It’s the greatest fear of the free folk of Middle-earth.
The very thing the wise know they must prevent at all costs. Separated for over 3000 years,
the reunion of the dark lord and his greatest creation would spell certain doom.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings,
I present how I believe things would play out if Sauron reclaimed the One Ring.
The way this would play out is largely determined by when Sauron reclaims the ring. Today,
I’m going with what I think would be one of the most likely scenarios - as Frodo and Sam
are at the cracks of Doom. Whether by Gollum not slipping into the fires, or by Gollum not
being shown mercy moments earlier by Sam - one of these little folk claims the ring for their own,
falling to the power of The One. With no eucatastrophe moment,
the Nazgul who are sent by Sauron with all speed to Orodruin, arrive and kill the ringbearer.
With the Witch-king’s earlier demise at the hands of Eowyn, Khamul now leads the Nazgul
back to Barad-dur, finally reuniting the Dark Lord with his Master Ring.
Sauron, who is not a flaming eye, but very much in physical form, places the One Ring
on one of his nine remaining fingers. In that very instant, Elrond, Galadriel,
and Gandalf know the worst has come to pass. They remove their rings, and with a look at Aragorn,
Legolas, Gimli, Pippin, and the others, Gandalf knows all is now lost.
The armies of Sauron utterly destroy the Men of the West in the Battle of the Morannon.
The armies of Gondor and Rohan are wiped out and Gandalf dies his second bodily death as his spirit
is taken away to the uttermost West. The only ones capable of escaping are some of the eagles,
one of whom delivers the grim news to those remaining in Minas Tirith.
Naturally, our thoughts turn to what Sauron’s offensive strategy would be following his
reclamation of the one ring. However, this would have much more immediate and tragic effects
in the North. As of this date of March 25, 3019, Galadriel and her people have repelled attacks
from Dol Guldur three times, thanks in part to the power of her ring. Farther north, the dwarves of
Erebor and the Men of Dale are facing overwhelming odds against the armies of Easterlings laying
siege to their lands. In the actual story, it is due to the destruction of the ring that Sauron’s
forces lose heart, and many are freed from his shadow. This leads to the rally of the
men and dwarves to victory and the elves of Lorien and Mirkwood to destroy Dol Guldur.
With the one ring not only still around, but in the possession of its master, the dwarves
and men are conquered by the Easterlings and the elves are unable to defeat and destroy the forces
of Dol Guldur. At this point, Sauron’s enemies are either conquered, militarily decimated,
or far less defensible - all simply due to his reclaiming the ring.
While I believe Sauron would indeed move against the perceived threats, it would take some time.
We must keep in mind that the force that has defeated Gandalf and Aragorn at the Morannon
is pretty much the last of his army after the massive defeat at Minas Tirith. It will
no doubt take some time for Sauron to further build up his army of orcs, trolls, and men.
In the coming years, Sauron’s power grows, and word comes to places like Lorien and Rivendell
that the lands of Rhovanion are overrun with orcs and Easterlings loyal to Sauron.
Galadriel and Elrond would have set aside their rings of power, knowing they would
only serve to reveal their location and possibly betray their thoughts to Sauron.
Now in possession of the Ring of Fire which had belonged to Gandalf, Sauron is able to twist its
power of rekindling hearts to draw more men in both the east and south under his banner.
After years of preparation, Sauron finally makes his move against the remaining free folk.
His southern army lays siege to Minas Tirith and despite the valiant efforts of Faramir, Eowyn,
and Merry, the city is taken by Sauron’s vastly superior forces. Meanwhile, the northern army,
having been reinforced from both the east and the south, launches attacks on Rivendell and Lorien.
However, they arrive at the elven realms to find them empty. Elrond, Galadriel,
and the elves of Middle-earth are long gone, having sailed into the West in the preceding
years. While not wearing them, they take with them the two remaining elven rings.
Knowing that victory against the dark lord and his ring by this time in history was impossible,
they would take Vilya and Nenya to the west to keep them from falling into Sauron’s hands.
For if he were to claim all three elven rings, he could create three great realms, staving off
the decays of time, and becoming virtually unassailable to any who would oppose him.
As it is, Sauron now controls the vast majority of Middle-earth, as to his strategy for rule, we get
a clue in The Return of the King, from the Mouth of Sauron, as he presents Gandalf with terms:
for ever, solely. West of the Anduin as far as the Misty Mountains and the Gap of Rohan shall be
tributary to Mordor, and men there shall bear no weapons, but shall have leave to govern their own
With two great armies at his command,
Sauron sets up faithful servants as rulers in key locations throughout Middle-earth.
The Mouth of Sauron is placed as he predicted, at Isengard, controlling the important Gap of Rohan.
Rohan itself is too small and remote to warrant a large scale occupation, but the men of the east,
who had a history of attacks on these lands, are gifted the realm to occupy in tributary to Mordor.
Khamul, now Lord of the Nazgul, is placed as ruler of Gondor, a realm where people will live
in fear of the new Morgul Lord. If it were true that Sauron himself had possessed the
nine rings of men, then perhaps he would enslave one among his followers to be the new
ninth nazgul, ruling over an area such as Rivendell or Dale.
With both his master ring, and the Ring of Fire of the elves, Sauron’s fortress
of Barad-dur and the lands of Mordor become virtually unassailable. The decays
of time are staved off for this maia who would otherwise be tied to the waning of the world.
In the north, Saruman has taken over the Shire as Sharkey. The lands here would
go from bad to worse, as Saruman’s treachery would not go unpunished.
Yet, having been cast from the order, Saruman is no match for any sizable force thrown at him,
and he still finds his end in the very lands of Hobbiton.
The question now comes to: what is Sauron’s end goal?
For insight, let’s look to Tolkien’s letter #183…
First, admiring strength, he had followed Morgoth and become his chief agent in Middle-earth.
Second, when Morgoth fell he forsook his allegiance,
but from fear only and remained in Middle-earth. Third, seeing how his knowledge was greatly
admired and how easy it was to influence other rational creatures, he re-assumed
the position of Morgoth's representative in the Second Age. By the end of the Third Age,
although actually weaker than before, he claimed, in his pride, to be Morgoth returned.
Contrary to what many may believe, Sauron seeks not to destroy all the lands,
but to cover them in his shadow. That the peoples of middle-earth would submit to his rule,
worshiping him as a God-king - as some Easterlings had in days of old. As he claims to be Morgoth
returned - among the mightiest of the Valar - will the rule of Middle-earth be enough?
Or will Sauron look toward the West with greater ambitions? Would Eru intervene? Perhaps destroying
all the world and bringing about the end of days and the second music of the Ainur.
Meanwhile, with the lands covered in a second darkness, a cloaked
traveler makes his way toward the east, hoping that his two remaining kin may yet be alive.
His allies, the beornings, have retreated to find refuge in the Misty Mountains. Once described by
Gandalf as a master of shapes and changes of hue, Radagast the Brown travels in disguise.
He makes his way East in hopes of finding the Blue Wizards and any resistance that may yet remain.
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The year is 3021, Saruman rules over the Shire, as a lone hobbit makes his way home to find
it destroyed. For years he has journeyed, his life spared at the very cracks of Mount Doom,
for to the new Lord of the Nazgul, he seemed not worth the trouble of slaying. Samwise Gamgee
returns in despair to his beloved home and instead finds a raging fire awakening in his heart.