[Lord of Angmar]

This thread had so much potential. It is a shame that it was ruined by the bickering of two individuals, neither of whom really advanced the discussion at all.

The definition of power seems to be the most skewed aspect of this thread. If we are talking about individual physical power alone, then this thread is useless. Gandalf could not 'kill' Sauron or Saruman in hand-to-hand combat (at least until Saruman's fall from his mission), nor could Sauron be killed unless the Ring was destroyed, nor could Sauron 'kill' Gandalf. Sauron was only subject to death because he put much of his spirit into a physical, destructible object, a ring. Saruman was only subject to death because he disobeyed the rules of the Istari and fell from his status. Had Sauron, Gandalf, and Saruman dueled under normal circumstances, their physical 'power' would be of no consequence, since Ainur are not bound to a physical existence.

If we define power as the ability to advance one's own goals, and keep in mind the boundaries and restraints that Gandalf, Sauron and Saruman experienced in Middle Earth at the time of the War of the Ring, then Sauron was obviously the most powerful. Because he was able to assert his will forcefully over his minions, and because he was bound by no moral or ethical guidelines, his ability to advance his own goals was greater then Saruman's or Gandalf's. Gandalf and Saruman were initially bound to the guidelines of being able to use no force over those they guided and by being unable to reveal their true power. I think it is safe to assume that the guideline for the Istari being unable to reveal true power was stringently imposed despite any attempts by the Istari to break it, since Saruman never uncloaked himself, nor did he ever assert the type of power typical of even the weakest Ainu (other than his abilities of persuasion). Because of this, even had they wanted to to, the Istari probably would not have been able to advance their purposes as powerfully as did Sauron.

Sauron also was bound by the Ring. At the time of the Last Alliance, I doubt if Saruman and Gandalf would have been able to defeat him, as he would have been at full strength and at the peak of his power. As I said earlier, he was only able to be 'killed' because he placed a good portion of his being into an object which could be physically destroyed. This hindered him greatly in the War of the Ring.

The point I am trying to make is this: under normal circumstances (i.e. as uncloaked Maiar in Valinor), Gandalf, Saruman and Sauron would not have been able to 'destroy' each other, so trying to quantify their 'power' would be a fruitless engagement. Under the only circumstances in which they ever met (in Middle Earth in the Third Age, specifically circa the War of the Ring), Sauron had more power at his fingertips, and was inherently more powerful than the Istari since he was unrestrained by rules or regulations in his efforts. I could not foresee any end to his rule without greater intervention from Valinor had he still wielded the Ring at the time of the Istari. Gandalf and Saruman may have had 'potent spirits', but they could not kill Sauron without his Ring being destroyed, and, although they could not be killed either, they could not defeat his armies unless they revealed their true powers and took dominion over the free peoples of Middle Earth in battle, which they were inherently restrained from doing. As for whether Saruman or Gandalf was more powerful, I would say that when they first arrived, Saruman was more powerful, since Gandalf was subservient to him, but after Gandalf became the White and cast Saruman from the order, Gandalf became a more powerful being, since he became the chief of the Istari and since Saruman was in an obviously fallen state (after all, he was killed by a mortal). Saruman was still more powerful in advancing his goals for a while though, since he disobeyed the Valar by dominating the wills of other (something which Gandalf never did). Gandalf became truly more powerful in every sense after Saruman's armies were defeated and he was left with no allies and no means of forcing subservience on any beings of Middle Earth.