Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigûr
This would put it fairly plainly in my view that Sauron quite determinedly did not want to rule the Númenoréans - he wanted to exterminate them. Not necessarily the most practical course of action, but Sauron was a very evil being, and surely sheer hatred must at times have trumped reason, especially regarding those enemies who had obstructed his plans and humiliated him.
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This is interesting and perhaps correct, but it is belied by Sauron's utter patience and meticulousness in his take down of the Numenoreans. In some sense he was supremely rational in the way he went about it. I think in the end you are correct - Sauron wanted to destroy them, but not only because of his hatred. He wanted Numenor out of the geopolitical picture, for one.
With this achieved, he wouldn't have had much trouble destroying Gil-galad and then taking all of Middle-earth. Only the formation of Gondor and Arnor really stopped him in the end - without the Last Alliance and its manpower he probably would have conquered the world.