Not a bad topic... yes, I believe that Sauron was still acting on instruction from Melkor, whether or not he realised it.
There are supposedly the six attempts by Melkor on dominion of the world; the First War, the primeval one, accross the earliest aeons of the creation of the world whereby he fell into evil -- evil that became a part of the very substance of the universe -- and whereby the Spring of Arda was ended; the second time, when he re-entered Arda and built Utumno (culminating in the Battle of the Powers); his escape from Valinor and the Beleriandic Wars against Angband, ended in the War of Wrath; the long Second and Third Age wars waged by the Free Peoples against Sauron; and the Dagor Dagorath, which I suspect is designed to be made possible through Men, and which either way hasn't actually happened yet.
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In all the vast works (of Morgoth) and the deceits of his cunning, Sauron had a part, and was only less evil than his master in that for long he served another and not himself. But in after years he rose like a shadow of Morgoth and a ghost of his malice, and walked behind him on the same ruinous path down into the Void.
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This seems to imply that Sauron was indeed, as he believed, acting for himself when he tried to conquer Middle-Earth (and nearly succeeded). Ultimately, though, I believe he was acting through Morgoth's influence; his residual power in the world, his unbreakable connection with it and with Sauron that existed beyond the Walls of Night.
I don't believe there was direct communication between the two, but it is probable that Melkor was able to use/support Sauron and fuel him on. Sauron's urging of the Numenoreans to worship Melkor, however
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His name is Melkor, Lord of All; and he shall deliver you from this phantom.
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seems to imply that Sauron remained faithful to his old lord. Certainly he was doing what Morgoth would like him to have done, and it would make him proud.
As well as this, there is the fact that much of the power Sauron drew on -- Orcs etc, but mainly the seed of evil that Melkor had already sown in the world -- came to him from Melkor's far greater power before him. It was through Morgoth's enduring evil that Sauron rose again, and Melkor then was indeed behind his attempt on the world.
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On the Dagor Dagorath, though. That is supposed to be a very great time into the future, so I do not think Sauron was preparing for that. Merely, the torch of evil and the Dark-Lordship in Arda had passed to him from Melkor, still there, his lord, and he bore it on -- and this furthered Morgoth's cause no end.
Sauron would indeed have been fearful of a second War of Wrath, and he could not have stood up to one. But he believed the Valar to be become removed from the affairs of the world, now, although he knew about the Istari. Had he defeated Gandalf and been able to take over the whole of Middle-Earth, leaving no resistance, as was Morgoth's aim; it would have been a monumental task to dislodge him, and perhaps the Valar would indeed give up. Maybe that was his hope anyway. Leaving no Earendil and conquering for the start of the Fourth Age, which is uncertain (while it was sort of known that Morgoth had to be defeated in the First Age), he could have imagined that indeed he may have been able to prevail.
Unlikely possibilty.
Would the Valar have come to liberate Middle-Earth? Probably, if Sauron had taken it all over. But his establishing
control over Middle-Earth, as the Mouth of Sauron proposed to Gandalf -- his becoming a supreme tyrant and ruler of the people of Middle-Earth, who would still exist, rather than wiping them out as was Morgoth's intention -- if that was his plan, which I think it was, then it would have really been up to Men and the people of Middle-Earth to get rid of him.
As it more or less was, with only a bit of gentle (but important) guidance permitted on the part of the Valar.
In such a situation, he would be likely to be able to maintain himself for a very long time. Successor of Morgoth. And then, having established supremacy over Middle-Earth, he may well have looked for a way to bring Melkor back into the world; as it happened he was indeed vanquished before that could happen. But whatever tjurn things may have taken, he knew that he relied on a steadfast bulwark -- the evil of Men -- and that with his pruning, he could make this evil endure and be too strong to be overthrown.
(Sorry about the incredibly long post, but having led myself to this point I think I'll disengage it here. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img])