Sauron Wins...Then What?

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by denethorthefirst

Even if Sauron somehow conquered the northwest of middle earth he still wouldnt control the whole of Arda: he still has to invade the new continents that arose after the downfall of numenor (the Americas I presume), Afrika and the Far East.

Well he already controlled Harad and Rhûn which were more or less the Middle-earth equivalents of Africa and Asia. As for the "Americas" or New Lands, well if they have any relationship to the original Eastern Continent there may not have been any people there to rule at all at that point.
"In the East beyond the tumbled lands there is a silent beach and a dark and empty sea."
So Sauron may not have been too fussed about that I imagine.

Originally Posted by denethorthefirst

But IF the Valar decided to attack him I don't think that war would be as catastrophic and world-changing as the earlier wars between the Valar and Melkor

The threat may have been Sauron's love of the "scorched earth policy" coupled with the descent into Morgothian nihilism which we are told had come to afflict him as time wore on - maybe he would have elected to destroy as much of his own lands and slaves as possible before defeat became unavoidable.
On the other hand, if the whole of Middle-earth was under his sway, it's possible that the kinds of armies he could have mustered would have been so vast and so deeply under the shadow that a host of the Valar would be forced to slay thousands upon thousands of them, and maybe it was that kind of near-genocide that the Valar would have needed to try to avoid.

It's an odd question though, isn't it? I mean, surely someone would have intervened? But that's why I think the events of The Lord of the Rings could almost be considered to be something like "damage control" on the part of the Wise.

A final point which comes to mind is the possibility that the nihilistic "lust for destruction" would have eventually torn Sauron's empire apart - people may have risen up against him or his servants may have turned on each other. At the end of the day, though, I suppose it all still hinges on the Ring being destroyed.