Disembodied when the One Ring was cut from his hand at the Battle of the Last Alliance in the Second Age, the Dark Lord Sauron became a shadowy echo of his former self. Formless and terrifying, he returned to his rebuilt tower of Barad-dur, and from there began to muster his strength to begin the long search for the only thing that might restore his form and power, the lost One Ring. Now no more than a terrible will, Sauron appeared as a great Eye, lidless and slitted, wreathed in flame. Against his piercing gaze none could stand.