I can think of ways to be vanquished much quicker than he did, especially if he’s willing to be reverted to horcrux. Challenge Dumbledore to a duel and lose. Be seen doing some dark ritual, which then goes out of control, killing him. Hell, I’m sure someone as competent as Voldemort could have faked a prophecy about his doom. I don’t see why you think that Voldemort wasn’t willing to use villainhood to achieve total dominance - he was winning, he would have gotten what he wanted.
I can think of ways to be vanquished much quicker than he did, especially if he’s willing to be reverted to horcrux. Challenge Dumbledore to a duel and lose. Be seen doing some dark ritual, which then goes out of control, killing him. Hell, I’m sure someone as competent as Voldemort could have faked a prophecy about his doom.
He had to wait for his exit. He could kill off the hero at any time, that’s easy. Heroes just die.
But villains need to be vanquished.
You think that someone as competent as Voldemort couldn’t have created a faster exit strategy?
The world was not offering him an opportunity to be vanquished in a fashion that would allow him to escape.
Moody and Dumbledore would be too thorough, and everyone else wasn’t good enough to touch him.
Or maybe he had reasons for staying Voldemort until he heard about the ‘prophesy’ and decided that was a good opportunity.
I can think of ways to be vanquished much quicker than he did, especially if he’s willing to be reverted to horcrux. Challenge Dumbledore to a duel and lose. Be seen doing some dark ritual, which then goes out of control, killing him. Hell, I’m sure someone as competent as Voldemort could have faked a prophecy about his doom. I don’t see why you think that Voldemort wasn’t willing to use villainhood to achieve total dominance - he was winning, he would have gotten what he wanted.
If I were Voldemort, I wouldn’t have waited on that prophesy until I needed to make an exit.