SAURON REBUILT
How was Sauron rebuilt by the end of the first season?
Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again. [...] His plans are far from ripe, I think, but they are ripening. [...] The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring. — Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings (FOTR): The Shadow of the Past
This is a pattern by which we may be able to answer that question for Sauron in the Second Age. There was a defeat, there was a respite, he took another shape and grew again. He had plans that were not yet ripe, but were ripening nonetheless.
SAURON: "I've got my own plans, Elf."
(1x02)
According to the pattern, he lacked something that would give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance. He made the One Ring with his own power. What would have given him necessary strength and knowledge before the One Ring?
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#trop meta#sauron#rop sauron#rop meta#rings of power#my first iteration of this theory was posted over a year ago#significant adjustments have been made#sprinted to get it done before comiccon#patrick mckay#gil galad#thondir#morgoth#galadriel#halbrand#tolkien's letters#tolkien#gandalf#the fellowship of the ring#dagger#mithril