The True Master.

[Lhunardawen]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

And another important thing is Sauron will be destroyed forever if the Ring is, but the Ring can survive without Sauron.

Can it? Can there be a 'without Sauron' while the Ring exists? That we will never know. But this line of thought ends with the conclusion that Sauron is indeed very much dependent on the Ring - his True Master as Gurthang put it.

Originally Posted by Gurthang

Without putting so much into the One, he probably wouldn't have gained influence over the other Rings.

I can't remember if this is in The Silm or some other book, but wasn't it said that the moment Sauron wore the One and uttered those Ash nazg words, Celebrimbor realized that they were deceived and thus he hid the Three? I'm sorry, I don't have the books with me.

But my point here is, Sauron may have gotten control over the Nine and some of the Seven, but I don't think he did over the Three. It was because Sauron put so much of his will into the One that Celebrimbor knew of his treachery before he was even able to see the Three.

But yes, it's interesting that Sauron put his power into the Ring as to 'spread' his influence. Had he not done so, once others realize his dark form and substance, he could no longer sway them to his side. But through the Ring, he could use others to his purposes without them knowing it - because the Ring 'looks fair but feels foul.' Oh, the ingenuity of all this.