Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfirin
I'm not so sure there would not come situations to make Gandalf be willing to leave at least temporarily, like he did in the Hobbit. If Saruman was left completely unopposed, it is likely that his plan would have suceeded. Theoden would have probably been dead or impotent, Eomer would likey have been caught and excuted, Grima would be married to Eowyn and probably in charge of Rohan meaning Saruman would be in charge), Fangorn would probably be leveled and the massacred (they were the turning point in the assault, but would they have done so well had they had to try and take down Isengard entirely on thier own, especially or even if Rohan was on Saruman's side. And that's assuming that, in the absence of Merry and Pippen the Ent Moot would even have worked). No Rohan, no help for Minas Tirith, (including no Dead men of Dunharrow, no Gandalf to buy time agaist the WK and no Eowyn to slay him, so the siege would likey have suceeded. Gandalf maybe believe that his missing will not have failed if anything remains intact, but when faced with the likelyhood of that "anything" basically consisting of the Shire and Bree (if that) might give even him pause.
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I am also not sure. However, there was a significant difference between The Hobbit affair and the War Of the Rings. The re-establishment of the Kingdom Under the Mountain, whatever the importance could be, was a sub-plot in Gandalf's schemes while the fight against Sauron was his major preoccupation. When the White Council decided to wage an open war on Dol Gudur, Gandalf made his choice according to his priorities.
The quest of the Fellowship was a different matter: if the Fellowship had failed the victory over Izengard wouldn't have had any significance. As soon as the mission was accomplished, Sauron forces would have dispersed and it seems that a combined effort of Rivendell, Loth-Lorien, Farngorn, Dunedain rangers and remains of Gondor and Rohan would have been sufficient to crush Saruman's army.
Such a result would have come with greater loss but no-one could actually foresee the course of events, that's for sure
