Good guys of LOTR clueless?

[Kuruharan]

So let me get this straight. First, Sauron supposedly thought that the elves destroyed the Ring, and yet Sauron would never think that someone would destroy his Ring. Notice a MASSIVE discrepancy?

In the case of Gandalf, I think it may be a matter of timing. Initially, Gandalf spoke of the time before Sauron knew that his Ring still existed. Under those circumstances, it is understandable that Sauron would not fear the destruction of his Ring. He thought it had already been done.

The later quotes of Gandalf bear a context of Sauron’s discovery of the continued existence of the Ring. Under these conditions, Sauron might not have thought that anyone would wish to destroy the Ring, but that does not mean that he would not have gained a greater understanding of how things worked.

Remember that at the end of the Return of the King, Sauron is not destroyed; he is simply crippled beyond all hope of recovery.

At the time of the Last Alliance Sauron may have believed that the destruction of the Ring would be the end of him. He fled after his defeat and assumed that the Alliance had destroyed the Ring. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that he retains the strength to create a new shape and get up to his old tricks again. His natural conclusion would probably be that the Ring was not as important to his existence as he’d thought.

Millennia pass. Sauron discovers that his Ring still exists. That puts a whole new face on things. Now he understands why he was able to regrow and do all the naughty things he can do. Perhaps the end of the Ring would still be the end of him after all.

But, no worries, who in their right mind would wish to destroy the Ring?

As for Galadriel, many people have a tendency to say rather inflated things from time to time. This is particularly true if they are needing to continually impress everyone around them. