Why didn't Sauron lead the attacks?

Why didn't Sauron come out of the Dark Tower and do battle himself? He could easily have won the War of the Ring by going to war personally. His Nazgul were powerful, useful servants, but their leader was slain by a Hobbit and a woman warrior. Sauron was in the battle at the end of the Second Age. Although he did lose his Ring then, most of his opponents from that war were long gone.

Sauron could have given Gandalf a real challenge. Gandalf's most difficult battle was with another Maia, the Balrog, and he just barely defeated him. Sauron is certainly much more powerful than the Balrog, so he could quite possibly kill Gandalf in single combat. Why didn't he? Too lazy?

If he was like me, he'd be basking in the glow/darkness of his power... consolidating and expanding his control right from the top...

But you've brought up a really good question here...

hm... i'll think about this one...

Why doesn't the president lead our country whenever we're at war? He just sits there in the White House, he's not out there in the battle. Why? Because he's not expendable. That sounds sick but that's the only logical reason.

Yeah, well who could kill Sauron? I don't think he'd have to worry too much about stray arrows . Presidents don't lead people into battle anymore, but there have been plenty of former generals who became President.

Doesn't it say something somewhere about Sauron knowing fear? Or is that a quote about Morgoth? Anyway, I think it's a possibility, and he would remember being defeated in the Battle of the Last Alliance.

Every time Sauron took a personal hand in his wars, he got his butt whipped. Staying in the Dark Tower was the practical thing to do.

Besides... the point of exerting so much power and control in the first place is so other people do your dirty work for you...

Sauron enjoyed the destruction of his allies as much as his enemies. His greatest pleasure was in creating dissention among Iluvatar's children. If he went around taking care of business himself, directly attacking his enemies, he wouldn't have anyone stab in the back.

The reason my friends may be as simple as this, Sauron was to proud or had to big of an ego to come out and fight. If you were the "Lord of Darkness" who would you fear? Would you waste your time, he was too @#%$y and didnt think he could be defeated, but he took a fall.

i think what most of you have said is true. though he definatley wouldn't have to worry about stray arrows, he still felt fear. withought his Ring he was not all-powerful, and though probably no warrior could kill him, they could do him harm. remember when isildur cut off his finger? like that. it was a lot safer and practical to stay at home. i can't remember who it was that said this, but its true: if he has so much power, he would want to use it to make them do his dirty work!!
his enemies might have some weapon or something he didn't know about, (not likely and we know it is not true). but suppose they had decided to wield the ring, and he came out to battle? he would be defeated. wouldn't he think that it was better that his armies should perish that him himself? apart from any cold logical reason, i'm sure he would be plain scared!

And besides, he's an evil genius warlord. One of the requisites for evilgeniuswarlordhood is that you always have to stay behind in your headquarters, and laugh maniacally as you watch your armies advance. You also have to wear dark clothing, be able to smile demonically, and have a big strong lieutenant who says things like "Yes, my master."

:lol: you have a point...

Tor, you nailed it!

Good points, but, imho, the reason is more simple: the might of the Lidless Eye could have easily destroyed all armies of the free people at once (Gandalf would have been able, too, for that matter), so why should he do the dirty work himself until the very end when his intervention would be crucial and ineviatble? The point is that, in the middle of liosing the decisive battle in front of the Black Gate, the Ring was destroyed, and Lúgburz collapsed and Sauron perished before he could intervent.

Another point is that Sauron didn't know the whereabouts of his ring. For all he knew the forces that came from Minas Tirith could have possessed the ring and would then have been strong enough to do him great harm. One of the reasons the Fellowship was able to destroy the ring was because Sauron couldn't fathom someone would want to destroy all of that power.

Sauron may have sent his armies forth with the belief that if the ring was present, it would have to be revealed by the opposition in order to survive such an onslaught. If this was the case, it would give Sauron the time to come up with an alternate plan and maybe with the help of the ring, turn his enemies towards his side. If the ring was not present, then the forces opposing him would stand no chance. Therefore, from Sauron's perspective, there was no need to reveal himself at the Towers of the Teeth.

As Gandalf said, the Fellowship's one chance laid with the arrogance of Sauron and his conviction that no one would conceive to destroy a ring of such power.

great point, Steigl!

aryne *

He didnt come out because he was unsure, he had everyone to do his dirty work and if you have the power to control others, why waste your own energy?
However he created the ring with the intention of enslaving everyone when he put it on right, but now someone else has it, he may have been scared, seems highly unlikely but may be true if you have a knife in a fist fight and your opponent gets it, it would make you think twice before looking him in the eye.

i was rereading lotr today, and i found a qupte which reminded me immediately of this thread. denethor is talking to pippin after gandalf comes back with news. gandalf says 'for one has come who i feared' and pippin cries out 'the dark lord?' then denethor says:

'Nay, not yet, master peregrin! He will not come save only to triumph over me when all is won. He uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if they are wise, master Halfling.'

there. i think denethor has a very good point

What would Sauron have done, if he had motivation and opportunity to come out of his tower and open his big, black can o'whoop*ss?

I mean, how, exactly, would he have manifested his power? I'm another one of those people who bought, but never read the Silmarillion, and maybe therein lies the truth.

It seems to me that, without his ring, Sauron was a mere shadow -- a vaguely-defined, malevolent will, who could certainly influence the course of events (and the weather) in Middle-Earth, and keep an "eye" on everything...but would he have been able to, say, blow up half of the good guys with a big fireball?

What was Sauron, exactly, by the time the final battle rolled around?