This season he’s emerged as every bit as compelling and intriguing an on-screen presence as Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel, thanks both to Charlie Vickers’s restrained yet still somehow howlingly villainous performance — the man really knows how to gloat with his eyes alone — and to the unique way his character is written.

As the show gears up for big fights across Middle-earth, things aren’t looking good for anyone but Sauron (Charlie Vickers), who solidifies his control over the master elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and the city of Eregion. The episode opens ...