Sauron's Super Army?

[Inziladun]

In the Second Age, Sauron acted to gather all Middle-earth under his sway. He was able to pretty much have his way with the Eldar, sacking Eregion of the Noldor, holding at bay Elrond, and advancing toward the Grey Havens, which was lightly held by Gil-galad. It was only a force of Númenor, sent by Tar-Minastir, that turned the tide.
Ever after, Sauron hated Númenor and wanted its ruin. When he was challenged by Ar-Pharazôn later, he saw that Númenor was too strong for him to conquer by force, so he resorted to cunning. Over time he gained power over Pharazôn, becoming a trusted counselor. There came a point when the majority of the Númenóreans looked on Sauron as a god, and followed his commands. I think it would be fair to say that by then he ruled Númenor in all but name.

That being the case, did Sauron not accomplish his goal of removing Númenor as a threat to him? Why did he have to follow through with trying to get them all killed? Why could he not have used them in Middle-earth to fight for him? Even if Pharazôn had any lingering misgivings, he was old. He would die soon enough, and what would stop Sauron from standing behind the new king? Or even taking the sceptre himself? Then, he could have ruled over his greatest enemies, using them against the Eldar in Middle-earth.

Would anything have kept that from being a viable plan? Or was Sauron a proto Bond Villain™, eschewing practicality in favor of an Evil Scheme?

[Zigûr]

"Sauron desired to be a God-King, and was held to be this by his servants." (Letter 183)
You say Sauron was looked on as a God in Númenor, but Professor Tolkien explicitly tells us in Morgoth's Ring that he wasn't. In Númenor he was, regardless of how powerful he became, still a prisoner and hostage, and only the representative of their new "god" (Morgoth). We have to factor in Sauron's pride. He could never be King or God in Númenor the way he was in Middle-earth, and I think that fact frustrated him to no end. I think ruling from behind the throne was never really good enough for him. We know that in the Third Age the remaining Black Númenórean societies did revere him as a God - after their old king and realm had been destroyed. I think this was the only way for Sauron to accomplish what he truly desired. And as Professor Tolkien points out, he had been partially (but not completely) infected by Morgoth's nihilism - wishing to destroy what he could not openly rule. Sauron was, I believe, in many ways an idealist (his largely all-or-nothing scheme with the Rings of Power, for example, a potential masterstroke which failed to ensnare anyone but Men, leaving him still vulnerable rather than completely in control) and didn't always behave in a completely pragmatic or necessarily even rational manner regarding his plans and ambitions.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

You say Sauron was looked on as a God in Númenor, but Professor Tolkien explicitly tells us in Morgoth's Ring that he wasn't. In Númenor he was, regardless of how powerful he became, still a prisoner and hostage, and only the representative of their new "god" (Morgoth).

I was using the Akallabêth, which states that when a bolt of lightning struck the temple devoted to Sauron's religion:

...Sauron stood there upon the pinnacle and defied the lightning and was unharmed; and in that hour men called him a god and did all that he would.

Originally Posted by Zigûr

We have to factor in Sauron's pride. He could never be King or God in Númenor the way he was in Middle-earth, and I think that fact frustrated him to no end. I think ruling from behind the throne was never really good enough for him.

I wonder though if simply waiting a bit longer, maybe for the death of Pharazôn, might not have actually given Sauron the sceptre. Or coud he not have possibly arranged for Pharazôn to give it to him? After all, Pharazôn had no heir, apparently.

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I was using the Akallabêth, which states that when a bolt of lightning struck the temple devoted to Sauron's temple:

That's a fair point and one I hadn't considered. We must remember however that, apart from this moment of hysteria (in the absence of the King) Sauron was generally regarded by most of the population and the administration as the High Priest of Melkor (or "Arûn-Mulkhêr" as I believe the Númenóreans called him) and not a god himself.

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I wonder though if simply waiting a bit longer, maybe for the death of Pharazôn, might not have actually given Sauron the sceptre. Or coud he not have possibly arranged for Pharazôn to give it to him? After all, Pharazôn had no heir, apparently.

I suppose I don't find Sauron being legitimately made King of Númenor to seem like a particularly likely scenario, although I don't really have much to base that on besides the fact that he was not a Man or descendant of Elros. I assume from prior contact with the Elves, especially the warning of Gil-Galad, that the Númenóreans knew or at least had some idea of what manner of being Sauron was. Additionally, Ar-Pharazôn wished to rule the world. Might not some of his potential heirs (even if he lacked a direct one) have held similar desires which would obstruct Sauron's potential ascension?

Númenor had become a murderous, barbarous society in which "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." It seems to me that this was a society where it would not necessarily be easy for Sauron to centralise power in his own hands, having instigated so much unrest.

