What happened in that chilling ‘Rings of Power’ finale scene between Sauron and Celebrimbor

The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 drew to a close with a spectacular finale. And with it, we bid anguished farewells to some beloved characters, like elven smith Lord Celebrimbor of Eregion, played by Charles Edwards, who Charlie Vickers’ Sauron deceived into forging the rings of power.

Sauron’s deception of Celebrimbor began as early as season 1, when in his Halbrand avatar, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) brought him to Eregion to heal his wounds from the Southlands battle. He got a read on Celebrimbor, a descendant of the greatest of elven smiths Fëanor of the Noldor, who crafted the Silmarils. And that’s when his grand design took shape.

Spoilers ahead for Rings of Power season 2 finale!

Sauron’s deception of Celebrimbor

Sauron understood two things about the Lord of Eregion: One, Celebrimbor was extremely skilled and would be the perfect partner to help him craft the power that he sought, filling in the gaps in his own knowledge as he would in Celebrimbor’s. And two, Celebrimbor was hungry to prove himself. With the right nudge that included a perfect balance of flattery and chiding, he could prey on Celebrimbor’s fear of never achieving his full potential and living up to his ancestor’s legacy to manipulate him into becoming his collaborator. 

In season 2, when Sauron returned as Halbrand to Eregion, this is precisely the approach he used, presenting himself as someone who considered Celebrimbor a friend, who understood his ambition, and finally as an emissary of the Valar sent to help the smith achieve it. As Annatar, Sauron used careful wordplay and manipulations to get his way, even changing Celebrimbor’s mind about the nine rings for men which he had originally refused to forge because he didn’t trust men. 

As Celebrimbor became worried about the dwarven rings being defective and plunged himself completely into redeeming himself by crafting the nine rings for men to perfection, Sauron as Annatar managed to turn even the Gwaith-i-Mírdain suspicious of Celebrimbor. He crafted an illusion that kept Celebrimbor working on the rings in his tower, unaware that his beloved city was under siege from Adar (Sam Hazeldine) and the orcs. 

It wasn’t that Celebrimbor completely trusted Sauron; there was always niggling doubt mixed with fear that kept him wary. And it is perhaps because of it that he was able to have small pockets of sanity where he finally realised what Sauron was doing to him. 

What did Sauron do to Celebrimbor?

In episode 7, after Sauron has revealed himself to Celebrimbor, he confines him to the tower and forces him to complete the nine rings. When Celebrimbor tries to destroy the rings, he is unable to do so, as despite being cast in the fire, they are cool to the touch when taken out. Sauron had spoken to Celebrimbor about being tortured at the hands of “a God,” his old master, the Dark Lord Morgoth and called his survival a battle of wills. Celebrimbor decides to adopt the same approach, “Whose will is stronger?” as he hurts his own hand so that he can’t be forced to make any more rings, and he tries to escape with the nine.

Galadriel arrives to Celebrimbor’s rescue but he asks her to take the rings and escape because he cannot abandon his city. He decides to face Sauron once more, and a few of the city guards decide to escort him. However, Sauron manages to make the guards kill each other, and when Celebrimbor reveals that the rings aren’t on him tortures the elf to get him to reveal their location.

Sauron uses a bow to shoot arrows on Celebrimbor’s body and in one of his final attempts at gaslighting like a classic abuser, blames the elf for his torture, “Look what you’ve done to yourself.” Despite his efforts, Sauron is unable to extract the location of the rings from the elf. Celebrimbor curses Sauron with his dying words. He prophesies that “The rings of power shall destroy you. One alone shall prove your utter ruin,” which as we know will come true thousands of years later when the One Ring is destroyed by Frodo.

When Sauron had revealed himself as Annatar, he had promised Celebrimbor a legacy where he would no longer be known as a mere scion of Fëanor but forever more be known as “The Lord of the Rings.” But as an angry Sauron impales Celebrimbor upon a spear and raises him like a banner against a wall, proclaiming himself as the creator of the rings and their master, Celebrimbor tells Sauron, “No… You are their prisoner. Sauron… Lord of The Rings,” harkening back to how Celebrimbor was once consumed by the rings and eventually so will be Sauron.

Celebrimbor’s parting words touch something in Sauron, and a single tear rolls down his cheek. A moment of regret, perhaps, about losing his biggest collaborator and about how he was living up to the mockery of his Maia name. Because just as this happens, Glûg (Robert Strange) and the other orcs of Adar arrive and ask him if he is Sauron. Now we know how much Sauron hates his name, and once again, he never utters it or agrees to it. But you can see how quickly the moment of repentance or regret has passed as he quickly moves on to the next opportunity to commit treachery and seize power. This is the true nature of Sauron, and this is why no matter how much he assures Galadriel that if he bound his darkness to her light, he could be perfectly balanced, the eons of being tortured and darkened by Morgoth will always win out.

What does Sauron do to Celebrimbor in the books after killing him?

We are not shown what happens to Celebrimbor’s body after that scene. However, according to canon lore, the battle is not yet over after Eregion is destroyed. Sauron props Celebrimbor’s arrow-riddled body upon a pole and uses it as a banner as he charges in to attack the Grey Havens, where Círdan is. It’s a gory, gruesome death that has not been shown on screen but just reading about it can send chills down your spine!