I've got to review BW's point here:
Quote:
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Remember, Aragorn's heart spoke clearly to him that the fate of the bearer was no longer in his hands. And in Middle-Earth, such intuition is often more than feeling from within. ...Or even more likely, that ever-present but seldom-seen 'greater force' might have had a hand in the words of Aragorn's heart.
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The reason I heartily agree with this is that Pippin ended up playing a decoy in what I think was an often overlooked manner. When Pippin looked into the Palantir, I believe that Sauron assumed that Pippin was the Ringbearer, that Saruman had caught him, and that Saruman had him look into the stone so that Sauron could send a Ringwraith to fetch him. In Sauron's mind, this places the Ring in the neighborhood of Orthanc.
Then Aragorn looks into the same Palantir, shows Sauron that Narsil has been reforged, and wrenches the Palantir from Sauron's grasp. Did that mean that as he took the palantir from whoever had control of the hobbit, did he also take the ring? Sauron had to worry about that; and the evidence shows that he did, indeed, worry about Aragorn, and mobilize against him.
All this was necessary to draw Sauron's attention far from his own borders so that a minor hubbub in Cirith Ungol would go unnoticed, and Gorgoroth would eventually be emptied out, and Frodo and Sam would be able to cross the plains.
So-- I think that Aragorn listened well to the supernatural voice leading him, and did what he was led to do. "My heart speaks clearly at last." Not, I'm picking the lesser of two evils; but, my heart speaks "clearly".
--Helen