[burrahobbit]

Morsul: sort of but I don't think you're on exactly the right track. They were sort of analogous to Hell, with demons and such, but you didn't go there for being naughty, and they were destroyed a long time ago anyway.

HerenIstarion: I still disagree. I would say that all of those people deserved grace at those particular times, and beyond that I would say that it takes quite a lot to keep a person from deserving grace. Even though Sauron had been a very naughty boy up until that point he still had the chance to repent, and was even close to doing it. It's basically the same idea as all of the discussion about why Manwe let Morgoth out of his chains. Everyone has to be given the chance to repent, and if they take that chance they can be opened up to receiving grace. Sauron did not ever repent and accept grace, so when he was defeated finally he just sort of blew away. You could say that he was given grace just by the fact that he was allowed the chance to repent, but I would disagree with that and say that it is so morally encumbant on any entity to allow a person the chance to repent that it is just a matter of course. If Eru/Manwe/Eonwe had not given him that chance they would have proved themselves to be malevolent beings. (A bit of an overstatment, but to the point.)