WELCOME
SOME CALL HIM ‘Sauron’. Some call him ‘the Dark Lord’. Still others call him “that absolutely bloody terrifying massive flaming eye”. Well, arguably the most formidable villain in all of fiction (who else has world-corrupting powers and blingy jewellery?) has another name, and form —all the better with which to scam the gentle folk of Middle-earth into giving him what he wants. In the second season of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, the biggest show on the small screen, Sauron will adopt the guise of Annatar, a being who’s as persuasive as he is malevolent. And in this issue of Empire, we take a deep dive into his dastardly doings.