If Sauron and his armies had conquered Middle Earth, what would they have done with it?

[Arǭmēz]

not thousands. most of them. Tolkien stated that they were ten or something...
Sauron was stronger that the Istari as they were not allowed to show their strength. Gandalf himself stated before the Valar that he feared Sauron. Of course Third Age Sauron was weaker than Second Age Sauron. If the Maiar were to duel with him in full power i think he would fall but to do it they would first have to slay every single orc/uruk/nazgul ect that he commanded... Even in the LAst Alliance when he was much stronger he only came forth after 10 years of siege. I think that the strongest of the MAiar was Eonwe as it is said in Valaquenta that his might in arms was surpassed by none in Arda. Sauron was the greatest of the Servants of Melkor so he must have been stronger than Gothmog

[Bloodly]

Ah, that is one thing I had overlooked. The moment Sauron puts the ring on he would know the mind of those wearing the Three: Galadriel, Elrond, and Gandalf. They would immediately have to remove their rings, but it would be too late. Sauron would know their minds and they would no long be able to use the power of the rings.

Did Gandalf wear his Ring much? Yes, he kept it, but did he wear it?

[Dustindesrctin]

Did Gandalf wear his Ring much? Yes, he kept it, but did he wear it?

Yes but he keeps it hidden

[kelsen89]

not thousands. most of them. Tolkien stated that they were ten or something...
Sauron was stronger that the Istari as they were not allowed to show their strength. Gandalf himself stated before the Valar that he feared Sauron. Of course Third Age Sauron was weaker than Second Age Sauron. If the Maiar were to duel with him in full power i think he would fall but to do it they would first have to slay every single orc/uruk/nazgul ect that he commanded... Even in the LAst Alliance when he was much stronger he only came forth after 10 years of siege. I think that the strongest of the MAiar was Eonwe as it is said in Valaquenta that his might in arms was surpassed by none in Arda. Sauron was the greatest of the Servants of Melkor so he must have been stronger than Gothmog

Well I did say if it was a theoretical battle between just Sauron and the 4 wizards with all their powers so of course you already have to disregard his armies and the fact that the 4 wizards are spread out all over middle earth. Of course there would never be a situation where it would be just Sauron VS the 4 wizards but thats why i said a theoretical battle. Anyhow Gothmog was stronger than Sauron it says just that in the silmarillion. Gothmog was more of the military leader for Melkor while Sauron did more of the scheming and planning. It wasn't until Gothmog was slain that Sauron became Melkors right hand man for everything.

[brasswire]

Yes but he keeps it hidden

Prince Albert?

Anyway, Sauron isn't unbeatable. If Isildur can cut his finger off then I believe the remaining 4 Wizards combined could probably overcome him. But that's kind of a fantasy scenario since Sauron's scheming, plans, patience, and ability to corrupt are all part of what makes him so dangerous. It's like asking who would win in a stand up fight, Superman or Lex Luthor? Of course Superman wins, because raw brute force is not what makes Luthor dangerous.

[kelsen89]

Prince Albert?

Anyway, Sauron isn't unbeatable. If Isildur can cut his finger off then I believe the remaining 4 Wizards combined could probably overcome him. But that's kind of a fantasy scenario since Sauron's scheming, plans, patience, and ability to corrupt are all part of what makes him so dangerous. It's like asking who would win in a stand up fight, Superman or Lex Luthor? Of course Superman wins, because raw brute force is not what makes Luthor dangerous.

Well yeah its a fantasy scenario...I did say it was theoretical 1v4 match didn't I? I was just asking the question to see what others thought because we have almost no knowledge of the wizards' strength when they are fully allowed to use their full power vs Saruon's strength.

[Kabeloko]

sauron dont look that tough...
he failed miserably at the movie start by a half dead man, so i place my bet on the wizards...

