Sauron and Saruman?

[Phrim]

An interesting theory, phantom. Two things, however.

First off, remember that the Ring was not created with the purpose of corrupting its bearer in mind. Its bearer was supposed to be Sauron himself, and Sauron never envisioned losing the Ring in the first place. I'm of the opinion that the Ring worked for Sauron in the same way it worked for everyone else: it made them crave for dominion and gave them the power to achieve this dominion if they were strong enough to receive it. I really doubt that Sauron purposefully built "failsafes" into the Ring on the off-chance that he might one day lose it. When he created the One Ring, he thought that it would help him take over the world right then and there, there wasn't really a long-view.

Secondly, let's say you're right and someone strong enough does wield the Ring and becomes the new Dark Lord. I agree that without destroying the Ring, the lingering spirit of Sauron would be mighty hard to kill. But how, praytell, does Sauron get the Ring back? It seems to me that giving up the Ring is the one thing that the Ring will never allow you to do (aside from destroying it); the Hobbits were the only ones that had the durability to be able to do this, it seems. No matter how corrupt this new Dark Lord was, I can't see him ever willingly giving up the Ring to Sauron. And as for losing the Ring, Isildur- or Gollum-style, I don't think that would happen to one powerful enough to become a Dark Lord in the first place.