Why Was Sauron so Powerful? (Even Among Maiar) - Middle-earth Explained

The power of Sauron was great throughout all of the ages of Middle-earth, but why was he so powerful, even when compared to other Maiar? Thank you all so much for watching, let me know your thoughts on Sauron’s power in the comments below! As always, a great thanks to the online artists whose visual works made this video possible! If you are one of the artists, please let me know and I will post your name and a link to your work in this description!

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[MenoftheWest]

Thanks to Andy for pointing out this error, at 3:38 I did mean to say "Valar" and not "Maiar", as I go on to list those that Gandalf (Olórin) served. My mistake!

[joshjames]

Sauron is a power-gamer who exploited glitches and stacked magic rings to get buffs.

[John-tcgp]

Just because two boxers are in the same weight class, it doesn't mean that one can't totally outclass and dominate the other. People tend to forget this for some reason when it comes to fantasy and assume all Maiar must be similar in strength.

[cherechesalexdaniel]

I feel like Sauron was originally not that powerful among the maiar (i think Tolkien confirmed that he was similar to Olorin) but he sought power while the other maiar didn't so he over the ages acquired greater physical and magical might than most of if not all the other maiar but was lesser in the values that Tolkien believed true power lies in.

[orrointhewise]

"Against the power of Sauron, there can be no victory."

Always made me wonder what would have happened if he repented of his deeds after Morgoths defeat. He would have been a great ally and had one of the best redemption stories
But I think his greatest power was his mind and powers of deception. The enemy u know is far better than the one who hides his true intentions

[porpoisepork]

When Morgoth used his power to create the Orc, Trolls, Balrogs, Dragons, etc. it diminished his power. In my mind, the Ring allowed Sauron to use his power without giving it up.

[aigodlord]

I've always felt that Sauron, due to his use of deceit, shapeshifting, etc., made him an exponentially more interesting villain than Melkor/Morgoth, who mostly just has brute strength and the accompanying fear factor. I sometimes try to imagine a conversation between the two Dark Lords, as they're basically polar opposites (Sauron believed in order, Morgoth just wanted to destroy everything out of jealousy); I imagine it being less a matter of two generals plotting world domination and more like the Real Housewives of Angband, where they're endlessly bickering about it.

In a way, Sauron is one of my favorite Tolkien characters, just because it's so tempting to imagine what Mairon could have been had he not fallen under Morgoth's sway. Under different circumstances, he might've even been the greatest benefactor to Iluvatar's children. I dislike when people assert that "power corrupts, " as if that's a universal and inexorable truth ("power transforms" would be more accurate), but in Sauron's case? Yep, it definitely did.

[metallipwn]

I always imagined that, just as the Valar are not all equivalent in the extent of their spiritual power, neither are the Maiar. Sauron is like Eönwë in that he is probably just innately more powerful than other Maiar. Gothmog is the strongest Balrog despite all of them being Maiar, etc etc

[Earendil_]

Sauron was a perfect villain. He feels like a rebel teenager who then comes of age but eventually becomes an egotistical man. He ditches the valar to hang out with the cool outcast rebel (morgoth) .. has a teen goth phase - werewolves and vampires .. rap battles an elven king to death.. then gets serious about career and life and leadership.. masters diplomacy.. starts a religion.. forcing god to change the world due to his success! But his ego eventually becomes his downfall!

[blackpyro]

Finally another question living rent free in the back of my mind will be answered

[cherub]

I assumed that Morgoth somewhat imbued Sauron with his own power early on in the same way he put his power into the earth itself, or in a similar way that Sauron empowered The Witchking.

[tombombadil]

That first Passage is easily one of my favourites in all of fiction. Simply beautiful! Yet dark.

[johns]

"Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment."

One of his greatest but less talked about powers was his ability to torture bare spirits and then force them into the bodies of animals. He was much more than a simple spirit of fire like the Balrogs were before their fall. And even with all this knowledge we have of him it still barely scratches the surface of how powerful he truly is. He's an incredible antagonist. Complete with a failed redemption arc.

[Alexs.]

It seems that beings who desired to craft materials such as jewels, swords and their use of the elements of Arda were prone to over pride and hubris. Fëanor, Curumo the Maia who became Saruman in the third age and of course Mairon who became Sauron all had those characteristics. Sauron thirsted to fashion things which led to him wanting to control others under his firm hard hand. He was easily seduced by Melkor because of that. Thus he grew in power. Being the mightiest of the Maiar in that regard. Once again Aulë did not have a good track record keeping tabs on his servants and detecting their hidden darkness.

[daniell]

Best thing about Sauron: the fan art is insanely good!

[CallmeKenneth-tbzb]

I don't believe that Sauron begging for mercy should be considered an indicator of a lack of power, Sauron was a schemer, a strategist, he was able to take the long view of things and if it suited his purpose to do so, he would have prostrated himself and begged for mercy. I'm not saying he necessarily _was_ more powerful, simply that he _wasn't_ necessarily less simply because of one particular action he took. I think the fact that he was a strategist was his greatest gift, that he understood the peoples of Arda, more than Melkor ever did, who was more like a force of nature, and this made him better placed to exploit them.

[Finalzero]

I would say Sauron has a strong argument to be the most threatening being if we measure him by the amount of intervention that was taken against him

by Eru Iluvatar himself.

Not only did he get Eru Iluvatar's attention (something I believe few, if any, had achieved and had it written about) he managed to do so as many as three times:

1. The Fall of Numenor
2. Eru's possible involvement in the resurrection of Gandalf
3. The intervention of force that caused Gollum to fall into Mount Doom with the One Ring

For all his limits in comparison to the other Ainur, we can see that Sauron has been extremely resourceful in having influence on the world of Arda.

[quazimawofeso]

Sauron has always been the best of both side good or evil
As a Maia he was admirable,
Under aule he was the best subcreative spirit,
Under morgoth he was his most cruel servant,
As a dark lord he was the greatest spirit in all middle even after he lost his ring.

Sauron may be evil but damn he was a spirit of excellence. Still I admire is ability to bring creativity in what he does irrespective of his alignment.

I think Tolkien would want us to know that despite him being evil he is still one of Eru's best and most creative thought.

[Kalafinwë]

Aulë must have become a social pariah in Aman after everyone learned that not only his servant Mairon became the chief darkness of Middle-Earth, but also Curumo (Saruman). What are the odds that the two servants of Aulë would become something very evil ?

[samuelbattershell]

Also there is Tolkien's naming scheme to take into account. Melkor means something to the effect of He who rises in might, which would fit the mightiest of the created beings. Both of Feanor's mother given and father given names impose that he is the mightiest of the Noldor and he was recognized as the mightiest of elves. Now 'Mairon' means 'The Admired', why would a Maiar be so named naturally and when he fell be rebranded as 'The Adhorded', he would have to be among is not the the greatest of his rank to have his original name and to have such a new name after his departure into evil. Was the greatest in combat, no, but power is not limited to strength of body or arms alone in Tolkien's world.