Quote:
Originally Posted by ArathornJax
In terms of the attack on Dol Guldur, I am believe this assault was on Sauron by the members of the Council, and not a physical attack with an army on the fortress. From below we know that the purpose was to force Sauron out of Dol Guldur and they did that. However the fortress remained (see below for more of this).
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So I did and I feel good that this was an attack of personal strength against Sauron because Dol Guldur was not thrown down in 2941, and remained standing until Celeborn took it after Sauron's defeat and Galadrial came forth and threw down its walls according to Unfinished Tales and Appendix A. If the Council had actually physically assaulted Dol Guldur in 2941 with themselves and an army, I would have imagined they would have done this at this point to prevent Sauron from having a stronghold to the north of Mordor), Sauron allowed them to "win" since it met his purposes. The next year the fortress was again occupied by a Ringwraith and evil returned to Mirkwood.
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Saruman used some of his "devices" but we do not know what they were. I don't think they were anything to blow up the fortress or it would have been eliminated per above. I think these devices were something he discovered in his studying of the rings, and he revealed it so he could get what he wanted, Sauron out of the Anduin and Gladden Fields areas.
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You bring a good point that Dol Guldur's fortress very probably was not destroyed. However, I don't think not destroying the fortress does not exclude the possibility of an armed attack. The attackers might have came to Dol Guldur, stormed the gates, run inside, destroy all that came in the way, but after Sauron left and the Orcs and all other creatures fled, they considered their mission fulfiled (we know they did) and left the empty fortress in the woods alone. Years later, after Sauron's final demise, they did not repeat this mistake and destroyed Dol Guldur just for the sake of it. (And there's also the possibility that Galadriel at that time acted wiser than Saruman before, as Saruman was surely the one in lead of the attack, and maybe when Galadriel said they should uncover the dungeons of Dol Guldur and destroy the fortress, he said "Nonsense, we are going home" and that was it.)