Sauron's Most Evil Moments

In this video, we look at Sauron's most diabolical moments - from wiping out entire peoples and places to brutally betraying and murdering individuals.
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[@jealousyxanderblood7894]

You could argue that Sauron is actually more evil than Morgoth just because Morgoth WAS evil. He was what he was and he could not change. Sauron knew this, knew what his master was and despite all of that and knowing the Valar would still forgive him after a time he still CHOSE to be evil.

[@SirBoggins]

It was his willingness that led him down the dark path.

[@thestraightroad305]

Morgoth could have repented as well.

[@jealousyxanderblood7894]

@@thestraightroad305 "Could" have, but never did, which (to me) means he never would have to begin with. He is literally Evil itself.

[@istari0]

@@jealousyxanderblood7894 Even Melkor was not evil when Ilúvatar first created him. Melkor made the choice to turn to evil and thus fell.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

Interesting thought. Sauron traded away all of his integrity for the power that Melkor promised him

[@alphasierrazulu]

Sauron's most evil act was to pull Galadriel out of the ocean

[@SirBoggins]

You forgot to mention Sauron's TWO MOST evil moments: A) Aiding in the creation of the Gollum videogame. B) Reincarnating himself as The Rings of Power.

[@dlxmarks]

What about bamboozling innocent people with wigs?

[@SirBoggins]

​@@dlxmarksYea, that counts.

[@Lawrence_Talbot]

But ROP says Sauron was secretly the good guy fighting for all the orc babies 😂

[@Tallacus]

I want a Baradur shirt that replaces the Great Eye with a fiery Amazon Smile and Tolkien's infamous quote on the back of it

[@spyrofrost9158]

I knew Sauron was a master craftsman but I had no idea he was a game developer too. That man's skills are as boundless as the sky.

[@jamesw3413]

I think evil moments and, on the opposite side, heroic moments, has a lot of potential for a series. A video on the Witch King's worst deeds would be cool at least, rounding out the dark lord trio

[@saladinbob]

Morgoth was just child trapped in a god's body with predictable results.

[@mikeynth7919]

Biological warfare has a tendency to come right back home. One of those "sounds great on paper, until you think about it" plans.

[@ChrisVillagomez]

I've always thought that Sauron was objectively more evil than Morgoth. Morgoth just wants to destroy anything. If you think about it really, he's just the god of Destruction and Chaos, and he does anything to destroy Creation. Sauron almost goes out of his way to be unimaginably cruel, like with Gorlim. It was only when I was in high school re-reading the Legendarium that I finally realized just how vile Sauron was. He tortures and murders innocent people and commits genocide against entire populations, and he takes pleasure in it. He caused the destruction of Numenor, and directly started the extinction of the Ents. When he fought Gil-Galad and Elendil at the end of the War of the Last Alliance, he burned Gil-Galad to death with his magical grasp despite having so many other ways to kill him.

[@oguzhanenescetin5702]

Oh I agree. Better get incinerated by a dragon fire than to get transformed into a wraith to continue being tortured even after death

[@paulemge9156]

I believe Morgoth wanted to destroy everything to then recreate it to his vision

[@TotalWarGamer-hb4kd]

I disagree with you. Yes I agree that Sauron is vile, cruel and saditic. But Sauron at least was no coward and his intentions were noble. Morgoth in my opinion was far more cruel than Sauron. He killed people , corrupt creatures that became Dragons, tortured Hurin as well as others , Destroyed Gondolin, killed MILLIONS of People. Is responsible for the destruction of a huge part of the continent of Arda, marred Arda. But his most heinous crimes is transforming elves and men to ORCS . which is something the gods said to be Morgoth most terrible crimes. AND MORGOTH ADMITS he was evil. Sauron on the other hand never thought of himself as evil. He believed that all the creatures should be under his rule ( the use of the rings) . He wanted Order and it was his obsession. But in the end it was Morgoth corruption that was is undoing. He let himself be corrupted by him. So to me all fingers should be pointed towards Morgoth. HELL at least Sauron even considered returning to Valinor and try to redeem himself. but was afraid of their Judgement. And that is Something Morgoth would never in a million years do that.

