‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’: How Sauron's overconfidence led to destruction of Numenor?
With the makers planning to premiere first two episodes of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ on September 1, 2022 on Amazon Prime Video, fans' anticipation is at an all-time high. JRR Tolkien’s lore describes 'Numenor' as the Kingdom of Dunedain which is situated on an island in Great Sea between Middle-Earth and Aman. The land was created from the Great Sea by Ulmo as a gift to the Edain for their part in the war against Morgoth. It had been brought up by the Valar during the beginning of the Second Age. Whilst we got introduced to Numenor, the tale behind its disappearance is something not many know about.
During the Second Age of Middle-Earth, Numenor was a rich and prosperous kingdom. But, what everyone doesn't know is that how Sauron's overconfidence led to total destruction of Numenor. So before the prequel premiere, we look at how the evil lord's greed to conquer Numenor led to drastic changes in the Middle-Earth.
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As Sauron organized and directed great armies to war, he became known as the Dark Lord of Mordor. Also, his fortress of Barad-dur was completed in SA 1600. He was very powerful even without controlling the Elves. During this time span, he conquered nearly all of Middle-earth during the War of the Elves. But the armies of the King of Numenor, Tar-Minastir, defeated him during the Battle of the Gwathlo in SA 1700. Not wholly vanquished, Sauron retreated back to Mordor and began rebuilding his strength over the many centuries.
Towards the end of the Second Age, Sauron was once again powerful enough to raise large armies in his attempt to rule Middle-Earth. By this time, he assumed the titles of 'Lord of the Earth' and 'King of Men', which upset the Numenoreans.
Advisor to King of Numenor
After only a few short years in Numenor, Sauron ended up becoming King Pharazon’s (Trystan Gravelle) most trusted advisor. Taking an undue advantage of the fear of their death, Sauron ended up converting many Numenoreans from The Faithful to the worshippers of Morgoth. He claimed that only Morgoth had the power to save them from mortality. The moment his power and influence reached its peak, he made a huge Temple in which he performed human sacrifices to Morgoth. Finally, Sauron convinced Pharazon to wage a war against the Valar. He encouraged the King to attack Valinor and claim it for himself.
Sauron’s cunning plan foiled
Unfortunately, Sauron’s plan was foiled as Eru who is the supreme deity of Arda and creator of Middle-Earth directly came into the picture. Eru made sure that the entire kingdom of Numenor was drowned under the sea. Due to Sauron's failed plan resulting in Eru’s reaction, the Numenorean navy also got destroyed. The permanent effect of Sauron’s folly was that the entire world was bent. Because of that, only the Elven-Ships could sail into the Utter West.