Quote:
Originally Posted by Marky Lazer
But it isn't about what Aragorn believes, is it?
Beowulf believed he did the right thing going back years later to slay the dragon (but it didn't turn out so great, leaving an entire people kingless).
The people, the common soldiers who need to fight alongside Aragorn, see him walking off into the Paths of the Dead, to them that equals certain death. The morale of the troops would collapse, now that this fellow walks off and takes with him them two outlandish heroes as well that did so well in previous skirmishes. That's how he jeopardises the outcome of the battle.
In many texts we can see the benefits of the king being present on the battlefield. As long as he or a prince or an important general fights alongside us, we feel better and fight better, no?
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Yes... but no...
Aragorn's departure certainly demoralised Éomer, but I don't think it had quite the same effect on the Rohirrim generally. For all that Aragorn was a hero (with Legolas and Gimli) at the Battle of Helm's Deep, besides the demoralising effect that *anyone* venturing down the Paths of the Dead would have, I don't think the Rohirrim looked to him for leadership that much. He was a hero and a bold figure, associated with their leaders... but he was not their leader.
That being said, if Théoden or Éomer had disappeared off down the Paths of the Dead, I doubt if the Rohirrim would have made it to Gondor... but they didn't. As for Aragorn, his own followers were the band that actually went with him down the Paths of the Dead... or else the people of Gondor who knew him not, and yet were saved by his actions. From a perspective of loyalty, Aragorn's first loyalty as a leader were to the Dúnedain, be they of Gondor or Arnor, and I think it's safe to say that even if the Rohirrim's will had broken (which it didn't, because Aragorn was not their leader) and they'd failed to march on Gondor, it was still more important that the Corsairs be routed by the dead. Granted, the Battle of the Pelennor may not have been as conclusive a victory if the City and the Men from southern Gondor had not been joined by the Rohirrim, but the city might well have been succoured.
The big problem then would have been that Gondor would not have had the army to march on Mordor, which was clearly essential to allowing Frodo to reach Mt. Doom... but perhaps, seeing Aragorn safe through the Paths of the Dead, the Rohirrim might have come into play. In any case, the immediate thing was that Minas Tirith and Gondor generally needed saving, and it could not have been done without the Dead, and Aragorn's loyalty was first to the Dúnedain.