I think we also have to remember that Sauron did not actually intend for Númenor itself to be destroyed, nor did he expect Eru's intervention. At least, my interpretation is that those elements loyal directly to the King would attack Aman and be destroyed by the Valar, leaving him in control of a remnant so that he could return to Middle-earth and resume his wars against the Elves. I think he must have known that, partially with his help, Númenor had become too powerful for him to control directly, and while there he had abandoned his kingship in Middle-earth (I assume he had left the Nazgûl in charge in his absence). Again, I think to some extent Sauron must simply have lusted for the destruction of a nation and people who had repeatedly thwarted his plans and humiliated him.

[Formendacil]

Sauron certainly neutralised Númenor as an enemy--but only insofar as he preyed upon their own desire for world supremacy. As long as Sauron was still their defeated captive and was pushing them towards a goal they long sought, he was able to get them to do what he wanted. Had he tried to push them back to war in Middle-earth though, it seems likely that the Númenóreans would have become suspicious he was trying to use them as a powerplay--not least because they had little interest in looking east: they'd already found and taken what they wanted there; the things they still wanted lay westward.

It's worth pointing out that we have no idea who Ar-Pharazôn's heir was. Amandil and Elendil were closer kin to him through his grandmother, Inzilbêth, than through their shared descent from Tar-Elendil. Presumably any one of the "King's Men" kings closer to Pharazôn had other descendants.

All things considered too, Sauron was much more interested in getting the Valar to act against Númenor than in destroying his enemies in Middle-earth--after all, he still had the Ring there and Númenor and Valinor were each comparatively greater than all of his Middle-earthbound enemies. I don't think he expected Valinor to ever get involved in Middle-earth again; he seems to have read their reluctance to enter the War of Wrath and their failure to pursue him after he left their custody as a sign they had given up, but I think he wasn't beyond spiting them--and maybe he wanted to use the Númenóreans as a test-case to see how far they could be pushed. No danger to him if they proved angry enough to sail east and wipe the island out.

What he didn't expect was Eru stepping in personally--and note that the consequence was that his body was destroyed and he had to rebuild it before the War of the Last Alliance. Granted, it took him far less time than it did AFTER that war, but it should be considered that the War of the Last Alliance would have gone MUCH differently if Númenor had been wiped out "conventionally" and Sauron been able to return to Middle-earth with body intact--and I think we can assume that this is what he was planning for.

[Mornorngûr]

I think we also have to remember that Sauron did not actually intend for Númenor itself to be destroyed, nor did he expect Eru's intervention. At least, my interpretation is that those elements loyal directly to the King would attack Aman and be destroyed by the Valar, leaving him in control of a remnant so that he could return to Middle-earth and resume his wars against the Elves. I think he must have known that, partially with his help, Númenor had become too powerful for him to control directly, and while there he had abandoned his kingship in Middle-earth (I assume he had left the Nazgûl in charge in his absence). Again, I think to some extent Sauron must simply have lusted for the destruction of a nation and people who had repeatedly thwarted his plans and humiliated him.

Why didn't Sauron just give Ar-Pharazôn a 'Ring of Power'? (one of 'The Nine'), or maybe he could have given out all of 'The Nine' among the 'Kings men'?. This way their lives would have been extended and he could have feigned that because of loyalty to his cause (and to Melkor), that eternal life had been granted. This of course would have been a lie. However by the time that they discovered this, they would have been to far gone and under his control (due to the One Ring) to do anything about it, and Sauron would have accomplished dominion over Númenor.

Thoughts?

[Belegorn]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

That being the case, did Sauron not accomplish his goal of removing Númenor as a threat to him? Why did he have to follow through with trying to get them all killed? Why could he not have used them in Middle-earth to fight for him? Even if Pharazôn had any lingering misgivings, he was old. He would die soon enough, and what would stop Sauron from standing behind the new king? Or even taking the sceptre himself? Then, he could have ruled over his greatest enemies, using them against the Eldar in Middle-earth.

Elendil was closely related to the King's House. I think most of the King's Men were perished in Númenor's downfall and his household as well. Ar-Pharazôn's wife died in Númenor, and he was stayed in Aman. I don't know if anyone else had more right to be king than someone from his household, the Lords of Andúnië, even though his line was from the female.

"Highest in honour after the house of the Kings were the Lords of Andúnië; for they were of the line of Elros, being descended from Silmariën, daughter of Tar-elendil, the fourth king of Númenor." [Sil, p. 331]

I do not think Númenor itself was the threat rather than the King's of Men. The Númenoreans were High Men and had great abilities of mind and body that surpassed that of other men. As you know, even though Sauron destroyed Númenor it was with the aid of the Númenoreans afterwards that the Elves defeated him. The Faithful, I doubt, would fight for him and they held the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor. You will note the Black Númenoreans that Gondor had its squabbles with. These would probably be more ripe for Sauron to use as allies. And we know a man of Númenorean decent was his Mouth during the War of the Ring.

Sauron hated them, most of all the Faithful.