# Sauron and his ability in relation to his Ring



## Burzum (Oct 21, 2008)

First of all, did he need to _physically wear _the Ring in order to wield its full power? 

When Numenor was destroyed (and along with that his physical and fair body), Sauron's spirit carried the Ring with him. So, we know that at least Sauron could carry the Ring.

But if he could use the Ring without a physical body, it seems futile to waste his energy on building another body. By that time he had full control over the Nazgul, and those incredibly trustworthy servatns could do all the dirty physical works and serve as immediate commanders in the battlefield . Sauron wasn't that much of a warrior (and he certainly acknowledges it himself - he doesn't seem to actually participate in the battlefield until the last moment in the War of the Last Alliance; and at any rate Arda isn't like World of Warcraft in which archdemons can go around destryoing planets), so having a physical body probably wasn't worth risking the power put into making it.

Working backward from therer, it is my conclusion that he did need to physically wear the Ring in order to wield the full power. I'm not entirely sure about it, though, and criticism is always welcome.


The second point is, was he any stronger than he was before? It seems like he just poured his own strength into the Ring, making himself weaker, such that the sum of the Ring's power and his own power would equal his former full power; if this is the case, it might seem like a foolish decision on Sauron's part to make the Ring, but it is possible that Sauron forged the One Ring solely to gain control over all other Rings of Power, rather than to increase his own power (of course, the net result would be his increase in overall influence, but I'm talking about the power limited to a single identity called Sauron, excluding what he is capable of doing with his servants). 

If we compare his achievements before and after gaining the Ring, he certainly achieved far more after the Ring had been made, but I fail to find a direct correlation. Also, his enemies in the First Age were stronger, and the Downfall of Numenor was mainly caused through cerebral strategies, not just brute enforcement of mind control (it is possible that the Ring had a part in making the control over Numenoreans easier, but then again, maybe his net power to control others' minds - Ring power + his own - just equaled his former full power derived from his own self).

Any thoughts on this?


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## YayGollum (Oct 21, 2008)

How Sauron managed to move his ring without a body makes no sense, to myself. There was a thread about it, but I haven't seen it. oh well. I always figured that the Ainur had to put on a physical form before they could affect anything. Otherwise, why wouldn't they stay in their natural forms, unless they really wanted to be polite to the bodied? But then, they lost power if they did anything creepily magical-wise. Sauron must have merely telekinesed his ring back home, using up energy that he wouldn't have had to, if he'd been wearing a body. 

For the other bit, yes, I figure that his main goal was just taking over people's brains via his ring. It was an awesome conduit, not a conductor. The fact that it gave him new bodies all of the time might not have even been designed, might have only worked because he put so much of himself into it.


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## Persephone (Oct 21, 2008)

This is a very interesting thread and I love to join the discussion though I will say now that I am no Sauron expert. 

I think the One ring was some kind of extension of himself in that when he made it, it was recorded that he poured a lot of himself into it and he must have to make it _that_ powerful. A ring that controls all the other rings that will control basically all the races in Middle Earth had to be one helluva ring! Sauron was powerful but not enough as to make something that grand without any trade-offs, and I guess the trade-off had to be that he risked endangering his very existence. He gambled everything in exchange for power and he paid the price.

2 centavos-worth of opinion...


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## YayGollum (Oct 21, 2008)

Pouring lots of himself into the One Ring wasn't any kind of horrible weakness. If any other Ainur type thing drowned with Numenor or was gutted by a capitalized Alliance of humans and elves that don't like putting other participants in their titles, they wouldn't be coming back, unless they had some connections. His weakness was the same as the Emperor's. Overconfidence. Yay Gollum, the most unexpected hero of all time!


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## Durin's Bane (Oct 21, 2008)

He lost his powers when the ring was physically taken away from him, no? So I guess he had to physically wear it to control it's power.
And the idea of the One Ring was controll over the other rings and through that "increasing his own power", no?


> ...World of Warcraft in which archdemons can go around destryoing planets


Do read some Warcraft lore before making statements like this one. Meaning you're quite wrong.


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## Burzum (Oct 21, 2008)

Durin's Bane said:


> He lost his powers when the ring was physically taken away from him, no? So I guess he had to physically wear it to control it's power.


Ah, thanks, this obvious point didn't cross my mind. If he didn't need to wear it, he probably wouldn't have cared that much about getting it back.


> And the idea of the One Ring was controll over the other rings and through that "increasing his own power", no?


Yes, but as I said, I was taking about power exclusively pertaining to Sauron himself - i.e. something like how well he would do when fighting alone.


> Do read some Warcraft lore before making statements like this one. Meaning you're quite wrong.


I did read somewhere that Archimonde used to destroy planets, though it would have certainly required some magical artifacts and a lot of power. I could be wrong, but at any rate he did blow up an enitre city (Dalaran) alone, and was invincible against mortals.


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## Durin's Bane (Oct 22, 2008)

Burzum said:


> I did read somewhere that Archimonde used to destroy planets, though it would have certainly required some magical artifacts and a lot of power.



Um... no. He absorbed the magical energies of the planets. And first he would send his agents to weaken the deffences, then the agents would summon the Burning Legion to destroy everything and then he would come in person. Just like Sauron-> first send orcs, then wraiths (or is it vice versa?), then join battle when it's already won. Both cases-> they made the maths without the bartender as we say


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## Burzum (Oct 23, 2008)

Ah, I see. Though I think Sauron woudl have been more like Kil'jaden than Archimonde.


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