It is well established that Sauron is among the most powerful The Lord of the Rings characters, but there are many unanswered questions about his methods, motivations, and the events that led to his destruction. For fans unfamiliar with the intricacies of Tolkien lore, the movies raise many questions that seem destined to go unresolved. Sauron might remain one of the most terrifying villains in movie history, but there are a few things about his role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy that still don’t make sense.
5) He Couldn’t Sense How Close The Ring Was At The End
There are several things about Sauron and the One Ring that don’t quite add up, but many of them can be explained away by the finer points of Middle-earth lore that were only loosely established in the movies. However, one thing that frustrates many fans of the movies is how Sauron couldn’t sense the Ring even when it was right under his nose. Previous movies had established that the Ring was always trying to return to its master, so it seems odd that Sauron was oblivious to its imminent destruction until it was too late. As the Ring supposedly contains a part of Sauron’s being, it seems especially strange that he had no awareness of its proximity to him at the end.
4) He Should Have Made More Rings
One of the events that secured Sauron’s power over Middle-earth was the forging of the Rings of Power, which he distributed among the races of Elves, Dwarves, and Men. It is explained that Men were the easiest to corrupt, as they naturally lusted for power, which begs the question as to why Sauron didn’t create more rings. If Men were so easy to corrupt, Sauron could have created a veritable army of powerful Ringwraiths, rather than simply stopping at nine. The movies do not offer any explanation as to why this isn’t possible, so it seems to have been an oversight on Sauron’s part.
3) He Sent The Nazgul Out With Horses (Instead of Fellbeasts)
There are a number of plot holes in The Lord of the Rings movies, but few are as glaring as a relatively minor detail involving the Nazgul. The Ringwraiths, who were once Men, are sent out by Sauron to take the Ring from Frodo, and they hunt the hobbit and his friend on horseback. In later movies, the Nazgul are shown riding Fellbeasts, which are supposedly bred by Sauron’s forces in Mordor. This makes the Ringwraith’s horseback chase seem completely redundant, as they seemingly should have been better equipped from the start, and could have hunted for the Ring from above.
2) His Inconsistent Corporeal Form
As Sauron’s influence is one of the few common threads between The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, his brief appearance in the latter prequel trilogy wasn’t too surprising. Revealing himself after having been operating under the guise of the Necromancer, Sauron is seemingly shown in corporeal form, despite having lost his body long before. He is later depicted as non-corporeal through the Lord of the Rings movies, making the exact status of the character’s being incredibly hard to pin down. It’s a question that the movies simply don’t deign to answer, and one that’s incredibly frustrating for fans.
1) Why He Was Allowed To Rebuild His Strength
Perhaps the biggest thing about Sauron’s Lord of the Rings story that doesn’t make sense is not technically to do with the villain’s actions at all. After Sauron’s initial defeat at the hands of Isildur, Elrond allows the King to keep the Ring of Power. This itself was clearly a mistake, but what followed was worse. Neither Elrond, Gandalf, nor any of Middle-earth’s other powerful figures checked in on Sauron or Mordor, despite there being clear indications that his power endured. This ultimately allowed the villain to rebuild his army, when a little vigilance would have pre-empted all of his villainy depicted in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
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