How Sauron’s Rings of Power Actually Work: ScreenRant’s Podcast Tries To Explain What Tolkien Never Did

The central objects in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are famous among fans of The Lord of the Rings, with Sauron’s famous poem and his even more infamous ‘One Ring’ now pop culture icons. Despite that fact, the details of the jewelry, the methods by which they were made, and the actual ‘power’ they possess are total mysteries to most. But ScreenRant’s The Rings of Power Podcast looks to solve that problem for all Tolkien fans, expert of newcomer.

The first season of The Rings of Power covered the story leading up to the actual forging of the rings faster than most assumed, rewriting the Lord of the Rings timeline to make the three Elven rings first, without Sauron. But why does it matter that he wasn’t present? Did Sauron need to touch them to take control? Does he need to touch the others? How does the magic in the Rings of Power work, anyway? These questions are all discussed (along with Mithril as the show’s possible answer) in the latest episode of The Rings of Power Podcast: “How Do The Rings of Power (and The One Ring) Actually Work?” embedded below:

Hosts Andrew Dyce and Stephen Colbert dive deep into the existing lore, ideas and potential stories scribbled or discussed by J.R.R. Tolkien across his life, and where the Rings of Power writers have room to fill in their own fiction. But when trying to define or explain the actual magic or power at work in Sauron’s famous rings, from their creation to the way they actually prevent the decay of the Elves, Tolkien gave no clear answer. But his larger mythology does give fans a chance at understanding it, if they’re willing to do their homework.

The Rings of Power Are Connections To The ‘Unseen World’ of Tolkien’s Lore

Tolkien’s use of ‘magic’ was limited, but The Unseen World is everywhere at once

The full podcast episode goes into depth on the subject of Tolkien’s Unseen World, from the very first draft of The Fellowship of the Ring. In those first pages, the author described Ringwraiths as people who had ‘passed through’ their rings, ceasing to possess a physical form in the normal world, to be completely dominated by the ‘lord of the rings’ (then the Necromancer, later Sauron). To keep things simple for modern television audiences, the ‘Upside-Down’ presented in Netflix’s Stranger Things may be the most accessible analogue.

Where Men, Hobbits, and most living things exist within the normal world, divine begins like the Valar who helped create it or the Maiar who serve them, like Sauron, Gandalf, or the Balrogs, exist in both the seen and Unseen World at once. Where these being may wield ‘magic’ as a result, actually imbuing objects with a path to that power is something else entirely. Viewers can expect The Rings of Power‘s future seasons to provide more answers, but it’s enough to say that Sauron finally figuring out a way to manipulate his connection to the Unseen World almost broke Middle-earth into pieces.

The Show’s New Mithtril Origin Actually Makes A Lot of Sense

Tolkien’s magic metal was used in the actual rings, so they’re a simple solution

The Rings of Power‘s new Silmaril origin for mithril stirred feathers, or enraged some Tolkien diehards, and revealed how the showrunners hoped to explain several hard-to-explain concepts to a broad audience. When High King Gil-galad introduced “The Song of the Roots of Hithaeglir,” the magical metal mithril was given an origin, where it previously had none at all. Prior to this, only two things were known about mithril: it was used in the creation of a Ring of Power (no surprise, given its impossible qualities), and Sauron coveted it for simialrly unknown reasons. It seems the TV show’s writers saw this not as a mystery, but an opportunity.

The full episode of The Rings of Power Podcast embedded above explores the new mithril origin in detail, but it’s hard to argue with the solution it provided. Mithril is important, but Tolkien never explained where it came from, or why it seemed magical. The Rings of Power are magic, but Tolkien never explained how they were actually imbued with power, or wielded by a wearer. Could one mystery answer the other? Suggest mithril’s inherent ‘magic’ was used by Sauron to channel the Unseen World, and fans can follow, instead of being left asking questions Tolkien himself never answered.

For the full conversation and debate on this and all other topics related to the TV show, be sure to follow The Rings of Power Podcast in your favorite podcast app, and stay tuned to ScreenRant for all coverage of season two and beyond.

The Rings of Power Podcast

Tolkien enthusiasts Andrew Dyce and Stephen Colbert host this ScreenRant podcast about Prime Video’s ongoing series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Each episode explores questions, criticism, and theories about the Middle-Earth-set show.