Essäet "Notes on Motives" lyfter lite ljus på detta; Sauron var en "ta av träningshjulet" för män:
It is very reasonable to suppose that Manwë knew that before long (as he saw 'time') the Dominion of Men must begin, and the making of history would then be committed to them: for their struggle with Evil special arrangements had been made! Manwë knew of Sauron, of course. He had commanded Sauron to come before him for judgement, but had left room for repentance and ultimate rehabilitation. Sauron had refused and had fled into hiding. Sauron, however, was a problem that Men had to deal with finally: the first of the many concentrations of Evil into definite power-points that they would have to combat
History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 5: "Myths Transformed" Chapter VII: "Notes on motives in the Silmarillion" (iii)
Det kan också ha varit en viss mängd förkännedom involverad; Tolkien skrev tidigare av Manwë:
Manwë was the spirit of greatest wisdom and prudence in Arda. He is represented as having had the greatest knowledge of the Music, as a whole, possessed by any one finite mind; and he alone of all persons or minds in that time is represented as having the power of direct recourse to and communication with Eru. He must have grasped with great clarity what even we may perceive dimly: that it was the essential mode of the process of 'history' in Arda that evil should constantly arise, and that out of it new good should constantly come.
History of Middle-earth X Morgoth's Ring Part 5: "Myths Transformed" Chapter VII: "Notes on motives in the Silmarillion" (iii)
Även om detta skrevs av Manwes svar på Morgoth, gäller det förmodligen lika bra för Sauron. Manwë har viss "inside information".
När allt är sagt, är det värt att notera hur på samma sätt kampen mot Sauron är parallell mot kampen mot Morgoth:
- Supermäktig Nemesis med en enorm hate-on för hela loppet
- Loppet håller Nemesis mer eller mindre i kontroll genom militär styrka
- Kriget är i slutändan en förlorande strid; De kan inte besegra Nemesis på egen bekostnad, de kan bara hänga honom
- Nemesis har externalized mycket av sin makt, vilket gör dem sårbara för nederlag (Sauron in the Ring, Morgoth i Arda-saken )
- Nemesis är äntligen besegrad med hjälp av en yttre makt (värd Valinor och krig mot vredes nederlag Morgoth, Ilúvatar besegrade Sauron )