The Lord of the Rings is one of, if not, the best series of fantasy films ever made. Its epic tale of the efforts of the diminutive hobbit Frodo to bring about the end of the evil Sauron is one that seems to tap into our deep, primordial desire for such sweeping sagas.
Though of course evil is ultimately vanquished by the end of the third film, there’s always the question: how could Sauron have won? Here are some intriguing scenarios by which the Dark Lord might have found victory.
He Could Have Set A Guard On Mount Doom
Most obviously, Sauron could have prevented the destruction of the One Ring–and thus the unraveling of his power–if he’d only done a little more to make sure that Mount Doom was protected from approach and infiltration. Indeed, it is precisely the fact that it is so unguarded–because Sauron couldn’t imagine that anyone would want to destroy the Ring rather than use it – that allows Frodo and Sam to sneak up on it. Sauron is defeated by his own inability to think outside of himself.
He Could Have Sent More People to the Shire
As soon as he learns from Gollum that the Ring is now in the Shire, Sauron dispatches the nine Nazgul, in the hopes that they can intercept it before it is taken away. While this might have seemed like a good idea at the time – after all, they are his most feared servants – they ultimately let the Ring slip through their fingers. Had Sauron perhaps sent a few more of his minions to reclaim his most valuable possession, he could have won this whole conflict a lot sooner.
That Nazgul Could Have Grabbed the Ring in Osgiliath
There’s a moment near the end of The Two Towers when one of the Nazgul comes literally within arms’ reach of the Ring. It happens in the ruined city of Osgiliath.
This incident, one of those that was invented for the film to increase tension, is an incredible missed opportunity for the minions of the Dark Lord, because after its winged steed is wounded by an arrow the Ringwraith flies off, inexplicably leaving the Ring behind. If only it had seized this opportunity, Sauron would have won with a lot less bloodshed.
He Could Have Learned More About Hobbits
Even though Sauron learns from Gollum that the Ring is in the keeping of the diminutive hobbits, he clearly doesn’t try to learn much about them, still less to think that one of them might try to destroy the Ring. This is a pretty significant oversight on his part, since one of the key ways of winning any war is knowing your enemy. Had he spent just a little more time on enemy intelligence, he might have been able to predict the way that hobbits would be used against him.
He Could Have Prepared More For The Army Of The Dead
The arrival of the Army of the Dead at the climactic Battle of the Pelennor Fields is one of the most thrilling and exciting moments in the entire trilogy, but it’s one of the low points for Sauron’s attempts to conquer Gondor. Once again, it seems that Sauron, one of the most powerful beings on earth with an army of spies at his command, should have spent a little more time gaming out all of the possible scenarios.
He Could Have Bent Denethor To His Will
Though the film doesn’t go into this in much detail, certainly not in comparison to the books, there are hints that Denethor has been looking into his palantir and has been ensnared by Sauron as a result. Given that Sauron already poured a lot of energy into using the Orthanc seeing stone to twist Saruman into serving him, one wonders why he didn’t put forth a little more effort to do it to Denethor as well. Given how petulant this version of Denethor is, it seems rather likely that Sauron could have succeeded and won himself an invaluable weapon.
He Could Have Kept A Closer Eye On Saruman
Though it must have seemed at first that turning Saruman to the dark side was a signature victory for the Dark Lord in Mordor, things don’t turn out quite as either of them expect when Saruman is defeated and ultimately killed.
It seems that, had Sauron paid a little more attention to his allies–and his needs–rather than just letting him around on his own, Saruman might have been able to defeat Rohan, thus helping Sauron to win in his own battle against Gondor.
He Could Have Done More To Keep Gollum In Line
The first film makes it pretty clear that Gollum has had to spend at least a little bit of time with Sauron, who tortured him in order to find out the location of the Ring. Clearly, however, he didn’t do a good enough job in making sure that Gollum was actually in his service. Being Sauron, he no doubt thought that the twisted creature had already served his purposes and this dispensed with him. If he’d done more to make sure that Gollum was really on his side, things could’ve ended differently.
He Could Have Recruited The Balrog
This one is a bit of a stretch, but it seems as if the Balrog is a huge missed opportunity for Sauron. True, there’s no guarantee that this demon would have been willing to serve Sauron, but considering the fact that the two of them were once servants of the great Morgoth, it seems at least somewhat plausible that the balrog might have been willing to at least help Sauron out. Maybe it could have taken out more of the Company than just Gandalf!
He Could Have Stayed In The Dark Tower In The Very Beginning
At the very beginning of the films, Sauron comes out of the Dark Tower to do battle with Elendil and Isildur, in the process exposing his hand and setting in motion the chain of events that would lose him the Ring and his power. This is one of those instances where discretion was definitely the better part of valor. If he’d just stayed put, he probably could have won the battle and, in the process, conquered Middle-earth.
