Note: Spoilers for both seasons of The Rings of Power regarding Adar.
Whenever creators add an original character to an adaptation of a work I love, I find myself incredibly nervous about whether they will fit into the story I know and feel like a true part of that world. These elements are often crucial to my overall enjoyment of the story. If the original character doesn’t fit and make sense, anything else about them ultimately doesn’t matter too much.
Sometimes, the addition of an original character doesn’t go quite right – see Tauriel in the Peter Jackson Hobbit films. In some instances, though, an original character can feel so much like a part of the story being adapted that I wish they were part of the, well, original version. I miss them when they’re not.
The character I’m referencing in this case? Well, the title would’ve already given it away.
Adar.
Who is Adar?
Adar, as we know, is an original character seen in Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He’s featured in the first two seasons, played by Joseph Mawle in season 1 and Sam Hazeldine in season 2. Adar is an Uruk, their Lord Father, and was previously one of Sauron’s lieutenants. He is also suspected to be one of the Elves originally corrupted by Morgoth (the Moriondor, as named in The Rings of Power). It is this assumption that plays a significant role in my analysis of him and why I am writing about him today.
What makes Adar a great character?
I think since Adar’s origins have a basis in Tolkien’s writing, he has an immediate believable base from which the showrunners and writers can work. Even if Tolkien seems to have changed his mind about how Orcs/Uruk came to be, there is evidence in his writings that, at one point, Tolkien had them originate from corrupted/twisted Elves. With Adar this is certainly the case, since we know he’s been around for an incredibly long time. To me, this means he must be serial longeval like the Elves.
The next element that makes Adar a great character is actually the intertwining of two. By this I mean that one would not have nearly the same impact without the other. Here, I am referring to the writing quality of the story Adar is given in the show, as well as the talent of the actors who have played him. Without quality writing, it can be quite difficult for even an extremely talented actor to make the character as believable and impactful. Conversely, though, you need a talented actor to allow quality writing to achieve its full impact.
I feel the writing for Adar was top notch in both seasons of The Rings of Power. In the first season, Joseph Mawle laid a solid foundation. In season two, Sam Hazeldine drove it home. To be frank, Sam made me fall in love with Adar as a character.
Let’s unpack this a little bit.
The Manipulation of Adar
Here’s the underlying fact I am running with for this: Adar is one of the first Elves corrupted by Morgoth.
With everything I understand from the show and Tolkien’s writings, twisting Adar’s soul and causing him to become an Uruk would have absolutely included an obscene amount of mental and physical torture. I mean, you can even see the scars on his face in the show. I suspect his entire body is likely littered with them as well. Of course, we don’t get to see them.
The other beings in Middle Earth are meant to see Adar and the other Uruk as evil. Sure, they certainly have a lot of darkness to them, but I don’t think they’re inherently evil. Especially not Adar.
Yes, I do think Adar must have had some desire for power as an Elf. Why? If he didn’t. I don’t believe he would’ve been too susceptible to Morgoth’s manipulation in the first place. Or that’s my theory, anyway. But then when I think about all of the torture he would’ve suffered…my heart breaks. I even have an inkling, perhaps since Adar sees the Uruk as his children, that Morgoth and/or Sauron may have forcibly bred Adar to create Uruk. After all, not all of them were corrupted Elves and we know from Tolkien that “the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilùvatar” (The Silmarillion, QS, Chapter 3).
So why is Morgoth manipulating Adar so intriguing to me and not at all black and white?
It has to do with the Ring.
Since we know the Ring carries Sauron’s evil, and Sauron is the new Morgoth…my mind cannot help but draw a connection between them. Specifically, I think being manipulated by the Ring, such as with Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo, and Isildur, would share significant similarities to being directly corrupted by Morgoth, as was the case with Adar.
That doesn’t excuse the shitty things Adar has done, but it does provide context. When we meet him in The Rings of Power, his unrelenting focus is to create a home for his children. Who can blame a parent for that? It’s unfortunate that the home his children requires means destroying a large portion of Middle Earth because they cannot be in the sun and need the shadow.
The Sun Yet Shines
Despite the darkness and brokenness of Adar when we meet him in The Rings of Power, at no point did I think he was completely cut off from the light. There was still sun shining through.
For instance, we see Adar planting seeds before a battle in season 1. This is a direct example of the Elven tradition Arondir and Bronwyn talk about regarding planting seed before a battle “new life in defiance of death” (The Rings of Power, S1E6 “Udûn”). If he were entirely dark and lost, I don’t think he would do that.
But even before the events of The Rings of Power, I know Adar still had strength in him. The opening scene of season 2 shows him betraying and murdering Sauron, at least in part because he doesn’t think serving him will do his children any good. In other words, he broke away from his manipulation. Unfortunately, with the extent of the darkness and torture, there was also no way he could go back. How could he, if the Elves now saw him as entirely evil? Besides, he now has children to protect.
