[lord of dor-lomin]

I think I agree with much of what the phantom said.

Deathwail, you're right about Melkor's beasts getting stronger every day and it's true he had a lot of dragons and balrogs during the fall of Gondolin, but the point the phantom was making was that Melkor and his forces were weak after he first returned to Angband (he had fewer orcs, and no dragons, none). It was already pointed out that Melkor was held in check for hundreds of years. The only reason he won was because he had hundreds of years to devise new evils, create the dragons, and multiply his forces.

Had the elves been able to get to him while he and his forces were shrunken, they would've beaten him. Orcs, no problem. Balrogs, tough, but not too much for a few elf-lords.

I think if the Noldor could've gotten inside Angband near the beginning they could've won, and I think Feanor's presence would've increased the Noldor's chances of getting inside Angband, therefore I think it would've been better if Feanor had lived.