[@oguzhanenescetin5702]

@@TotalWarGamer-hb4kd Thats a solid argument but the OP suggested that Sauron was evil because he CHOSED to be evil and you yourself admit that Morgoth wouldnt do that because he would always remain evil to begin with. I see no reason to add a personal view of my own but according to Tolkien Morgoth was more evil than Sauron because Sauron had long served another and not himself. He also say neither Morgoth nor Sauron was beyond redemption. In my opinion the philosophy of Morgoth captures a greater evil but Saurons techniques were more cruel than his master because Sauron was a bastard who could wait long enough to actually enjoy the act of evil itself. Morgoth rarely did that. If it was Morgoth that captured Gorlim I believe he would have killed Gorlim in a state of impatience and hate for example. Also to add, Morgoth corrupted the entire matter itself not merely the Arda. He was the originater of entropy and chaos itself that all inhabitants of Ea was subject to.

[@TotalWarGamer-hb4kd]

@@oguzhanenescetin5702 you're right Morgoth is impatient as he wanted to destroy things quickly. But that does not mean he wasn't sadistic as well. The main reason why I said Morgoth is more evil than Sauron is that he is also saditic as well but the scales of his evil is far far more greater than Sauron. You said Sauron chose to be evil. I disagree. First Morgoth wasn't born evil at least at the very begining. He wasn't evil himself until he chose to. Sauron cause was noble. He believed that Eru children were terribly flawed , especially among humans and that they should be controlled (the rings) and guided under someone who is wiser than them. Now on paper it's not a terrible plan and some might argue that's a good plan. But he let his obsession for control and Morgoth poisonous influence get the better on him. Morgoth would have destroyed everything and everyone including his own servants and the earth itself. and unlike Sauron he is also very petty. you're right he corrupted the entire matter itself but tell me : doesn't it show you how sadistic Morgoth actually is compared to Sauron. Sauron mentality is : join for a better world or die possibly horrifically while Morgoth is more like: I'm going to kill you , those around you and everything you ever know. I ask you this : How can you say Sauron believes he is evil when Morgoth corrupted him? That 's like saying the Nazgûl are evil when in reality they were slaves, corrupted by Sauron, forced to do evil things and some of them were good kings.

[@Huojunta]

Convincing the Numenoreans to worship literal Satan and sacrifice humans to him has to be pretty high.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

Yep. If there was an actual purpose to it (like feasibly bringing Morgoth back), then it would actually be points in Sauron's favour. But he literally just did it because he could (and he probably thought it was hilarious too).

[@Ou_phrontis]

Sauron’s rug pull on poor Gorlim has shades of what the Baron Harkonnen did to Dr Wellington Yueh.

[@antr7493]

Great video and perfect volume of background music. SO many You tubers blast the music and you can't hear them.

[@RandersMarie]

Hey Darth, love your content and I love LOTRO (although I haven't played since Dol Amroth was released lol) and I think it'd be really interesting if you looked at what the LOTRO lore people have done in terms of fleshing out the LOTRO world and how they've incorporated both Tolkien's writings and their own ideas. Obviously, the LOTRO people have taken extensive liberties with Tolkien's work (as have almost all ME related media), but I think it'd make for interesting, albeit perhaps not wide-reaching content, to explore HOW the writers populated and expanded different regions of the map, especially places so "close" to centers of action like the North Downs, the Lonelands, and the Trollshaws. What works of Tolkien did the writers pull from and perhaps, with the LOTRO-created content, what are the inspirations for certain settlements/characters/inclusions. Great vid btw :)

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I've definitely thought about doing more stuff exploring the world of LOTRO.

[@rafaelbogdan9307]

There's this popular, legalistic idea that chaotic evil is the most evil alignment that really grinds my gears. As far as I understand the DnD alignment chart and what it meant originally, _Neutral_ Evil is the worst, because it doesn't get restricted by too much structure or too much whim. To me, Morgoth is Neutral Evil, Sauron is Lawful Evil, and Ungoliant is Chaotic Evil. Of these three, Ungoliant is the least evil, fight me.

[@alanpennie8013]

This Sauron dude really seems quite bad. I don't think I'll bother sending him a Christmas card.

[@OtherWorldExplorers]

I remember alignment from my old AD&D and D&D days... Dropped it after five or six months. Instead I allowed characters to behave as they saw fit. That allowed them to have fun and change as their character developed Classes based faith were rewarded for following the dicta and suffered when they strayed too far. As for LOTR Alignment works very well as establishing a characters motives and behaviors. It add an element of consistency that allows one to anticipate an outcome, this is what makes the world come alive as you self insert yourself into the moment. Subverting this later will most likely alienate readers. If you want to subvert expectations you need to start out that way. Dang that was a heck of a ramble...

