions away. If he cannot trick his fellow Maiar, he certainly cannot trick the Valar. And he cannot stand the idea of submitting himself back under their rule, especially now that he has tasted power. This is a pride wound; it is why the idea of confessing to Manwë would be humiliating to him as opposed to just upsetting/uncomfortable.
Again, the pivotal moment: he is told how to make amends for crimes and determines that he cannot do it. So he returns to Middle-earth and stews in his own self-hated and self-pity for a few years.
In that time, he consciously or subconsciously latches onto Eönwë's offer--forgiveness from penance. It is the way forward. And if he cannot earn penance at Manwë's hand, he will do it on his own.
The Prodigal Son
This is where we have to talk about the Catholic roots of Tolkien's work for a moment. The scene where Sauron approaches Eönwë mirrors the biblical parable of the prodigal son. In this story, a man abandons his family, spends all his money, and falls into ruin. But when he recognizes his failings and returns to his father to get help, he is welcomed back into the family without question--in other words, he is forgiven and restored to his former position.
17 But when he [the prodigal son] came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
- Luke 15:11-32, NRSV CE (emphasis mine)
The parallel is clear; Mairon, the repentant Maia, returns home with hopes of reconciliation. He is prescribed the same task that the prodigal son offered to his father: he must be bound in servitude to his father/creator in order to pay off his debts. This is a deliberate allusion from Tolkien. The story of the prodigal son models the path of reconciliation that Eönwë describes.
Tolkien seems to be drawing a line in the sand with this: Sauron is unwilling to do the work required by the Valar for repentance, so he is unable to receive the grace of a warm welcome back into the fold of the Ainur. Since he did not humble himself, he has to be told to do it. And he does not want to! He wants to be loved, but he also wants his power--evidence, in a way, of how his character was fundamentally altered in his time with Morgoth.
His pride--and his fear--cut him off from the potential of grace. He does not know for certain that Manwë would subject him to servitude (though I would argue that it's textually evident that it is a custom), but this assumption leads him to flee, which allows him to slip back into his old ways.
He wants to be Mairon (admirable) again, not Sauron (abhorrent). He wants to be accepted and loved, but not punished. He wants the benefits of reconciliation without the work he would have to do to earn it or the shame he would feel as he did. It's pride, but it's also deep shame--the flip side of his extreme ego is an implicit self-hatred, one that we can see in the subtext of how he speaks about himself and about his time with Morgoth.
Even the language Tolkien uses is heavily shame-coded, especially in a Catholic context; Mairon did not go willingly, he was "seduced." He admits to Celebrimbor that he was "tortured by a god". It becomes exceedingly clear through both text and on-screen canon that Sauron was routinely broken and abused for centuries. This has fundamentally damaged his self-perception, which is ultimately what leads him to "[fall] back into evil"--whether due to pride or shame, he hides, perhaps because he consciously or subconsciously does not believe that he deserves forgiveness, no matter how much he craves it.
Naked in the Garden
His flight back to Middle-earth after meeting Eönwë is reminiscent of another biblical scene, where Adam and Eve, after committing the first sin, hide from God in shame and fear (emphasis mine):
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked...9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
-Genesis 7-10, NRSV CE
The image of nakedness is, here, one of vulnerability, and Tolkien establishes that Sauron fears that which he cannot control. He needs the Rings under his power. He needs his armies and his enemies under his watchful eye. He is petrified of letting his power slip away (possibly due to never wanting to feel powerless in the hands of a Vala, fallen or not, again).
The biblical allusion here hearkens back to the fear Tolkien describes Sauron as feeling regarding his return to the Ainur. In the religious system Tolkien has established, which is likely inspired by his own religious beliefs, Sauron has sinned, and must make penance. But he is afraid of God/Manwë, and does not want to "let go" of his sin. In other words, he is not truly repentant. This reflects the Catholic sacrament of confession, which requires self-reflection and resolve to never commit the sin again.
Instead of shame driving him to contrition, it drives him to isolation.
