Quote:
Originally Posted by Corsair_Caruso
2. Sauron decides that he has put too much work into become the behind-the-scenes ruler of Numenor, the most powerful mortal nation in the history of Arda, to waste its power against the Valar. He has Ar-Pharazon assassinated, pinning the blame on some member of the Faithful.
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This one is of particular interest to me. We know that in the time of Sauron's (disguised) supremacy in Nśmenor, "men took weapons in those days and slew one another for little cause; for they were become quick to anger, and Sauron, or those whom he had bound to himself, went about the land setting man against man, so that the people murmured against the King and the lords, or against any that had aught that they had not; and the men of power took cruel revenge."
Ar-Pharazōn had no child. He had married Mķriel very much against her will, so this is not surprising. With the people in such a state, and no direct heir, the most likely scenario to me seems to be civil war: a war which may have had an outcome not unlike the Great Armament, with the power of Nśmenor being broken. In my opinion, this was the outcome Sauron desired in any event. See this thread:
http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?p=686492 for my arguments regarding the notion that Sauron wished to destroy the Nśmenoreans (because they were dangerous, because he could never truly be their King or God, and because he hated them) rather than rule or even wield them, or at least more than the small remnant of them which served him in the Third Age.