So, in the end, Saruman had a taste for power right from the get-go and fully betrayed Middle-earth hundreds of years before Frodo left the Shire. The idea of a wizard betraying everyone and everything was completely out of the minds of most, so the reveal of his treachery came as a complete surprise.
Saruman's Jealousy Made Him Desire A Ring Of Power Of His Own. Though Saruman resented that Gandalf (and Radagast) were sent with him to Middle-earth, he cooperated with them for many years. As Gandalf explained in The Lord of the Rings, he believed the head of his order to be a wise, strong, and trustworthy leader.
Saruman's betrayal was not sudden, but slowly grew over time as Sauron used Saruman's lust for power, admiration of strength and envy as tools of control, until at last Saruman had convinced himself that he could not have taken any other path and that it was too late now to repent.
He was originally the Istari's chief, and was head of the White Council that for a time opposed the Dark Lord. But by the late Third Age, Saruman was overcome by lust for power and swore fealty to Sauron, becoming one of his greatest servants.
At some point after his return, Sauron enticed Saruman into joining him and betraying the Council. The Council last met in TA 2953; at this meeting, Saruman falsely claimed that the One Ring was swept out into the sea. The rest of the council was unaware that their leader had betrayed them.
Why did Saruman Turn Evil and Hate Gandalf? | Lord of the Rings Lore | Middle-Earth
Why did Morgoth turn evil?
Originally known as Melkor, Morgoth is essentially the Lucifer of Tolkien's story. Like the devil, Morgoth was one of the first children created by the God of Tolkien's world, but succumbed to jealousy and greed, especially over the creation of other races, and was duly disowned by his fellow Valar.
Bloodlines are very important in Tolkien's stories, and it makes a lot of sense that Sauron would fear the great-grandson of the man who cut off his hand. Aragorn carried the blood of Numenor with him. His genetic connection to the heroes of the Second Age established him as a dangerous opponent of Sauron.
As an immortal Maiar, Gandalf's soul traveled to the Timeless Halls after his death, where the god of The Lord of the Rings dwelled, Eru Ilúvatar. Recognizing that Middle-earth still needed the White Wizard and that Saruman had abandoned the role, Eru reincarnated Olórin's soul into the body of Gandalf the White.
We know that Saruman became jealous of Gandalf long before his imprisonment atop Orthanc. So, according to Unfinished Tales, Saruman knew beforehand already. A second possibility is that Saruman just wasn't interested in the ring since he saw it as being of no value to him and his designs.
He was originally the chief of the wizards as well as the White Council that was formed to fight against Sauron. He was more powerful than Gandalf at these stages, but his study of dark magic turned him to support Sauron. However, before he turned to the dark forces, he was a very powerful wizard.
The majority of her powers come from her Ring of Power, Nenya, the Ring of Water. The ring, also known by the names the White Ring and the Ring of Adamant, is one of the three Rings of Power given to the Elves of Middle-earth in the Second Age.
While the director originally thought to place the material at the start of Return of the King, this created an opening that was more about mopping up past plot threads than starting new ones and so the sequence was cut, with Jackson figuring most viewers would simply assume Saruman was defeated by the Ents.
The outcome is that Galadriel is able to penetrate Sauron's mind and issues a single command "Go back to the void from whence you came!" Unable to resist her any longer, Sauron screams and flees with the Nine.
As previously stated, Gandalf is a Maia and is therefore superior to Elves regarding power. Still, this isn't to say that an elf couldn't develop enough skill and power to defeat a Maia. As a bearer of one of the Three Elven Rings (Nenya), Galadriel would have an edge against Maiar like Saruman and Radagast.
As with others, the desire to understand the workings of the One Ring can lead to corruption, much as a glance at the One Ring lead Smeagol to murder his friend. Saruman in many ways was far more vulnerable to this than the other Istari, and his growing pride also made him weaker.
For that matter, the Valar didn't have the authority to remove another Ainur's power. If they had had that authority, they would have stripped Morgoth of his power, rather than going to war with him so many times.
Sauron wasn't allowed to return and reincarnate himself, because: He never went to the Valar, his spirit wandered free and waited until he got enough power to re-create his form.
In his notes, Tolkien remarks that Sauron saw Galadriel as his equal. Add that to the fact that she's untrusting of Sauron (yes, even when he's in his Annatar guise) and an unwavering, single-minded force, and it's more likely than not that Sauron feared Galadriel — or the potential she held to upend his plans.
Saruman in turn considered him simple (minded) and a fool and can be heard saying that he (Radagast) acted in a manner contrary to how an Istari should behave. However he was fundamentally good and honest and therefore did not fall to the shadow, but did fail in his appointed task.
Melkor is the most powerful of the Valar but he turns to darkness and is renamed Morgoth, the primary antagonist of Arda. All evil in the world of Middle-earth ultimately stems from him. One of the Maiar of Aulë betrays his kind and becomes Morgoth's principal lieutenant and successor, Sauron.
Morgoth, the first to reign terror upon Middle-earth, was more powerful than Sauron and commanded an army of dragons and Balrogs. While both Morgoth and Sauron were cunning, Morgoth's rule and terror lasted longer and his corruption spread further, making him more formidable in the Lord of the Rings universe.