But he still wants forgiveness. So, in his years of hiding in Middle-earth, he decides to earn it himself. His own way.
Enter the Rings.
Sauron wants to perfect the wrong he wreaked so that he can both earn his way back into the Ainur and keep his power. But what he does not realize is that this does not work. Eönwë is clear that he must forsake his true temptation--absolute power--through penance by submission. Yet Sauron in his pride thinks he can have it all.
Sauron is a very carefully controlled villain, and the only times he snaps or makes significant mistakes are when his inflated self-perception is challenged, revealing the self-loathing and/or self-pity underneath. The best example of this is when he kills Celebrimbor prematurely, and cries afterwards. Why? Because Celebrimbor was right about him, and he hates it. He hates knowing that he is nothing more than the Morgoth's shadow, because Morgoth was his master as much as he was his tormentor. As Sauron puts it, his relationship with Morgoth was often defined by pain as a test to see "whose will was the mightier":
This image carries more shame, both in its implicit sexual connotations and in the simple power dynamic of it. Sauron, even though misguided, is rallying against Morgoth. He wants to break what Morgoth has created and build something new, something better, something apart from his old master entirely.
But Celebrimbor confronts him with reality: he has not created something new, and perfect, and special, as he so wanted to--he can only act in imitation, not in generation. And when he got close with the Rings, it cost him everything. It's almost like he wants the power of a Vala, and loathes that he cannot attain it.
And this is why he becomes so singularly obsessed with Galadriel.
She’s his foil. They both crave power and adoration, but in the end of things, she does not fold under his temptation. She turns down everything she has ever wanted for the greater good and for the sake of her own soul. Sauron looks at Galadriel and perceives that she would have succeeded at Eönwë's test because she is willing and able to humble herself. This maddens him to the point of both desiring her and desiring to break her.
She learns that she is easily tempted and becomes strong enough to handle it (through a lot of tough love from Elrond & co.). She has to learn how to do it, but she is able to.
She grows from someone who resisted and rejected authority to someone who is trusted as an authority because of her ability to wield it wisely (see: Gil-galad allowing her to answer for him in 2x08).
In other words, she earns the trust, love, and support of her community. Sauron has to force his to comply—it is an illusion of love.
His possessive obsession with her also stems from her fairness. She was the object of her uncle Fëanor's obsessive desire for creation as well. Her hair was the inspiration of the Silmarils (see: The History of Galadriel and Celeborn; The Shibboleth of Fëanor - source with page #s here), which Morgoth desired more than anything to possess.
Sauron, wanting to spite his master, wants one better--to own that which inspired the Silmarils, to own the image of fairness (and thus of moral good) completely. This is why he wants to bind himself to her. This is why he needs her. He sees Galadriel as his mechanism of repentance, and his last triumph over Morgoth. Winning her is his salvation as much as it is proving that his will is the mightier. It is his way of dominating Morgoth. This starts, I think, as a genuine effort at proving himself to the Valar, but quickly consumes him entirely. He is overcome with the desire for revenge, just as Galadriel was at the beginning of the First Age.
And he sees this in her. Sees their similarities. Sees that she, too, is angry and lonely and so afraid of losing her power. And he leverages that to befriend her. This is where it gets ambiguous and you can read RoP as either painting the image of Sauron being earnest but completely misguided in his proposal, or you can see it as him being entirely manipulative.
I think the truth of that scene probably falls somewhere in the middle; just like when he presents himself to Eönwë, he is sincere in his desire, but only knows how to present it in an inherently contriving way. He does want to bind her to him, so he tries to only reveal to her the good aspect of that desire (and also of his desire for power, which he allows her to see because he believes that it is good and also because she understands it), and not the ugly underside of his internal struggle against Morgoth, the Valar, and himself.
