SAURON VANQUISHED

In Arthurian legend and in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, both wars ultimately come down to one final duel. In the Arthurian tradition, King Arthur slays and is slain by the forever-damned Mordred while, in Tolkien’s Mordor, Sauron slays both Gil-galad and Elendil, but is finally overthrown when Isildur, Elendil’s surviving son, cuts the One Ring from his hand – and his bodiless spirit flees into that terrible shadow world of wraiths and phantoms.

The Last Battle of the Arthurian age and the War of the Alliance of Elves and Men result in the downfall of the dark forces of Mordred and of Mordor. However, in both realms, this victory of the righteous and good comes at the cost of the lives of their kings, and the loss of alliances that can never be recovered. The end of the Knights of the Round Table is echoed in the end of the Alliance of Elves and Men, with the retreat of the Elves to hidden kingdoms and the division and decline of the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor over the millennia to come.

Sauron fights with Gil-galad and Elendil

The spirit of Sauron is “hid away in waste places”