Númenor: How the Greatest Empire Sank Beneath the Sea

The story of Númenor is not just one of cataclysmic destruction, but of slow and inevitable decay — a civilisation that rose in splendour, only to fall through pride, fear, and envy. The island kingdom, once a gift of the Valar, turned its face from the West and sought immortality through rebellion. In this final episode of The Red Book Podcast, I trace Númenor’s long descent into shadow: from its noble beginnings and golden age to the dark days of corruption, the worship of Melkor, and the fateful folly that brought about its doom. 📖 Chapters: 00:00 – The Red Book Podcast Introduction 01:06 – Númenor: The Downfall of a Kingdom 03:04 – The Founding of Númenor 05:17 – Númenor: Before the Fall 18:31 – End of Part I 19:02 – The Shadow of Númenor Appears 22:37 – The Oppression of Middle-earth 24:55 – The King’s Men & The Faithful 26:52 – The Shadow Darkens 30:29 – Tar-Palantir & Ar-Pharazôn 35:30 – End of Part II 36:01 – Sauron & the Númenóreans 39:31 – The New God of Númenor 42:27 – Sauron the Deceiver 47:00 – The Worship of Melkor 50:03 – End of Part III 50:34 – The Ban of the Valar 51:54 – The Undying Lands... 55:30 – The Doom of Men 57:46 – The Nature of the Incarnates 59:10 – A Blessing In Disguise 1:03:20 – The Downfall of Númenor 1:05:52 – The Action and Inaction of the Valar 1:10:30 – The Red Book Podcast Outro/Artist Credits 📕 Support the Channel: Patreon –   / theredbook   YouTube Memberships –    / @theredbook   Members-Only Videos –    • Members-only videos   🤝🏼 Supporters: Valinor 🟡 Patricia, Dovid Albright, Moses Gunn, ncv1993, Seraphim38, Victus Schmmidtt, Brandon Howells, Lynn Seguin Gondor 🟣 Echo Aerwynna, Grant Erickson, Joe Raffurty, Master of Dungeons, T B, steve b Khazad-dûm 🔴 Carson Miller, Catherine G White, Zachary Lute, Nima, Jim Loughlin, Sko, VoxPhantom, Connor Mulders, Ess Jay Dubs, Andreas Gartland, Matt Carnevall, Michael Nørrelykke, Gareth Gondolin 🟢 Nathan, Bianca Hagenberg, Brandon Howells (again !), Patricia (again !) Erebor 🟠 Lynn Seguin (again !), Elizabeth Carroll, Aaron Boe 📚 On-Screen Notes & 🎨 Artwork: All artists, images, and links to sources can be found here: 👉 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/... 🖼️ Thumbnail Art: Númenor Throne Room — Christopher Nelson https://christophernelson.artstation.com 🎵 Audio: All music used is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 https://filmmusic.io/standard-license “Mittelalterliche Liebe” Frank Schröter   / frank.schroeter.52   “Thunderbird”, “Tempting Secrets” Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com ❗ Disclaimer: All videos are the result of my own research into the works of Tolkien unless otherwise stated. Permission and/or licences have been obtained for the use of copyrighted material. All scripts and editing are my own work and property, and no AI tools have been used to create this video.