And I do think, in his own way, he cared about her. Galadriel consistently shows kindness and compassion to him. In S1, they grow to know each other's minds and souls, and she considers him a close friend. He finds comfort in this, that someone could see the blackness of his heart and care for him anyway. He thought, in his isolation, that he lost that chance when he fled back to Middle-earth. And here is the very picture of the light itself telling him that she supports him, that she sees the good in him, that she wants to help him set the world to rights! Of course he is infatuated by this. Of course he also wants to use it. He is Sauron.
But Galadriel succeeds where he fails, so he stops playing nice and tries to forcibly drag her down with him. First, by baiting her with the image of the man she cared deeply for:
Then, by reminding her of all she is losing by rejecting him:
And she is still strong enough to say no. And not just to say no, but to shut the door completely. To look in the face of everything she has desired for centuries and turn it down, understanding that it will ruin her. Yes, she hesitates. Yes, she still wants it (wants him). But she wins the day by holding fast to the light that Sauron wishes so badly to bind himself to.
Because she has lost everything--her brother, her husband, the station as commander, the trust of her high king and best friend--and earns it back only through her resistance of her greatest temptation. It is a struggle, it is painful, it nearly kills her--but she does it. She wins the test that Sauron could not even bear to face.
In their headlong, self-sacrificial tendencies, they are the same. Both view themselves as fundamentally stronger/better than their peers while also being deeply lonely due to their self-imposed isolation (Galadriel's laser-focused hunt for revenge, Sauron's exile in Middle-earth). But to Galadriel, the light is more important than her pride.
For Sauron, the light is his source of pride. He desires it more than anything, but condemns himself to never being able to touch it due to his rejection of Eönwë's offer. Paradoxically, he tries to grasp at it through Galadriel, the living silmaril, and succeeds only in darkening her. We learn from Gil-galad in 2x08 that his crown piercing her flesh in an act of brutal domination nearly strips her soul from her and pitches it into the unseen world. In this, Sauron is saying: If I cannot have you, I will force you to need me. I will break you into loving me.
He says this to Celebrimbor as well. He no longer knows how to love properly. He only knows how to inflict pain until this object of his obessive desire needs him--just like how his immortal spirit was broken into submission by Morgoth. And isn't this revealing of his own sense of self? He refuses to suffer the path of light, but willingly suffers the maddening path of darkness because it is a comfortable, familiar suffering. One, he tells Celebrimbor, he even grew to enjoy (2x08).
As the path of the Rings drive him madder and madder, his desire for the light (Galadriel) and the return of his power (Celebrimbor) become further disordered and corrupted until they culminate in him destroying them--and his chance at earning/owning them--entirely.
And this is Sauron's ultimate point of no return (which we will hopefully see in S3 🤞). The razing of Eregion and slaying of Celebrimbor were acts of petty rage he committed when his pride was injured. This was the final nail in the coffin. Galadriel, in her rejection of him, ruins what he sees as his true chance for redemption.
Galadriel, now stepping into the role of Eönwë, re-opens the invitation: "Heal yourself!" (2x08). But in rage and shame and stubborn pride, he turns it down again. I believe this is where his desire to heal Middle-earth shifts fundamentally into desire to dominate Middle-earth. He always wanted to rule, but now he wants to own.
so i reblogged this post yesterday and it reminded me of the complete mindfuck i still have with a part of the Trop fandom to this day (I am not saying [all g/s shippers] because no group is a monolith i'm not even saying most... if this doesn't apply to you i'm not talking about you)
when i saw this scene of 1x08, i remember how thrilling this moment was.
the mask dropped, the previously funny, gregarious, and impulsive halbrand is suddenly this cold, unfeeling, calculating demigod.
And like i knew since like the second episode he was present that he was sauron. it wasn't a surprise. but yet, the mask drop was so perfect.
but i was deep in star trek at the time, and didn't really engage in the fandom. but i assumed when people liked this ship, this is what they meant, that they loved this deception and turn and betrayal.
and then i come here after season 2, and realize how many people see this scene not as a mask drop, but as Sauron honestly infatuated Galadriel, not him manipulating her to his side every step of the way, of him being honest and sincere...
