Sauron's dominion over continental Middle Earth lasted the entirety of the Second Age, which was around 3000 years or more. He was reacquiring that kind of dominion over nations during the last century or so of the Third Age, with Gondor, Rohan, and the few enclaves of high elves left as his only real opposition.
Sauron's motives were not originally "pure evil". After the fall of Morgoth at the end of the First Age, he "repented" of his evil (read: was sorry he got caught), but then waffled about returning to Valinor to be judged (read: was scared shitless about what Manwe might do to him and too proud to humble himself twice), excusing himself with the reasoning that there was work to be done cleaning up the mess the War of Wrath had made of Middle Earth, and since the Valar and Maiar had all just faffed back off to Valinor, he was just the Maiar to do it. Of course, to "fix" things, he had to take control of everything and everyone and put things in proper order and peoples in their proper places....
I think you can see where Sauron ends up: in love with control and power for its own sake, and resenting and hating anyone and anything that interfered with his goals. Because he prefers control to destruction, he tends to work through intermediaries: feudal vassals, priesthoods of worshippers--yes, Sauron is a god and god-emperor to many nations of Middle Earth. Religions are enduring methods of population control; it matters not to Sauron which petty kinglet stabs whom in the back for rulership of West Bumfuck, as long as West Bumfuck does what Sauron tells it to when he tells them to do it. His control of nations was unlikely to ever collapse without outside interference, like someone who was Not Sauron and powerful enough getting their hands on the One Ring.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2017-07-20 02:50 am (UTC)Sauron's motives were not originally "pure evil". After the fall of Morgoth at the end of the First Age, he "repented" of his evil (read: was sorry he got caught), but then waffled about returning to Valinor to be judged (read: was scared shitless about what Manwe might do to him and too proud to humble himself twice), excusing himself with the reasoning that there was work to be done cleaning up the mess the War of Wrath had made of Middle Earth, and since the Valar and Maiar had all just faffed back off to Valinor, he was just the Maiar to do it. Of course, to "fix" things, he had to take control of everything and everyone and put things in proper order and peoples in their proper places....
I think you can see where Sauron ends up: in love with control and power for its own sake, and resenting and hating anyone and anything that interfered with his goals. Because he prefers control to destruction, he tends to work through intermediaries: feudal vassals, priesthoods of worshippers--yes, Sauron is a god and god-emperor to many nations of Middle Earth. Religions are enduring methods of population control; it matters not to Sauron which petty kinglet stabs whom in the back for rulership of West Bumfuck, as long as West Bumfuck does what Sauron tells it to when he tells them to do it. His control of nations was unlikely to ever collapse without outside interference, like someone who was Not Sauron and powerful enough getting their hands on the One Ring.