[Pyres Δt Varanasi]

Is a Movie... in the movie they don't focus that much on his power ... , But he was one of the greatest Maia middle-earth has seen

[fd7s]

YOUR ALL WRONG GIANT ORC ORGY FTW

[Pyres Δt Varanasi]

YOUR ALL WRONG GIANT ORC ORGY FTW

[KnightsTemplar]

Yes but he keeps it hidden

Actually he doesn't have to: the Three are invisible to mortals and normal fellows.
You can only feel it's presence: for Narya, it inspire people.
This is proven by Sam and Galadriel, with Sam saying 'a star resting on her hands'.
(Sam isn't much of a normal fellow BTW)

It's actually hinted, if not implied that Gandalf had the Ring 'on' during the Siege of Minas Tirith:
Where ever he rides to, the morale riseand filled with hope.
When he speed to other position, their mind fails again-
This is not really a normal thing.

BTW about the matter of Isildur, I think Sauron was already dead, slain by Elendil and Gil-galad together.
He sort of did 'posthumous executing' kind of thing, from what I read and thought
Maybe it's just me, but I don't really think it's the heroic kind of the movie.
(Anybody got the lines from the book about?)

[alreadyded]

Open up a string of amusement parks and brainwash people to overpay just to wait in line all day... what any truly Evil being would do after they take over the World. Just like Walt Disney did.

[fd7s]

Open up a string of amusement parks and brainwash people to overpay just to wait in line all day... what any truly Evil being would do after they take over the World. Just like Walt Disney did.

ehm also the giant orc orgy

[Crazything777]

Orc orgy in Disney land!?!??!! I'm scared...

[hahar]

sauron wouldnt attack valinor becouse he was on numenor when valar destroy it-and he save his ass in last sec-so he would wait for them to come to him and try to ambush them-becouse they can be killed..
but i think that he would have unrest in oomm and rhun and harad-they will keep him buisy

[Daddl]

If I understood it right at the end of the silmarillion, Valinor has gone away from the "earth" and isn't still there anymore. Only the elves can reach it and nobody knows how. So Sauron wouldn't be able to attack Valinor, and the Valar left the world forever - so they wouldn't come to him.
But this all doesn't matter, because I think Bombadil and the hobbits would have knocked Sauron out

[Dunedain Ranger]

Would be cool to read an alternative ending with the resistance of the free people. Of course the hobbits would go down fast. But who really likes hobbits anyway. Sneaky little hobbitses. Even Gollum knew it.

[LoSboccacc]

From a man loses scenario, a likely mid term outcome was an all out fight between saruman and sauron.

He's likely the only other active Maia except from Gandalf. Most of them became quiescent or plain mad or corrupted after hundreds years of being trapped inside an human form. (It's hinted that they more or less succumbed to one extreme or the other of the humanity they were imbued, even Gandalf himself erring on the side of piety.)

I guess that human extermination would not be the likely outcome. Sauron would prefer to corrupt them and turn them against their own gods.

[hahar]

From a man loses scenario, a likely mid term outcome was an all out fight between saruman and sauron.

He's likely the only other active Maia except from Gandalf. Most of them became quiescent or plain mad or corrupted after hundreds years of being trapped inside an human form. (It's hinted that they more or less succumbed to one extreme or the other of the humanity they were imbued, even Gandalf himself erring on the side of piety.)

I guess that human extermination would not be the likely outcome. Sauron would prefer to corrupt them and turn them against their own gods.

I see what u mean-like harad and rhun!

[LoSboccacc]

I see what u mean-like harad and rhun!

well, it's a complex matter. for one, Sauron was the god of order, driven mad from the influence of melkor and rage against the failure of his schemes. He has this millenia long grudge with the elves, that many times interfered with his plans and most importantly discovered his last and most ambitious scheme to bring (his) order to the land, hiding the ring of powers and maintaining their independence.

it didn't really had anything against humans. while orcs where elves twisted from his hate (well, this is entering suppositionland and there is nothing definite), it was Saruman that it is said to have used the same evil to breed human into Uruk-hai.

he was also prideful. he wanted to best elven arts and went great length to protect the silmarils. he returned in disguise multiple times as gift bearer and had taken part to most of the focal crafting event trough the middle earth history.

the point is that what defines human is their free will, and that I think would be the central point of sauron experiments (it was, at the core, a mad scientist).

in the end, you can see that from what the rings did: they leveraged both each race weakness and take advantage of each race strength. humans were both enslaved and became the most independent of his servant; when he was vanquished all his forces without his direction disbanded and fled. only the nazgul went forward to conquest, enslave and generally being a pita for everyone.