Well, I watched the finale and... Let's put things this way: according to the show we just saw Galadriel's final descent into the Dark Side and Sauron having a direct hand in the creation of the Elven Rings. Let that sink for a min.
Wait? What?
I mean I did not payed much attention watching - but I thought we saw: Galadriel unmasking Halbrand and Sauron -> Sauron trying to kill her in Dreamworld -> Sauron escaping -> Galadriel going to Celebrimbor and telling him they need to make Rings untouched by anyone by elves. Did I get something wrong - because as it was shown it seems as clumsy dumb way to lead us to Elven Rings as untouched by Sauron (though influenced by his knowledge) - and that's canonical solution.
Of course it's dumb, and Galadriel is still travesty - especially with her not revealing Sauron's identity to avoid problems with other elves - but it seems she quite clearly wants to purge Sauron influence over Celebrimbor (which took only 5 minutes of show and thats freaking travesty on its own).
Consider these facts, all openly given to us by the show:
- Halbrand/Sauron lives in Celebrimbor's lab for a while. He gives counseil, manipulates the metals, we simply don't know what else he can have done. Remember, in the books the three Elven Rings were forged in total secret. The problem for the elves was that they used Sauron's teachings anyway, so they were still tied to the One Ring. The elves didn't use them until Sauron lost the One Ring in the War of the Last Alliance.
- Sauron
enters Galadriel's mind! This is an amazing deviation from the lore, as Galadriel main power was her ability to conceal her thoughts (and protect from unwanted intrusion the area around her). Anyway it is unclear how/if he was able to manipulate her mind. What we know is that...
- Halbrand escapes after pointing out, quite correctly, that his return as "King of Mordor" was all Galadriel's doing - he actually was on the verge of retiring! It wasn't Sauron who manipulated Galadriel, it was Galadriel who manipulated Halbrand for her own ends. Even worse, Galadriel across the show was guided by a "the end justifies the means" drive that not only is as un-Tolkienian as it gets but also it is the same drive that guides Sauron. He flatly tells her that he wants the very same thing: to heal Middle-earth. Galadriel whines that she wants the same but not "as a ruler". Fine. Pity that what Galadriel wants is "do what I want and shut up", whereas even a Ruler has limits. She disobeys her King Gil-galad. She offends Tar-Míriel in front of her court. She lies about "being the Commander of the Northern Armies (Galadriel was stripped of this title by Gil-galad in the very first episode after pulling a stunt too far). She speaks for Halbrand without Halbrand's knowledge or permission (!) After a military disaster of her own making she promises that the elven armies will clean up the mess
without having any authority, much less informing Gil-galad... And the list goes on.
- So, Halbrand/Sauron escapes and, in one of the most amazing turns of a show whose plots already make no sense,
she keeps quiet about Halbrand being Sauron. And
no one asks her about why Halbrand should never be named again. Even worse,
she now asks for a Ring of Power. I mean...
- But, at the end, all comes down to a single thing: Halbrand/Sauron could have killed Galadriel, Celebrimbor, maybe even Elrond, stolen the alloys needed for making the Elven Rings, and destroyed Celebrimbor's forge - thus closing the chapter on the elves once for all (in one of the most baffling narrative choices among many there is this idea that the elves "need to use mithril to heal some sort of corruption or they will fade within next Spring; I know, don't ask, there are no answers).
So, there is only one way for the end to make sense: Sauron somehow corrupted the three Elven Rings. Galadriel not only is the sole responsible for the return of Sauron (!!) but she is also now devoured by a "righteous darkness" which will only expand once she gets a Ring. There is literally no coming back from this except via a final sacrifice and death (which is impossible, unless Amazon somehow has the rights to kill Galadriel): it is a very bad retelling of the story of Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker. Given these assumptions, it is easy to see why Sauron just went away: the elves and now firmly under his grasp.
As a side note, no, IMHO nothing of this will impact the Second Season. No one will inquiry about Halbrand/Sauron, the Elves will "heal the corruption" using the power of the Rings, the Elven Rings will not be corrupted, Galadriel - now more powerful - will restart her war against Sauron and... Wait, what about the
other Rings of Power? The Seven and the Nine? Who will forge them now that Sauron is out of the bag? (contrary to the lore, where they were forged before the Three) I mean, either Celebrimbor will do it - which means that Galadriel will keep quiet on Sauron and be complicit even in the creation of the Nazgûls - or it will be Sauron the creator - which means that the elves will alert
no one about accepting certain gifts.
It is entirely possible that everything will be solved by a single line in a "prologue":
"We healed the elves using our three Rings, but before we could warn anyone Sauron forged other sixteen Rings that he gave away as gifts, then ruling them all via a Master Ring; the situation was now truly grim..." - no other answers given.