Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigûr
The quote from Morgoth's Ring is one I have neglected, but I believe the point you have made about "the crippling of its military and ruling class" is a cogent one. Sauron evidently expected them at least to be destroyed by the Valar. A civil war after the death of Pharazôn would, I believe, have achieved similar goals, with such dissent in the land, and perhaps enabled Sauron to replace the phantom of Melkor as their god as well as openly becoming their ruler.
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I don't know if I see him being able to declare himself ruler in the open yet. If the Numenoreans have a single most dominating flaw, at this point in their history, it is pride. Even after Numenor fell, the Exiles still searched for it and longed for the days of yore, to some extent. Elendil himself used the Palantir of Elostirion to try and find the island, or some remnant of it, that they might return. The Black Numenoreans of Umbar, and even the Gondorians, during the times they ruled Umbar, never tore down the monument built to commemorate the humbling of Sauron by Ar-Pharazon; Sauron had the people of Umbar do it after he dominated them. So... while the ruling class of Numenor, after Ar-Pharazon's assassination, might find themselves under Sauron's sway to such a point that he is the
de facto ruler, I still don't think they're willing to set him up as king, or any other
de jure head of state; even Steward might be a stretch. I think he'll still have to remain the power behind the power.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigûr
Nonetheless I see the "military and ruling class" still probably being mostly or largely destroyed, with the possible creation of dangerous enclaves in Harad or elsewhere who owed loyalty to no one besides themselves, including Sauron. In any event I believe Sauron's main priority was the destruction of the Elves, and Gil-galad in particular, and he would have taken whatever action necessary to achieve that goal, including becoming master of a Númenórean remnant which might be brought back to Middle-earth. How useful that remnant would be I can't say.
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If Sauron prevents an all-out civil war, and kills Ar-Pharazon before the Great Armament sets sail, then he has the most powerful military weapon ever assembled by the Children of Iluvatar to make use of. He could blame the assassination on the Faithful, even on the line of Andunie specifically, saying that the leaders of the Elf-friends had colluded with Gil-galad to assassinate the king to put Tar-Miriel, who was known to have Faithful sympathies, back in control of the country. Such an accusation would be eagerly accepted by the ruling class, and Sauron could turn the Great Armament against Lindon and perhaps even the Faithful Colonies in what would have later become Gondor, the most significant of which being what would later be Dol Amroth and Pelargir.