Quote:
Originally Posted by Essex
Gandalf was not Invincible. He did die once already you know!
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I agree, he can & has died, in certain circumstances. Tolkein deliberately did not want to test whether this included the Witch King or not. Therefore we can only make a subjective judgement. Even still, the LOTR makes clear the fact that the Witch King also experiences great fear for his skin in some circumstances. Where does this fear come from if he is not vulnerable himself?
Also, what signs of fear Gandalf shows when concerned with the Witch King is crucial (I have mentioned this often before). He is only anxious of the Witch King, but is this caused by him alone, or by the sheer numbers of Mordor forces crushing on Minas Tirith, & Frodo going to Cirith Ungol etc? The pressure was enormous, & even Sauron in this situation would experience great anxiety, even nervousness (fear).
If I read Gandalf experiencing terror as the Black Captain approached at the gate in Minas Tirith, then I would happily admit the Witch King received a great enough power boost which could give him a good chance of breaking Gandalf. But this did not materialise in the slightest; what we read was a confident & majestic Gandalf who orders with authority the Captain of a 100,000 strong Mordor host behind him to leave at once.
"Old Fool! Old Fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!
This massively important quote also suggests the Witch King does not know the true nature of Gandalf. With Gandalf being old, this does not have much relevance to his ability to succeed in battle, as he proved in Moria. As for dying, only the mighty Balrog of Morgoth has managed to inflict this upon Gandalf the Grey in 3,000 odd years of his existence, & even then Gandalf killed it first. Was the siege of Gondor really the Witch King's hour? Did he forget the small matter of Rohan here, not to mention Gandalf & co.? Nor did he know for sure where the Ring was, or who had it in possession. Not a very wise Lord this Nazgul proved to be - he failed to learn the lessons of his near miss with Frodo at Weathertop, & Merry takes advantage of it. All of what the Witch King says here is actually totally to the contrary - the above quote describes exactly what was about to happen to himself, & this is a true bit of genius by Tolkein.
If the Witch King dies in this enhanced form, does the power of Sauron become significantly weaker?