Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, Episode 8.

After a two-year break in-between seasons, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Sauron (Charlie Vickers) have finally shared their first real face-to-face battle, as well as their first encounter since The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s Season 1’s finale forced the once amicable pair into their divorce era. Thankfully, their climactic reunion — teased by Prime Video’s marketing department for months and arguably the dramatic apex of this season’s final episode — leaves enough payoff to sustain fans for several more years. Anything less would fall flat, given what’s previously transpired between heroine and villain: meeting when each felt displaced, the camaraderie that emerged from said encounter, the inevitable betrayal when the sheen of Sauron’s false identity fell away, and how both characters spent Season 2 unable to pry the other from their thoughts despite their physical separation.

Season 2, Episode 8’s violent clash encapsulates that emotional evolution, namely through a wrenching moment weaponizing the affection Galadriel still holds for her sworn enemy: Sauron shapeshifting from his Annatar appearance back into the Halbrand visage that Galadriel (and we) cherished. When I say I collapsed into primordial Sauron-esque goo at the sight of that face, not to mention its connotations, I mean it.

‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Finale Confirms That Galadriel Cared About Halbrand

Context and emotional authenticity are required to sell a scene as anticipated as Galadriel and Sauron 2.0. When Sauron-as-Annatar first greets Galadriel in the woods outside Eregion, she’s paralyzed by fear. But the Commander of the Northern Armies remains a warrior, and she swiftly attacks Sauron with rage fearsome enough to gain the upper hand; she kicks him off a small hill, and he disappears. Galadriel dives after him, preparing to strike with her sword — until Sauron rises from the ground cloaked in his Halbrand glory, including the armor he wore when they left Númenor together.

Instantly, Galadriel’s resolute attacks cease. She wavers, her earlier hesitation returning as she falters enough to lower her blade and risk a blow from the advancing, prowling Sauron. Morfydd Clark’s face wears Galadriel’s emotions as viscerally as an old but freshly opened wound: a roiling accumulation of grief, shame, heartbreak, and regret over losing the fragile and tainted connection she and Halbrand shared. If the message wasn’t already loud and clear, composer Bear McCreary‘s score shifts from percussion-driven battle music into slow, mournful strings. Art is subjective, but Galadriel’s distraught reaction renders moot objections to the idea she cared for Halbrand (in whatever way you interpret that affection). Annatar is a godlike falsehood that she can fight. When it comes to the imperfect, challenging, and comforting Halbrand, Galadriel can’t bring herself to strike down all his image represents.

Sauron, for his part, knows confronting Galadriel with a familiar face will disarm her more effectively than any flamboyant combat. By exploiting her vulnerability, fractured trust, and ruined hope, he strikes true with a psychological wound long before he stabs her in the heart with Morgoth’s crown. It’s a cruel, insidious, and insightful tactical strike — one that might have broken Galadriel’s will if she hadn’t already rediscovered her light. She’s certainly a stronger soldier of the Valar than me; Annatar has infinite aura points, but there’s a certain je ne sais quoi about Halbrand’s untamed curls and baby girl gaze popping off like there’s no tomorrow.

‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Finale Sees Sauron Use Galadriel’s Feelings Against Her

According to Charlie Vickers’ interview with ScreenRant, he only “had a weekend to try and grow a pathetic attempt at some stubble for Halbrand.” What might otherwise distract the audience from this pivotal exchange — the difference between Season 1 Halbrand and Season 2, Episode 8’s more clean-shaven rendition — instead affords some insight into Sauron’s preconceived notions about Galadriel. He claims to know her mind, and to a degree, he does; but rather than a carbon copy of the face she knows, Sauron offers her a younger and more innocent-looking man. If Annatar is a fair form he created to bewitch the elves, we can surmise that this is Halbrand’s fair form: the righteous King of the Southlands restored to his proper place, just like Galadriel yearned for. What’s more, the contrast between Season 2’s fresher Halbrand and his typical rough-around-the-edges look reinforces Halbrand as an invention Sauron can abandon as routinely as a snake sheds its skin.

Simultaneously, Sauron’s Halbrand guise is the most truthful we’ve seen the character — not factually truthful, but regarding the rare slivers of vulnerability lurking beneath his toxic behavior. Between meeting Galadriel and his Shakespearean murder at Adar’s (Sam Hazeldine) hands, it’s possible that he legitimately (albeit briefly) considered pursuing a redemptive path. After all, Galadriel believed in Halbrand’s potential when all Middle-earth rightfully despised Sauron. He might find such empathy enticing. Either way, no matter how often he cloaks his intimacies in lies, Galadriel’s inner conflict reflects Sauron’s nature enough for him to reveal said intimacies — a pleasing version of them, at least.

Sauron’s Evil Will Always Taint Any Positive Feelings for Galadriel

Yet the delectability doesn’t stop with the resurrection of Halbrand’s immaculate face card. Before Sauron switches forms, he rebuffs Galadriel’s claim that everything they shared was a lie. “Not all of it,” he says, a statement he follows up by assuming Halbrand’s appearance. Without words, the Dark Lord of Mordor declares some potentially sincere feelings. Of course, like every move Sauron makes, your mileage may vary on how much is sincere, a blatant lie, or sincerity hampered by being an unrepentant gaslighter who chooses narcissistic darkness over accountability and absolution.

Nevertheless, I’ll never stop thinking about the ramifications behind this particular 4D chess move, especially when Sauron-as-Halbrand dares to recite not just any old pithy speech but his infamous Season 1 confession about wanting to hold onto the sensation of fighting by Galadriel’s side. Middle-earth’s greatest villain still profoundly desires its Lady of Light, whether due to his bruised ego or because he covets her as a trophy. (Very demure, very red flag.)

As it stands, Galadriel pays back this curly-haired, stubble-dotted offense by turning Sauron’s arrogance against him. The Saurondriel relationship has been full-throttle catnip from the beginning, and perhaps never more so than Sauron taunting Galadriel with the face she loved — while perhaps admitting his own twisted feelings to some degree. Their dynamic is peak fantasy, peak light and dark dichotomy, and peak enemies-to-lovers whose connected souls and common ground can’t overcome their fundamental differences. Until we see what newfound tension awaits us in Rings of Power‘s prospective third season, I’ll be simultaneously heartbroken, delighted, and gnawing at the bars of my enclosure for more.