There’s no question that Sauron was as close as possible to being completely evil in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but his beginning illustrates why he isn’t completely. Originally, Sauron started as the opposite of evil-- a being of light that gave in to temptation.
Before Sauron was ever corrupted, he was known as Mairon, which means “the admirable” and was a member of the blessed realm, powerful and respected for his craftsmanship in the art of smithying. He had a passion for order and every detail of something being perfect which is indicative of his hunger for control that is what led to him being so easily tempted by the influence of Morgoth.
Origins In The Silmarillion
In The Silmarillion, which was an extension of the Lord of the Rings universe that was published after Tolkien’s death, Sauron was noted as being chief lieutenant for the original dark lord, Morgoth. Both Morgoth and Sauron were once members of the Ainur. Morgoth outranked Sauron in terms of the Ainur heirarchy, and so Morgoth had influence over Sauron, and Sauron certainly made no attempts to resist this.
The Ainur, or the “Holy Ones”, similar to angels in Christianity, were the original beings of light and good, preceding even the beginning of the world. While these beings were capable of making errors, like humans, Morgoth rebelled by completely evil means, dragging Sauron down also through his temptations. While Tolkien didn’t believe in a being wholly embodying evil, Sauron ultimately came as close as possible.
The event that began Sauron down his path from light to darkness was Morgoth (accompanied by Sauron) destroying the cosmic music used by the creator of the world, Eru, who is resemblant of the Christian God. From this point on, Sauron developed a taste for evil acts and the power they granted him, thus beginning his timeline of darkness. This is the moment he is first truly tempted by evil.
Arrival In Middle-earth
After this, Morgoth arrived in Middle-earth before Sauron. Sauron, serving as a spy, had to deceive several members of the Blessed Realm, stirring trouble in his time there. Once Morgoth established a stronghold in Middle-earth, Sauron left the blessed realm to join him, thus openly expressing his betrayal and commitment to evil. This is the moment he actually commits to an evil lifestyle.
Once the Valar are present in Middle-earth, they attack Morgoth’s fortress, capturing him in the process but Sauron is able to escape. Sauron remains in Morgoth’s fortress, rebuilding it, along with an Orc army to do his bidding. This is the moment where Sauron not only does evil but creates it-- he begins producing it in large quantities. By doing this, he extends his reach over Middle-earth and his power grows, and as a result, his darkness grows too.
Morgoth returns to the re-erected fortress and remains there with Sauron until the Valor attack again. This time, their attack results in Morgoth’s death, and once again, Sauron escapes. His superior having passed on now, Sauron deems himself the new Dark Lord. This is the moment that he embodies evil, becomes the physical existence of it, as fans know him.
Becoming The Main Villain Of Lord Of The Rings
What ended up making Sauron a more successful villain than Morgoth was not a matter of strength but a matter of motivation. While Morgoth had a higher ranking and stronger powers than Sauron, he was not motivated by as specific or as corrupt of a driving force as Sauron was. Morgoth sought only to disrupt Middle-earth-- to create chaos. Sauron, on the other hand, desires to have complete control over Middle-earth and those that exist there.
Sauron’s ability to deceive even his own master shows just how keen in the ways of betrayal and self-serving he is, which explains how he is later able to easily pick up on Saruman’s betrayal. The remainder of Sauron’s storyline is centered around him seeking more and more power and feeding his darkness by doing so, which leads to the storyline that most fans are familiar with. He often takes many forms throughout his timeline, illustrating the many forms that evil can take.
Sauron symbolizes two things in the LOTR storyline. One, that a hunger for power that is fed will grow and grow until it consumes you. Second, that evil comes with many faces and many smooth words to deceive, encouraging audiences not to let their guard down, even in our own world that lacks Orcs and the Nazgul.
Given that the overall theme of the Lord of the Rings is the human habit to seek power as a means of escaping death or being immortalized, it’s safe to say that Sauron embodies this message. While Sauron did not start out as evil and he had all of the means of living a content existence, he desired more and ultimately decided he’d do whatever he had to in order to obtain it. Nonetheless, as audiences have seen, no matter how much power he obtained and no matter how much darkness he shrouded himself in, he still could not outrun his end.