[@j.d.5626]

good idea, the system was old already in the 90s. Too constrained

[@cavetroll666]

Thanks for the content I listen at work 🙃

[@bristleconepine4120]

Question about ent(wives): there is a sighting mentioned in the first two chapters of FotR about something that resembles an ent in the Shire. What do you think that was? I'd assume that it's unlikely to have been an entwife, but could it have been a male ent?

[@cowboystormchaser]

Sauron FELT much more evil on an up-close-and-personal level than the items described in this video gave him credit for. Take his comment to Pippin through the Palantir: "We shall meet again soon. Tell Saruman that this dainty is not for him. I will send for it at once." Tell me, given the context, that that's not one of the most sinister lines in all of literature.

[@dabestestgoblin8495]

The great plague really manages to become a recurring staple of your channel lmao. But I guess thats to be expected from a horrible disease with possible magical origin

[@DarthGandalfYT]

It's hard to talk about the Third Age without mentioning the Great Plague just because of how devastating it was.

[@dabestestgoblin8495]

@@DarthGandalfYT Indeed. I wonder how the world would have looked without it. Maybe Arnor would have resisted its downfall, but also more easterlings would possibly plague Rhovanion

[@General12th]

Hi Darth! I don't think any of this takes away from his lawful evil nature. I can't wait for Morgoth's video!

[@eng20h]

I think that was the plan with Numenor, Sauron thought he was sending Ar Pharazon to His Doom AND that he would then take the reins of the kingdom

[@DarthGandalfYT]

He definitely did not expect Iluvatar to react the way he did, but it was definitely a "playing with fire" situation. Given Ar-Pharazon's age, Sauron would have only needed to wait another 10-20 years, but he wanted to get that final bit of personal revenge.

[@rogerbrownreacts8528]

I live in isolation see only about one person a month and I never get sick.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

You would've survived the Great Plague then.

[@michaelwellen2866]

#6: double parking in a handicapped spot.

[@Diegoromir]

I would just like to add at minute 4:36 that Sauron did not just execute Gorlim, but if I'm not mistaken, in the text there is something like "put him cruelly to death", when he could have just cut off his head and put an end to it, but that wasn't enough for Sauron, even after all the psychological torture he had done, there would also be physical torture. I would like to mention a passage from Tolkien, and a reflection... "In my story Sauron represents as near an approach to the wholly evil will as is possible." If Tolkien referred to Sauron like this, I wonder how close to Absolute Evil he was, since for Tolkien, this was not possible, as he also put it: "In my story I do not deal in Absolute Evil. I do not think there is such a thing, since that is Zero. I do not think that at any rate any ‘rational being’ is wholly evil. Satan fell. In my myth Morgoth fell before Creation of the physical world." I see it like this, I compare Absolute Evil to something like the speed of light, you can get very close to it, but you can never reach it, so absolute corruption is impossible, since originally everything comes from the creator, who is the "absolute good." Imagine an observer, trying to see or imagine something close to the speed of light, for him it would be so fast that the difference with the speed of light would be negligible. Likewise, let's say someone, 30% Evil or 40% Evil, or the average guy like me or you guys in the comments observed a being 98.9% Evil or 99.9% Evil, for us, it would be a Pure Evil being. Morgoth could be 99.99...% Evil, but never 100%, Sauron would be something like 98.99...%, which no matter how evil he was, never fell so much to Morgoth's level, as Tolkien said, because NOTHING managed to be worse than Morgoth, who was the initial corrupting force. And nothing, not any being, not even Sauron, in the abyss of his malevolence managed to reach the level of corruption that Melkor reached, but as Tolkien also put it: "...and [Sauron] was only less evil than his master in that for long he served another and not himself."

[@joshthomasmoorenew]

See if Sauron did cause the Great Plague with the amount of damage he did to his own side, i imagine its something like a zombie outbreak film where the plague was meant to be something else and it ended up causing the Plague.

[@gengisgio]

What about the time he pretended to throw the ball for a dog when he actually did not?

[@alanpennie8013]

He promised to buy Meneldil a rubber ball for his 10th birthday but then couldn't be bothered to do it.

[@thedarkmasterthedarkmaster]

You forgot the greatest evil Sauron ever did, appear in Rings of Power

[@justthinkingoutloud2538]

This is the guy Amazon wants us to root for and puts Galadriel in a thing with.

