Habrand or Sauron?
Facing Annatar and seeing Halbrand again, was a heart-shattered-all-over-again moment for Galadriel. But thinking about my own viewing of Sauron, I realized that she needed her heart broken again. I don’t know who else had the same reaction, but I, for the most part, was unable to process that Halbrand and Sauron are the same. We were introduced to Halbrand specifically. Halbrand is who we got to know. The reluctant king running from his past. We spent over a month with that character. In Alloyed, they revealed that Halbrand is actually Sauron, but that was only at the end of the episode. After the hours' worth of time with Halbrand, it was but a few minutes that we spent with Sauron. I knew consciously that the two were the same, but there was still a subconscious separation. Since we spent so much time with Halbrand and so little with Sauron, regardless of how many times I rewatched, my mind still made a distinction between the two characters. Even with the two-year hiatus, I was...