In The Rings of Power, Sauron, appearing as Halbrand, initially claims he wants to heal and bring order to a fractured Middle-earth, but his true goal, as revealed, is to gain absolute control by forging the Rings of Power, especially the One Ring, to dominate all free peoples and remake the world in his image as a God-King, ending their freedom and enforcing his vision of perfection. He seeks power, control, and the destruction of Elven influence, all while manipulating others through deception and force.
Sauron desired to be a God-King, and was held to be this by his servants; if he had been victorious he would have demanded divine honour from all rational creatures and absolute temporal power over the whole world.
After his master was destroyed, Sauron wished to take over control of Middle-earth. He began by deceiving men and dwarves with Rings of Power that he once wished to rule them all over with the One Ring.
Sauron's rise to power in the Second Age is portrayed in the Amazon prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He first appears disguised as the non-canonical human character Halbrand, and then in the second season as Annatar (a canonical alias of Sauron), both played by Charlie Vickers.
His task was to do the bidding of his masters and so when he proved unfaithful in doing that task his masters stripped him of his robes and gave them to one who would do their bidding. Gandalf is now the White, Saruman as he should have been.
2845 Thrain is imprisoned in Dol Guldur & the last of the dwarf rings is taken from him. 2850 Gandalf goes again to Dol Guldur & finds that “The Necromancer” is indeed Sauron who has been actively searching for the One Ring.
He is of the same 'race' as Sauron, Balrogs, and the other Wizards. As for the in-universe explanation, here's a brief history: There exists a supreme being, called Eru. He created divine beings, called the Ainur.
When he finally meets Galadriel, Sauron is in an emotional state where feels cynical, aimless, unworthy and undeserving of anyone's care or admiration, let alone love (platonic or romantic). That's not something he has experienced since he was Mairon.
Power was never going to succeed in defeating evil. Gandalf was at exactly 12.35% of his full power as Gandalf the Grey, this went up of 18.237% as Gandalf the White. The Maia varied greatly, as did the Valar. Even at his fullest, Olorin/Gandalf was not the equal of Mairon/Sauron, not even close.
Instead, we have to consider that Sauron, the original owner, is not human, but has a quasi-divine status. Therefore ownership of the Ring is subject to Divine Law. With this precedent in mind, many of the ambiguities clear up nicely. After numerous transfers by violence and trickery, Frodo is the true owner.
The Ring's effects
Inversely, the hobbits' good-naturedness and lack of ambition makes them less susceptible to the Ring's promises of power, as in Frodo and Samwise Gamgee, who are able to handle the Ring for extended periods of time.
Halbrand is Sauron
The answer came at the end of Season 1, when he revealed his true identity as Sauron to Galadriel and offered her a chance to join him in his quest to rule Middle-earth. Galadriel is now aware of Halbrand's true identity, and the two have developed a close bond.
All the rings did was to fuel the greed of dwarves and they served themselves, rather than fall under control of Sauron, although their greed led to their downfall, they were still not under control of sauron, that's why Sauron wanted the 7 rings brought back to him.
1. Eru Ilúvatar Note: The ever-encompassing swirly light is Eru, not the black figure. Anyways this should be a no-brainer. Eru Ilúvatar is the definitive supreme being of all Tolkien's Legendarium.
Meteor man is not Gandalf. He's another istari. Gamdalf doesn't come to Middle Earth till end of second age to beginning of third age.
The relationship between Gandalf and Galadriel in Tolkien's world was based on deep respect, friendship, and spiritual connection, though there are no indications of a romantic relationship in the books or films.
Galadriel turns "dark" and scary to show what she would become if she claimed the One Ring, a symbolic and not literal transformation.
Just like it had happened with their parents (also Half- Elves), they were given a choice to choose the life of an Elf or the life of a Human. Elrond chose the immortality of Elves, and his brother chose the Humans, the first one to do so. He lived 500 years, which is not too shabby.
Gandalf's true form was a spirit named Olorin. There's actually not a lot of info on Olorin in The Silmarillion, it is noted that he's one of only a few Maiar named in The Silmarillion, and that not much of him is known by the elves.
Frodo left Middle-earth due to lasting injuries from his journey, seeking healing in the Undying Lands. His decision was influenced by trauma and a desire for peace, similar to Tolkien's own experiences. In Rings of Power, Frodo is portrayed as a hero who found solace and closure in the Undying Lands.
But at the Council of Elrond, Gandalf very specifically says he fought all nine. He drew four of them off when he fled northward at dawn; "This helped, a little, for there were only five, not nine, when your camp was attacked."
It's not the years; it's the mileage. Gandalf isn't a Maia in the same way Sauron is. He was sent to middle earth as an old man, so his body is much more real than Sauron's “raiment”. He can't use his power to the same extent, he can't change his forms at will.
Despite his status among Sauron's servants being similar to that of the Nazgûl, the Mouth of Sauron was a living man whose early history was largely forgotten.
While Bilbo's ring certainly concerned him, it took years for Gandalf's suspicion (and lack of success in finding Gollum to interrogate) to lead to him to search the archives of Minas Tirith for any identifying information on the One Ring. The inscription revealed by fire was only known to Isildur.