[@waltonsmith7210]

No they dont.

[@justthinkingoutloud2538]

@waltonsmith7210 Have you seen any of the official promotional material for season 2? Actual teasers, cast interviews and articles promoted by Amazon talked about Galadriel and Sauron like they were Edward and Bella from Twilight, actually using the awful title "Haladriel" for them as a couple and constantly talking about how hot Sauron is. I couldn't made this stuff up. And of course they so desperately try to frame him as a sympathetic underdog character that he never was throughout the story.

[@istari0]

I tend to think the Great Plague was not Sauron's doing. It's not hard to see ahead of time how creating such a terrible disease could backfire.

[@thomasalvarez6456]

Morgoth made the black breath, surely Sauron would know about biological warfare.

[@alanpennie8013]

A definite case of *not proven*. It's easy to blame everything bad that happens on Sauron.

[@istari0]

@@thomasalvarez6456 And would also realize how it could backfire.

[@oguzhanenescetin5702]

Why care for some armies tho? Unless the Gondor was weakened the way for Mordor would never be opened. Some armies can be replaced later

[@grimgrauman7650]

​@@oguzhanenescetin5702but that goes for both sides and Gondor sufferd less than his armys.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

Those who equate Morgoth with chaos and destruction may overlook that he had established a tyrannical order based upon slavery and false religion. He still had a long way to degrade to a chaotic madman. The Elves who kept him at bay for centuries may have prevented that. When we talk about Morgoth and Sauron and chaos and order I think it's important to separate motives from actions. This video showed clearly how Sauron caused world-wide chaos and destruction in his quest for order.

[@phoenixmilburn6598]

Sauron's most evil moment was definitely when he scared pippin in the Seeing Stone and tortured smegol what a jerk he is for that. Smh bullying Hobbits when your a literal dark lord Sauron should go get a life.

[@timmerk7363]

I think it is very interesting to think about the questions, if Sauron kept the possibility of a direct intervention by Iluvetar in the back of his mind after the fall of Numenor. Since he had barely ever intervened before, he knew after that point that it was a possibility, but not what exactly would cause him to do it again. Sure, not attacking Valinor again helps, but Sauron can't know if there are other things that might cause a direct response. If I was him, I would always doubt myself and ask myself if I'm going to far now.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

Maybe Sauron convinced himself over time that Eru punished only the Numenoreans and not him, and that he wasn't subject to any divine judgement (because he's divine himself, Eru did not place any rules but one for those of the Ainur that entered the world). I can see though that in moments of failure, he may have a brief moment, fearing whether Eru is helping his enemies

[@ghostdreamer7272]

I think Lawful Evil is meant to be equally evil as Chaotic. That’s the whole point. They’re just different kinds. Fire and Ice can each kill you at their extremes.

[@Avalozir]

Sauron's most evil moment: Yes.

[@neildaly2635]

I’ve always wondered if At-Pharazon did end up cheating death by his invasion of Valinor. The version of the Silmarillion I read said he was trapped in a dungeon and apparently would live until the last battle? Anybody?

[@istari0]

Even so, that would have just postponed the date of his death. Only Ilúvatar could change the Gift of Men.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

I always imagined that he and his men were trapped in time, frozen and unable to move, and not ageing biologically

[@alanpennie8013]

​@@Crafty_Spirit This. They're not dead, but nor are they alive in the usual sense.

[@professional_cynic98]

Sauron's most evil moment was when he said "there is a tempest inside me"

[@SirBoggins]

Israel or Palestine??; I ask because of the pfp.

[@professional_cynic98]

​@@SirBoggins Free Palestine till it's backwards.

[@professional_cynic98]

@@SirBoggins Palestine till I die.

[@samwisegamgee8318]

So until you hanglide into a music festival? Lmao

[@SirBoggins]

​@@professional_cynic98Y E S 🗿🇵🇸

[@lukasromanius8852]

Can you make a video about 10 question you would ask Tolkien, if he was still alive

[@cavalr1002]

I know there's not too much material on what happened after the fall of Sauron. (Please correct me if I'm wrong on this) But I do wonder who would be the 3rd next great villain in the Tolkien universe If the universe were to continue and expand.

[@Insider887]

Sauron and Morgoth may have been different flavors of evil, but both were evil nonetheless, they both chose to go down the dark path and there is no forgiveness for the crimes they committed against the people of Arda.

[@phillipmeyer4059]

A fan theory I have it that The Lord of the Rings was actually Dagor Dagorath.

