In the Second Age of Middle-earth, the One Ring is forged by the Dark Lord Sauron in order to conquer the lands of Middle-earth. A Last Alliance of Elves and Men is formed to counter Sauron and during a battle on the foot of Mount Doom, Prince Isildur, son of King Elendil, who is slain by Sauron in the battle, picks up his father's broken sword and slashes at Sauron's hand, separating him from the Ring and vanquishing his army. However, due to Sauron's "life force" being bound to the Ring, the Dark Lord is not completely defeated unless the Ring itself is destroyed, but Isildur, corrupted by the Ring's power, refuses to do so. Sometime later, Isildur is ambushed and killed by Orcs and the Ring is lost in a river. Thousands of years later, the Ring is claimed by the Hobbit Sméagol causing him to obsess over it. Finally, the Ring abandons Sméagol, who has turned into the creature Gollum under the influence of the Ring, and is found by Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit from the Shire.
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