The destruction from his twisting at the hands of Morgoth and Sauron is still there. We see it when Sauron manipulates him into attacking Eregion without mercy, putting the lives of his children in much greater peril than they need to be. Besides this, I think we can also see at least vestiges of Adar having been in love with Sauron to some degree, as twisted as that love would’ve been (see also: interviews from Sam).
Despite the push and pull of this, I think Adar’s strength wins out in the end. This only makes me love him more.
When Adar gets hold of Nenya, I thought for a moment he would quickly use it to increase the strength of his attack on Eregion – but I was wrong. He turns around and gives it back to Galadriel quite quickly when he realizes that though it takes away his physical scars, Nenya cannot fix everything within him. And frankly, I’m not sure it even needs to be fixed. Not that way, at least.
Like many people, I spent a decent amount of time trying to see if I could figure out who Adar was before he was corrupted. But with a single line from the ever so talented Sam Hazeldine, “Adar is the name I earned” (The Rings of Power, S2E8 “Shadow and Flame”)… all thoughts of that flew out the window. I don’t care who he was anymore. It doesn’t matter, because like he says, Adar earned his name. He broke away from Sauron, tried to give his children a home, and was strong enough to give up a Ring of Power when very few people could do that.
But also?
In his final moments, when his children betray him and proceed to murder him in a way that directly mirrors what Adar started with Sauron… Adar doesn’t fight back. He thinks of his children in his last moments and refuses to hurt them, even if it is very possible that he could’ve at least had a fighting chance. The look on his face in that moment…dear reader, I cried.
Adar’s Stolen Future (and Past)
I doubt we’ll get to see more of Adar’s story, so I’ve created my own headcanon. I hope Adar got to see the Halls of Mandos and eventually returned to Valinor. To the Sun. Somewhere he can rest without having to fight, something he hasn’t been able to do in an Age.
But here’s the thing: what would’ve happened if Adar survived the betrayal? He would’ve had to watch Sauron continue to corrupt his children, slowly turning them into the Uruk we see during the events of The Lord of the Rings. Would there have been a breaking point for him? If so, when would that have happened? When would his mind and soul given up?
And ultimately…
Would the Valar have allowed him to sail West? The Elves?
When I think about how much Middle Earth broke Adar with all the heartache, manipulation, and torture, I can’t help but think of how he would’ve been left if he survived his children’s betrayal. I think that could have very well been the final straw and just imagining its effects…
I think the desire to sail West would’ve sparked and he would’ve lost all joy in Middle Earth. Dear reader, Adar… he reminds me of Celebrían, someone else who underwent unimaginable torture from Orcs/Uruk. I just cannot get that image out of my head.
There’s more to this connection too. I’ve already assumed Adar is one of the first Elves Morgoth corrupted, and therefore one of the first Uruk. But what if he was also one of the first Elves to awaken at Cuiviénen?
He would’ve had a partner. A love made for him.
What happened to them?
Did they pass to the West after his initial corruption?
Did they wait for him in Valinor like Celebrían waited for Elrond?
That’s another level of pain and a whole different kind of torture for Adar, and I fear I can never recover from this realization.
How I Identify With Adar
It’s funny. Adar’s pain is wildly different than anything I have experienced in my lifetime, and yet there is still something in his pain that I recognize. The surface level example I’ll give here is Adar, I believe, doesn’t feel entirely like an Elf, but he also doesn’t feel entirely like an Uruk either. He is something else outside both groups, and I think he feels this so deeply much of the time. Lord knows I have felt something similar many times – in fact, reminds me of something I spoke about when I posted about connecting with Elrond a few months back.
Adar is human. Obviously not literally, but he is. Adar’s brokenness, how Morgoth and Sauron manipulated him, and the vestiges of darkness left behind… all of this makes him more well-round than many characters we see as simply “good” or completely “evil”. This is human nature – no one is all one thing, no matter what that thing may be. I believe his brokenness and, well, his human-ness, is what makes him much more relatable to me.
In fact, Adar is one of the messy characters I absolutely love to watch or read about. I think a large part of this is because they better reflect true human nature, but it’s more than that too. I find characters who are all one thing, good or evil, to grate on my nerves. In fact, I was speaking to a new friend of mine recently about how Captain America really annoys me because of his “holier than thou” kind of attitude. Conversely, someone like Adar, an anti-hero, can easily worm their way into my heart.
Adar, especially at the depth we got to see Sam Hazeldine show us in season 2, is precisely the type of character I’d be so honoured and privileged to write for.
Until next time…
What are your thoughts on Adar? Do you love him as I do? What connections or observations have you made?
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