Quote:
Originally Posted by Mansun
Denethor took his counsel from the Palantir, i.e. Sauron.
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That's like saying that the White House takes its counsel from the CIA... if the CIA were unable to talk, composed of no people, and only capable of handing reports to the president that were taken down by agents in the field.
Now, I'm not saying that Sauron didn't influence Denethor. As far as that goes, Napoleon influenced Wellington, Pompey influenced Caesar, and Saladin influenced Richard the Lionheart. It's the definition of enemies to affect each other. If they didn't, they wouldn't be enemies, but mutually exclusive non-relations.
Just because Sauron had the power to make sure that what Denethor saw in the palantír appeared overwhelming and invincible does not mean that Denethor took
counsel with Sauron! Quite the contrary: in spite of seeing this sort of doom and gloom for years thanks the limited intelligence the palantír was able to afford him, Denethor persisted in holding Gondor steady against assault and only failed in hope after the death of Boromir--more a personal tragedy affecting his mental health, as it would any father's, than a deliberate success on Sauron's part.
It's a pity, really, that we only get to see Denethor at the very end, after all the doom appears to be coming true, after Boromir is dead, and after Gandalf shows up. After all, while we know Gandalf as a pretty good guy, his personality is such that it's no surprise he rubs some people the wrong way, and Denethor is clearly one of them. Gandalf's arrival, while good for the city and necessary for its ultimate survival, probably did more than anything to precipitate Denethor's final collapse.