Like, this dynamic was so awesome. And then we get to see it AGAIN with Celebrimbor, with Mirdania. We get to see what would happen if Galadriel had said yes, with Mirdania being his assistant and then unceremoniously being tossed off a parapet, and we get to see what would happen if she had realized too late instead of now with Celebrimbor (and with show confirmation of the parallel between Galadriel and Celebrimbor given by a heart to heart between two characters). And we get to see the mask drop over and over except from the other side... And it is different and good every time it happens. And how we know it will happen again and it will get worse and darker each time, as he starts targeting humans with less resistance to his magic.
And then I come here and so many people don't even see how awesome this parallel is. how great the mask drop is. How critical it was that Galadriel became suspicious early on or else all would have been lost. That someone thinks this is a romantic confession instead of the culmination of a deceptive seduction that fails because of Galadriel's perceptiveness and righteous anger.
(and even how Sauron himself was deceiving even himself... something we see again with Celebrimbor)
I guess what always makes me confused is how this is easily one of the best scenes in the show, and people interpret it in some completely orthogonal way... will never compute. That the thing that is the most enjoyable about these two characters, the utter betrayal and deception going mask off in a single movement/line, is seen as something else?
Recently I've been reading some classic fictional love stories, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte etc... and it's been percolating through my Haladriel obsessed brain filter. (seriously it's been about 3 years and I still haven't gotten over it, although I guess it's harder for me to stay as invested).
One thing I found interesting was in the two love stories that I really enjoyed recently, Lizzie and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice as well as Jane and Rochester in Jane Eyre, they both had a romance arc that involved the man doing something quite awful and then having a redemption of sorts. One of the aspects of Haladriel that has fascinated me was after the S1 E8 Reveal, how might Sauron ever get forgiven by Galadriel, even outside of his personal repentance? This was even one of the main themes I tried to explore in my fic A Lord and his Builder. He killed her brother*, took over her mind, impersonated her dead brother and then at least simulated drowning her if not outright tried to drown her in the Glanduin. Season 2 ends even worse with them fighting until he stabs her after causing the destruction of Eregion and killing her friend, Celebrimbor. Ouch!
Is there any onscreen redemption possible now, that we as viewers of Haladriel persuasion might accept?
The Original ETL Ship
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Their love story is an amazing template of the slow burn, originally frosty relationship which over time develops into something that neither of them can ignore or resist despite their pride. The particulars of their relationship don't really resemble Haladriel, although there's some of that in the early season 1 banter.
While reading Pride and Prejudice in recent months I was actually shocked by how terrible Darcy was which I had completely forgotten from the TV adaptations. At first he was aloof and kind of a tool bag, but then their forced proximity in Netherfield and later Hunsford it seemed to me that he was polite and while they had their intellectual debates it always seemed that he respected her wit and there was no animosity just civil disagreements.
It was only after Elizabeth learned from Col. Fitzwilliam that Darcy intentionally separated Bingley from Jane, which was a horrible thing to do, did they really get heated especially with what he said at the failure of a proposal. It does remind a little of Sauron on the raft with how Galadriel totally rejects him when he feels like he's giving her this great opportunity 🤣
I honestly felt when reading that, and remembering the vague outlines of the rest of the story that there is No Way that Darcy could come back from that? Especially after he also personally insulted her and her family. Ok, no one was stabbed and he didn't become physically violent but I think Lizzie would have been totally justified in never giving him a second chance.
So how does he redeem himself?
He comes clean (the letter)
Saves her sister from a scandal, at great personal expense
Treats her family with kindness and respect
Encourages Bingley to take Jane back
Opens up some of his heart to her, Pemberly, Georgiana, etc
None of those really erase the actions he did, and without the tragedy of Lydia & Wickham would Darcy have been given an opportunity to "save the day" and prove his worth to Elizabeth?
What would Sauron's equivalents be? He already saved Gal's life. Perhaps other acts of mercy or kindness (which we know the show probably won't allow him).
