Update: Sauron is not afraid of hobbits. He was unaware that hobbits existed up until very recently. he literally did not have time to be afraid of them, they went from a 0 to 100 threat level in twenty seconds. There he was, minding his own business worrying about the usual Elves and Men when suddenly these kids are on his lawn and now he’s dead, like just;
What did— who–
did I just get one-shotted by an infant how is this occurring
Honestly I have to love this whole thought process that the Fellowship must have cultivated in Sauron, like…
“These children have found the Ring! But they’re taking it to the elves, of course. I will simply have to catch them on the way.”
“Well, the elves are still not to be trifled with, it seems. It looks as though they have a group of intrepid heroes, how cute! Wait, who’s leading them? Aw, hell.”
“OKAY! Olorin’s out of the way, and now I can finally kill them all and reclaim the- OH DAMMIT, IT’S IN LOTHLORIEN.”
“Well, okay. They’ve taken it onward. Curunir says one of the halflings is still carrying the ring, so he’s going to capture them and we’ll see how this develops. Thankfully Olorin’s still out of the picture and their little group just shattered into pieces, so that’s one less thing to worry about.”
“Aaaaaand Curunir shat the bed. Excellent. Trees, who would have thought? Okay, so we’re back to plan A: conquer Gondor, because if the Ring’s going to be anywhere, it’ll be there.”
“Wait, who’s on the– Isildur’s WHAT? Ohhhh. Ohohoho. Oh now everything makes sense. Isildur’s Heir is back, and he’s here being all prideful again. That’s fine. Really. I’ll just crush him and his kingdom, and then nobody can stop me!”
“WHAT? FUCKING WHAT? THEY SENT HIM BACK? Ugh, alright, alright, I’m cool, I’m fine. He’s still got that stupid wizard costume on, and I’m still stronger than he ever was. It’s not like he can come toe to toe with me, even if he does have an army behind him. This’ll be fine.”
“They’re… actually marching on the Black Gate? Sweet lord, I didn’t think they’d actually do it! This is perfect, everyone’s right here! Olorin, the human princeling, most of the remaining fighting forces of Men, all I have to do is kill them now and– Wait. Someone just put on the Ring. Someone just– That’s a halfling. They’re inside the mouNTAIN OH GOD NAZGUL GO GO G–”
Gandalf was a dick who didn’t give a single fuck about reclaiming Erebor. Dude just wanted to make sure *a* dwarf (I say *a* dwarf because Thorin Oakenshield just happened to be the only one willing to even try, I’m convinced he wasn’t Gandalf’s first choice) got their hands on the Arkenstone, which they would then take before all Seven Houses of the Dwarves to convince them to Kumbaya together, thus giving Gandalf some extra cannon fodder for the war against Evil.
Thorin was the one that thought getting the Arkenstone = getting the support necessary to reclaim Erebor. Gandalf never ONCE talks about reclaiming Erebor. All he’s concerned about is the pretty rock Smaug is sleeping on, because what he needs is a symbol, not a giant bloody battle.
I’m not saying Gandalf doesn’t have the best intentions of Middle Earth. He does – but that’s the only thing he has the best intentions for. He cares about people as an idea, a whole, an aspect of Middle Earth, but when it comes to individuals? Psh! He’ll sacrifice individuals left and right if it means his plans succeed! When he saw that Thorin surviving the Battle of the Five Armies would have led to strife with the humans and elves nearby, which would have made them eventually working together against Evil that much more difficult to achieve, he did what he had to do. The Arkenstone might have worked for other Dwarves, but not Men or Elves. Gandalf needed to find a new symbol that would bring everyone together, in time.
There are few symbols better than a King that tragically died protecting the home he had only just reclaimed, and one that seemingly “beat” the madness which plagued his lineage at that?! Just sayin.
This isn’t wholly Gandalf’s fault. It’s simply his nature. He is a lesser god, after all, and the short lives of a few folks start to not mean much when you’ve lived for ages, unless you have a particular investment in them (i.e. Mahal and the dwarves).
I like Gandalf. He’s a funny guy, hella badass, and he does care about others. If it was up to him, nobody would die. But it’s not, and Gandalf doesn’t fight against fate; he enforces it.
i honestly think he just wanted them to deal with smaug so he wouldnt align with sauron, but you make excellent points here too like…
And speaking of pronouns, flat-out my favorite part of the LOTR Appendices is when it’s revealed that the Gondorian dialect of the Common Speech differentiates between formal and informal second-person pronouns but the distinction’s been lost in the Hobbit’s dialect, so Pippin’s blithely been using familiar terms of address with the Lord of the City, and thus helps to explain both why the Gondorians are so ready to assume he’s a prince and why Denethor finds him so amusing to have around.
not what i expected from a post that began with “speaking of pronouns,” but an a++ show of the versatility and surprise daily available on tumblr dot com
BettSplendens Tumblr Evac 