[en] The Prancing Pony > The Lord of the Rings

Lore Corner - Questions and Debates

<< < (23/49) > >>

Saruman der Bunte:
I agree with Adamin on magic. What I think is an intersting topic (when talking about the Rings of power) is wether it was a mistake by Sauron to forge the One Ring. His plan to dominate the Elven and Dwarven lords failed, all he got from the plan were 9 mighty servants. And it even enabled his enemies to seperate a big part of his power from him, and to destroy him. Now, the interesting thing is that Sauron was originaly even extremly powerful without the ring, before he lost his form (when Númenor was destroyed). If he had taken his Ring with him, I am sure that it would have been destroyed aswell. So it's continued existence saved him back then.

But of course, if Sauron had started to build up his military power right at the beginning of the 2nd age, he might have been able to conquer Middle-Earth before Númenor got so mighty.

Walküre:
I agree, at an extent.
Sauron's plan eventually failed, but it really failed once the One Ring was finally destroyed.
Until that moment, the purpose behind the One Ring had always revealed itself as something really ingenious!
As I always say, Sauron is just smart, definitely one of the most intelligent beings in Arda's history, and for this trait always feared by the Wise.

Sauron's purpose was not at all – apart from having the chance to control the Elves' and the other races' minds – achieving even more direct personal power, being himself already at the apex, as a Maia in Middle Earth with no restrain on his capabilities.
His true purpose was exactly tying his essence/Will/powers to a material dimension, so that he would have avoided the ineluctable dispersion of his powers had he been defeated by any means, especially in case he had had his own body destroyed (as it exactly happened in Númenor).

Therefore, we could say that he had kind of foreseen what could have happened and exactly happened later in Númenor; and, as you rightly wrote, he would have been killed anyway by the Wrath of Ilúvatar even with the One Ring on his finger, and thus hid it in Middle Earth to make it serve its exact purpose.

Yes, Sauron is just smart  xD

Melkor Bauglir:

--- Zitat ---Yes, Sauron is just smart  xD
--- Ende Zitat ---
Well... I'd say that to my knowledge no one in the entire history of Middle-Earth is smart, at least not the way anyone on planet Earth uses this noun.
He truely is deceptive and knows how to turn someones powers against him and he is smart in comparison to others. Then again I think that isn't saying much. ;)
Speaking about the One Ring, he had technically two purposes:
1. Being the Master Ring, able to enhance and to a certain degree control or at least incluence the other Rings. Even the Elven Rings were influenced by the One rendered eventually powerless when the One was destroyed. And I might be totally wrong about this, but I thought once Galadriel speaks about the fear of her "battle" with Sauron if he should achieve the One. Also the Eldar didn't use their Rings when Sauron had the one, did they? Therefore the Lord of the Rings has of course no effect on them or their works / realms, since he can only act via the Rings.
2. As a backup plan if anything else failed or a something like a "save-button" (;)) since he was able to lock away his powers inside the Ring, corrupt Numenor, survive its fall and then take back his Ring to once again hold his full power of will (meaning not his physical form since that was destroyed!).


--- Zitat ---But of course, if Sauron had started to build up his military power right at the beginning of the 2nd age, he might have been able to conquer Middle-Earth before Númenor got so mighty.
--- Ende Zitat ---
Actually the reason why he did lose the Last Alliance war was his absense from Middle-Earth, meaning Gil-Galad could recover from the war in Eregion and gather a large enough army to defeat him together with Elendil's kingdoms. Therefore you are right, but the reason is even more specified in Tolkien's works!


Greetings
Melkor Bauglir

Walküre:
That word had a quite obvious less serious shade, to point out what I have already referred to in previous posts, but in a more informal way  ;)
Probably, ingenious, farsighted, prophetic, insidious and other akin words would recreate the 'Sauron momentum', if it's necessary  8-)

Exactly, those two main purposes.

Therefore, I think – as events manifested themselves – that the last 'backup plan' was eventually the most ingenious, which turned out to be actually the most useful characteristic for Sauron's own schemes.
Of course, the capability of mastering the other Rings was the core of the One Ring's creation, but, I believe, it was finally proven to be not so significant, at least in a very direct and pragmatic perspective.

I explain myself more clearly: the Elves hid almost immediately the Three Rings (the most longed ones by Sauron) and nonetheless organised a fierce opposition to Sauron.
After the Dark Lord's downfall at the slopes of Mount Doom, Galadriel and Elrond were finally able to use freely their Rings and establish the famous enchanted sanctuaries/realms that would have become legendary in the late Third Age and a Shield for the Free People against the Evil in the War of the Ring.
Probably, the most significant implication of the One Ring's mastering essence was finally unveiled when the same Ring was destroyed and consequently caused the other ones to have their powers vanished; resulting in a bitter outcome for the Elves (even though they had won the Evil), as the clear sign of their ineluctable decline in the grey and disenchanted Middle Earth.

While, and it's a big 'while', the 'backup' aspect allowed Sauron to escape a total defeat from the destruction of Númenor, and then, in a similar context, be able to survive in the World like a Shadow during most of the Third Age, to recollect his powers and launch the final assault against the Free People in the War of the Ring (and finally seek for the One Ring itself).

So, at last, which one of the two 'paid off' better, and theoretically resulted having a greater 'role' in the sorrows of many more souls of Arda?  :P

VectorMaximus:
The Backup essence of the one paid off more, and brought more pain overall, I think. Because though the controlling aspect resulted in the failing of the Elven Rings, that woe befell only the Elves (dear though they are to me). On the other hand, Sauron returning in general was bad for everyone. Hence, the 'Horcrux' effect of the One was the attribute that was its greatest purpose in my eyes, moreso than the controlling.

Navigation

[0] Themen-Index

[#] Nächste Seite

[*] Vorherige Sete