Good stuff.
I agree stealth has a major role and not just in LOTR. I wonder how often brute force wins out in the end.
Sauron's end came because of stealth, not by strength of arms against him. And it leads to Boromir's downfall who believes it's folly to use stealth, when they should use the power of the Ring as a weapon of brute force to defeat Sauron.
Saruman's end in Isengard is he empties his army to attack Helm's Deep and unbeknownst to him, the Ents are riled up to a surprise attack. His end in The Shire, is getting stabbed in the back by someone he thought he had complete control over.
In The Hobbit too, Bilbo's hired as the burglar of Thorin's company to steal the arkenstone. Interestingly, I think we also see this play out when Bilbo's offended by any association to burlary:
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"Yes, yes, but that was long ago" said Gloin. "I was talking about you. And I assure you there is a mark on this door - the usual one in the trade, or used to be. Burglar wants a good job, plenty of Excitement and reasonable Reward, that's how it is usually read. You can say Expert Treasure-hunter instead of Burglar if you like." ~An Unexpected Party
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