Reader, I Married Him
Even more dramatic is the redemption arc (?) of Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre. Here is a man who made a questionable choice of marriage partner. Locked his insane wife up in the attic and hid her from the world while he slept around the continent and possibly doing much else. Hopeless, alone and aimless then by chance meets a pretty, young governess and falls in love and feels inspired once again but he is hiding a much darker secret that he can't reveal (hmm, sound familiar?).
It seemed Rochester was so moved by Jane's spirit, her goodness and stubborness (one might say he could see her light when no one else did 😉) that he basically wants to do anything to be with her even though their social standing would prevent it.
But he also lies to Jane's face about the mysterious, violent women he is keeping trapped in his mansion that might have easily harmed her. He even tries to go through with a invalid marriage without telling her ANYTHING and the reveal shatters Jane to her core so much that she runs off and nearly starves herself to death.
We know what happens of course but it's very much in question if he should have ever been forgiven or even if he truly loves Jane or it's all another kind of manipulation, although to me it's pretty clearly implied in the text that he is honest with her in the end and I can see his honest love for her seemed to be genuine and I can understand Jane being touched, especially in contrast to Saint John Rivers.
So how is Rochester redeemed?
Heroically saved staff from the Thornfield fire. At great risk to himself he tried to save his insane wife who started the fire
Despite sleeping around Europe, he did take in and care for Adele even if she may not be his own child
After the fire and his injuries he is humbled and has humility about his own failures and loss of Jane
Her return and his honest and open love of her without any more secrets
Has a cute dog named Pilot!
The whole theme of secrecy, betrayal, redemption fit so well with Sauron's character and how he played Galadriel in season 1 especially. We did not get the redemption arc like this in season 2 though, he basically doubled down.
I do wonder if this setup would be perfect for him being humbled and or possibly physically disfigured after the Fall of Numenor. Wouldn't that be the perfect moment for Galadriel to find a defeated, weakend Sauron who has given up on his plans, for now, would she pity him? If he maybe saves someone from the flood? What if Galadriel is on Numenor when it sinks and he's part of the reason she survives?
For a long time I really didn't see how we might ever see a Sauron & Galadriel could be reunited on screen where they wouldn't be fighting to the death. I'm 99% sure that's all the show runners actually plan to do. But as a Haladriel, I can hold out hope. I think if they wanted to appease us, something like the redemption arcs of either Darcy or Rochester would be plausible if it was seen as genuine and perhaps following other acts of benevolence or kindness which we did see him do in Season 1 so we know he is capable of it. Wishful thinking?
Why was he crying? Annatar manipulates and kills easily, so why was he borderline sobbing after killing Celebrimbor?
Because this death was brutal, and more than that, it was personal. Sauron doesn't kill because he's a sadist, he kills because he is ruthless and believes it necessary to achieve his goals. Anyone who gets in his way, or who is more useful dead, will simply be so. But as he's torturing Celebrimbor for information about the rings, Celebrimbor is reading him to filth. And with compassion, even.
There is a spark of anger. Absolute rage within Annatar, and in his fury he kills Celebrimbor. Not because it was useful or the smart thing to do, because he was offended, even hurt by his words. He killed Celebrimbor in anger, which is not like him, and when he steps back and realizes how violently and twistedly he did it, to man he even respected and may have liked to some extent, something clicks.
Why was he crying?
Because he looked at what he'd done to Celebrimbor, and he saw Melkor. This was Morgoth's work. This was how he'd handled things, how he'd tormented and punished Sauron. All this time, as we know from his earlier conversation with Celebrimbor, Sauron believes he is being merciful to those he tortures and kills compared to Morgoth.
But in that moment, he has brief terrifying glimpse of self-awareness. He is the monster he feared and hated and thought he loved. He steps backs and looks at a scene Morgoth would paint and it terrifies him.
So he cries. He cries until the reality of his actions, and another opportunity walks through the door in the form of the orcs and he makes the same call he will always make: double down, justify it, make it worth the pain.
