Analyzing Evil: Sauron From The Tolkien Legendarium

Hello everyone and welcome to the one hundred sixty-third episode of Analyzing Evil! Our feature villain for this video is Sauron from the Tolkien Legendarium. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!

00:00-2:48 Introduction
02:48-18:50 Service to Morgoth
18:50-54:28 Beginning as Dark Lord
54:28-57:05 Sauron's Corruption
57:05-1:43:17 The Downfall of Numenor
1:43:17-2:01:30 The Evil of Sauron

Art Credits

Jerry Vanderstelt
Dymond Starr
Guillem H. Pongiluppi
Benef
Daniel Pilla
Pete Amachree
Kuliszu
Annamare
OttoB63
Joona Kujanen
JMKilpatrick
Turner Mohan
Ted Nasmith
Varvara Arzer
Crocorax
Gerwell
Stephanie S
Laurelin Artistry
Roger Garland
Jovan Delic
Teos Ulanti
Max Fieve
Polyvertedges
Jay Carpenter
Insant
Felix Sotomayor
Romero-Leo
Ösel Soto
Max Duran
PhaseRunner
Artigas
Elena Kukanova
Oleksandra Ishchenko
Jenny Dolfen
Yiangyuan
Niyo
Meraclitus
Rennavedh
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Eve Venture
Esmira
Justin Gerard
Spenta Mainyu
Marthia Arkoniel
Turner Mohan
Randy Vargas
Richard Claraval
Steamey
Helena Stepanova
Hyarion and IvarTheBoneless
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David Greset
Anti Autio
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P1xer

#sauron #tolkien #lordoftherings

[CrimzinEclipse]

The most fascinating thing about Sauron is, despite how genuinely evil he was, you could easily see how his minions could realistically admire him and view him as the hero of the story:

A devoted servant of Morgoth who never tried to usurp his master.

A genuinely skilled and genius craftsman.

A champion who fought against the men and elves who would eradicate the orcs from Middle Earth if they could.

A meritocratic ruler who actually rewarded his most effective and gifted servants with greater status and prestige(such as the Witch King and the Mouth of Sauron).

And a war general who was willing to fight directly alongside his soldiers during the War of the Last Alliance.

[daniell]

What I like best about Sauron is that he is genuinely gifted as a character. Smart, powerful, and keenly aware of psychology and behavior, he really should have won the War of the Ring if it wasn't for his pride and hubris. He could never fathom that someone may destroy the One Ring instead of trying to use it. This says a lot about the nature of evil. Evil is always wanting more and never accepting less.

[Kemot]

I like the fact that he "surrendered" to the Numenoreans and, after a few decades, messed with their minds so much they thought it was a great idea to invade the land of the gods. Sauron got hit by "ricochet" in the destruction of the island but he managed to lead the most powerful Empire at that time to ruin just by himself.

[TetsuShima]

I love the fact Sauron, despite being a pure evil being, was genuinely loyal to Morgoth and never considered surprassing him. He was not only the best Demon King, but also the best sidekik 😉

[filipvadas]

What's interesting about Sauron is that, in his own twisted way, he firmly believes that he's doing the world a favor by removing everything redundant and replacing it with efficiency and order. The problem being that the things he sees as redundant being things like honor, self-sacrifice, humility, love and friendship.

Its not that just that he doesn't feel them, he's phisically become incapable of understanding these concepts. He literally can't see the world and other people beyond his own perception of them.

Hence why he couldn't understand Gandalf travelling Middle-Earth just helping people and spreading joy or why Radagast spent his time protecting nature.

[lisboah]

Sauron doesn't actually appear in the LOTR books. He only has around 8 minutes of screentime in two movie trilogies.
And yet he has always been one of the most memorable villains in fiction!

Happy New Year to you Vile Eye, and to all those that read this!

[MrfrogAXN]

Sauron just such an iconic villain in both its forms, and I just love his design so much.

[jimb]

A two hour deep dive into Sauron? It’s Christmas again

[loganthomas]

Really was a bold choice of Tolkien to have Sauron be a looming presence through Middle earth before physically appearing. Incredible villain and world building

[johns]

A lesser known act of Sauron is this. In First age year 369 after the Edain first traveled West and began to settle among the Elves in Beleriand, there was a council held Among the House of Malach to discuss whether to join the Eldar in their war against Morgoth in the North. During this council, a man named Amlach, son of Imlach, appears and gives a strong and moving speech against that cause, saying to let the Orcs and Elves fight over the Northlands and that the Valar in the far West are only stories with no actual evidence. Many are moved by it and it caused a lot of trouble. But afterwards, Almach appears again claiming to not have been present at the council at all and certainly not speaking against the war efforts. Sauron is the only servant of Morgoth capable of taking the form of a man, and a specific man, and speaking so forcefully moving people with his words.

[benjaminstacy]

I love that Sauron is a character who has had such a huge impact on his universe, yet there is never a real physical description of him, and the only illustration Tolkien ever produced of him was a water color painting of a shadow simply reaching out. Tolkien himself said “There is no such thing as pure evil, however Sauron comes the closest.” Kudos Vile Eye for this masterpiece breakdown of one of the greatest evils in the fantasy genre.

[Boney]

Tolkien was a master of character being told through environments, very excited to watch this all over the weekend

[danielsantiagourtado]

"One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them; In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie." A forever iconic quote in an instrument belonging to one of the most iconic villains of all time. Been waiting for this since you announced it! You're the best vile!

[MrJonbon]

So much creativity born out of so much personal horror and trauma. I have always wondered how different or even if the Middle Earth world would have been created if it were not for Tolkien's experiences during WW 1.

[corbinmarkey]

What a lucky year it's been for me to become a Lord of the Rings fan. I read the books for the first time, then watched the film trilogy (functionally for the first time), then my best friend got into it by binging all three movies in a day (extended editions no less), which we did together. I've seen so many videos on Middle Earth, and now we get to end the year with an Analyzing Evil that we've all been waiting for.

[rustybuckets]

Back to the depths of Tolkien lore and I wouldn't have it any other way

[TetsuShima]

*Unpopular opinion:* The Sauron of Peter Jackson's movies was pretty cool, but I much prefer how the Dark Lord is portrayed in Ralph Bakshi's animated film, in which he only appears as a shadowy figure during the opening scene, but he is still very present in the entire film through the sinister atmosphere and dialogue of the characters. There is nothing more scary than what we do not see but still we do notice

[johns]

Consider in your ranking, "He was only less evil than his master (Morgoth) in that for long he served another and not himself"

[bradenannala]

Saurons complete mastery over manipulation is the most terrifying part of his story. Ive always thought that the fact he wasnt always evil makes his character that much more disturbing.

[Timetravelingsoldiee]

Sauron is the greatest fantasy villain of all time. Nothing could even approach how compelling he is.