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If we are to take the Silmarillion as Tolkien's "gospel" then the only things older than Sauron is the Valar and Eru Illuvatar and surely we are not suggesting the watcher in the water is a fallen Valar or a rendition of the creator?
The Maiar were brought into being by Eru to serve the Valar, or to serve Arda in some way in concordance with the three music's, of course many were corrupted by Melkor's discords and I suspect that the watcher is one such Maiar, corrupted wholly becoming wholly forgotten for ages of the planet in much the same way as the abmoniable spiders that spawned Shelob, beings of some power and malice. Certainly Melkor's accomplice in the sacking of Valinor was a magic caster and shaper of shadows and I would contend these are all fallen Maia of different ranks. 92.25.28.10 (talk) 13:58, 27 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]