Sheron

Sheron
Art by A-denn @ Tumblr
GENERAL
Middle Earth
Character	Sauron
Character	Shelob
Canonical?	Fanon Canon (Shadow of War)
Status of Relationship	Allies/Affection on Sauron's side Ex-Lovers/Enemies (Shadow of War)
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het
Tropes	• Hair Contrast Duo

1

Sheron is the het ship between Sauron and Shelob from the Middle Earth fandom.

Canon

Shelob is the daughter of Ungoliant, the primordial spider who existed before the creation of the earth who was the devourer of light and who briefly allied with the dark lord Morgoth in the destruction of the Two Trees of Valinor. Speculated to have been born in Ered Gorgoroth, Shelob is assumed to have fleed to Ephel Dúath not long after her mother had devoured herself where she spun herself a dark lair within the mountains of Cirith Ungol where she would reside for the next thousand years. Sauron, the servant of the aforementioned Morgoth and later his successor, grew to be aware of Shelob's presence within the mountains and allowed her stay due to an incidental guard dog role she fulfilled for him, even growing fond of her enough to nickname her as his cat and providing her food in the form of prisoners who served no more purpose and occasionally servants who displeased him. With his supply of Orcs being in overabundance, Sauron gladly allowed her to feast upon the occasional orc she managed to capture and made no serious attempt in stopping her from engaging in her activities.

“And as for Sauron: he knew where she lurked. It pleased him that she should dwell there hungry but unabated in malice, a more sure watch upon that ancient path into his land than any other that his skill could have devised. And Orcs, they were useful slaves, but he had them in plenty. If now and again Shelob caught them to stay her appetite, she was welcome: he could spare them. And sometimes as a man may cast a dainty to his cat (his cat he calls her, but she owns him not) Sauron would send her prisoners that he had no better uses for: he would have them driven to her hole, and report brought back to him of the play she made.”

— Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Shadow of Mordor

In the Shadow of Mordor continuity, the nature behind Shelob's character would undergo significant alteration, stating her to be of the Maiar Race just as Sauron is and thus also possessing the ability to shapeshift, occasionally assuming the form of a human woman as well as her traditional spider form. It is revealed that within The Second Age, Shelob had been working with Sauron during the period he was posing as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts and had been his lover during this period. An old memory belonging to Shelob can be discovered within the game where she and Sauron are witnessed together in his living quarters of Barad Dur surveying a siege led by Suladân accompanied by countless Númenórean soldiers. Shelob urges Sauron that they need to stand against them, to which he responds that it would be a futile effort as they would only keep coming. The Dark Lord plainly states that sacrifices need to be made, to which Shelob realises that Sauron means to abandon her while he surrenders himself to Suladân in order to corrupt and convert him into a Nazgûl. Sauron kisses her one last time before leaving her behind to be apprehended by the Númenóreans. Later, a swarm of soldiers barge into the room to find Shelob alone and visibly heartbroken over Sauron's betrayal, as her sadness quickly subsides into rage at the sight of them, quickly maiming and slaughtering each soldier with ease before retreating to Cirith Ungol and swearing revenge on her former lover, stating that the Great Deciever will pay for his betrayal and that he will suffer, slowly morphing into her arachnid form she would be forever feared as from then on.

Fanon

Sheron is considered to be a crackship within the Middle Earth fandom simply due to the absurdity people found of the creative decision in Shadow of War to randomly introduce her as having the ability to take human form and to take it even further with having her revealed to have had relations with Sauron despite nothing within Tolkien's work implying Shelob as anything more than just one of the Great Spiders, let alone one of the Maiar. Despite this, fans enjoy certain aspects of the dynamic between the two such as Sauron canonically referring to her as his cat displaying a rare case of humour not usually associated with the character. Fans also like the concept of Sauron and Shelob following in the footsteps of Ungoliant and Morgoth being two characters who previously had a begrudging alliance in the past with the concept of Morgoth's chief follower and Ungoliant's greatest offspring sharing that same partnership appealing to some. Many also enjoy the aspect of Shelob's character within Shadow of War intended to depict her as a dark counterpart to that of Galadriel, who is also popularly shipped with Sauron.

Fandom

Shelob/Sauron tag on AO3