[@jackolantern147]

What would've happened if Sauron had come to the Black Gate himself like Morgoth did in Angband? How would that interaction go? And if it came down to it, could the captains of the west defeat the dark lord?

[@Crafty_Spirit]

Very interesting question. I think if Sauron actually joined the fighting, not just commanding, it would have posed an almost impossible challenge. The real unknown I'd say is how much more power Gandalf the White could reveal. By Eru's blessing, maybe he and Aragorn would fell the Dark Lord? But it has to be noted that Sauron would never actually show up (at least before he had the Ring back on his finger), he was too cautious for that, and he couldn't gain much by it.

[@scribblescribble]

Peter Jackson actually partially filmed that scenario for Return of the King. There's footage of Sauron materializing in front of his army, first in his glowing white angelic form before transforming into the armored Dark Lord from the prologue of Fellowship. The battle commences, and Aragorn and Sauron square off in the thick of it. And Sauron starts to absolutely wreck Aragorn. At that moment, however, the ring is destroyed and Sauron implodes. But all that footage was replaced with the CGI troll Aragorn fights at the Black Gate instead. Also, Gandalf was explicitly forbidden by the Valar to battle Sauron directly. His purpose was to inspire the Free Peoples to resist and defend themselves, leaving them to stand on their own feet instead of swooping in to save them.

[@oguzhanenescetin5702]

@@Crafty_Spirit Tolkien says that only Gandalf WITH THE ONE RING could match Sauron not others and Gandalf himself admits that he has no chance to defeat Sauron. Presence of Aragorn wouldnt matter in that contest

[@Crafty_Spirit]

@@oguzhanenescetin5702 I know that letter, I know how rigid you interpret them, and I showed a scenario where this may not apply in full. Tolkien's mind wasn't static, why do you always have to be so inflexible and opinionated in these posts.

[@oguzhanenescetin5702]

@@Crafty_Spirit Interesting. Do you mind posting that scenario? I am not rigid when I face a good supported argument sorry if I seemed rude

[@megaponful]

What's the music that plays?

[@brendancoulter5761]

No mention of Saurons greatest act of evil? What could be worse than seducing girl boss Galadriel.

[@Sen-xt5oj]

What if Sauron made a necklace instead of a ring!??

[@valiantredneck]

So…. Sauron was a dick.

[@thelizardwizard1113]

First praise be

[@moistmike4150]

Sauron was right.

[@pavelslama5543]

Also, do not be like Eonwe. "Yeah, we have destroyed our greatest enemy. Although we had to sacrifice enormous amount of lives, and an entire continent. But when we found his second-in-command, we´ve just let him go. Because why not, what´s the worst that can happen?" They have literally found an equivalent of Göring, Hitler´s second-in-command, and decided that his word that he´s now good and everything is good enough and that he may go. But unlike Göring, Sauron was a supernatural being exerting power and dominance over the will of others. And they let him ravage not only Middle-Earth, but also Numenor - people that had no defense against him. And when they finally succumbed, here came Eru and finished Sauron´s work by eliminating Numenor altogether. That was like kicking a corpse that you have just killed by letting the enemy to freely rampage with a superweapon. Long story short, the supposedly good god-creator was now either a war criminal, or at the very minimum complicit in war crimes.

[@TotalWarGamer-hb4kd]

to be fair The numernorians already went down to a dark path . They would have went to Valinor with or without Sauron corruption. Sauron just made their attempted conquest to Valinor faster. And it's not like Eru and the Valar didn't do nothing about it to. They onc sent elves to Numénor explaining why men cannot go west, why mortality was a gift and not a curse for men and saying that the men after their death will go to another world. The only problem is : what world ? what kind of world ? It becomes pretty vague afterwards and the elves say they don't what happens after. and the Numenorians are rightfully saying it requires a lot of trust for a god they barely know of. and finally they sent shadow eagles to warn them no to go to numenor. They ignored it and attack Valinor. At this point it was self defence and Eru I think had no choice . Also besides the faithful , all numénorians became crazy, unhinged cruel and sadistic. Numenor became hell on earth !

[@Crafty_Spirit]

I would not take it that seriously since Tolkien barely sketched the end of the First Age. Seems like Sauron somehow convinced Eonwe that he need not be detained.

[@Pauladams2676]

I don’t get your channel name, Darth Gandalf?? awful name for a lord of the rings channel. It makes no sense