After Sauron, the original and ultimate "bad guy" in Tolkien's legendarium is his master, Morgoth (formerly Melkor), who corrupted Sauron and all evil in Middle-earth; while Morgoth was defeated and cast into the Void, his evil legacy and influence persisted, with Sauron being his chief lieutenant, and the possibility of lesser dark lords or lingering evil always remained, as hinted in Tolkien's unfinished The New Shadow.
The character is also briefly mentioned in The Lord of the Rings. Melkor is the most powerful of the Valar but he turns to darkness and is renamed Morgoth, the primary antagonist of Arda.
Gandalf was one of the Ainur, specifically a Maiar or immortal angelic being created before the world by Eru Iluvatar (God). He was described in the Silmarillion as the wisest of his race, but not as powerful as any of the Valar (which included Melkor/Morgoth) or Sauron, a stronger Maia.
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.
It started off as pride in his own skill and envy of Eru's creative powers, but eventually spiraled down into mere spite. In the very early days of Arda Morgoth wanted power and control, of Arda and every living creature in it.
It was a lengthy battle where Gandalf put up a good fight. Gandalf the White has a stand-off with the Witch King at the siege of Minas Tirith and he is disarmed within seconds and would most likely be killed, before being saved. Why?
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.
Aragorn Was Self-Aware And Resistant To Mistakes
Aragorn was conscious of repeating his ancestors' mistakes, which helped him resist the temptation of the One Ring. Boromir had no such personal training or blueprint.
Sauron gave Nine of the Rings of Power to leaders of Men, who became "mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers, and warriors of old". They gained unending lifespans, and the ability to see things in worlds invisible to mortal Men.
Tolkien's description of Gollum conforms to a Catholic – and Thomistic – account of envy, which is a “sadness of the soul”; and it is Gollum's unbearable sadness and his unquenchable desire for the one Ring that marks his character.
His two most salient powers were his knowledge and his voice. Saruman was, in a very real way, the junior brother of Sauron both having been Maia of Aulë, Valar of Smithcraft, in the very beginnings of time.
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.
Eventually, Morgoth was bound in chains by the Valar and thrown into the Void, leaving the permanent damage his evils had done, and his former lieutenant Sauron, to trouble the world. One day, according to a prophecy, Morgoth will rise again in great wrath, but he will be destroyed in the Dagor Dagorath.
The return of the Russo brothers as directors and McFeely as co-writer, the casting of Downey as new villain Doctor Doom, and the new subtitle Doomsday were all announced in July 2024.
Sauron further chose to bind himself to the world, which means he will remain part of it in spirit form until its end. After the destruction of the Ring his spirit is presumably too weak to ever take physical form again, but it's still out there.
It's possible that Gollum's prolonged search for the ring allowed it to maintain a significant power over him, suspending his aging process. In contrast, Bilbo's exposure to the ring's influence waned after he willingly (mostly) relinquished it, allowing his aging to resume more noticeably.
Elrond chose the fate of the Elves and therefore the choice was presented to his children. The reason why Eldarion and his sisters (the children of Aragorn and Arwen) were born mortal was because Arwen chose mortality and therefore that fate was passed on to the rest of their line.
'The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001)
If Gandalf had stayed dead after his sacrifice in The Fellowship of the Ring, then his demise would be the saddest in the trilogy, but since he came back, the saddest single death scene of all three movies goes to Boromir's.
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.
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.
Gandalf does not WANT to touch the ring. Just as Galadriel resists the temptation to take it when Frodo offers it to her willingly. And all this because "Power Corrupts". Sauron and the Ring are allegories for the corruption that inevitably arises when too much power is concentrated in one place.
Tolkien wrote about five wizards: Gandalf the Gray, Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown, and two unnamed Blue Wizards. You probably already know about Gandalf the Gray, the wise and kind wizard, friend to hobbits, who was among the fellowship of the ring. He defeated a Balrog.
Saruman was originally a powerful Maia of Aulë the Smith named Curumo (later in Sindarin, Curunír). From the beginning, he was much like Sauron, being ambitious and cunning, and desiring order.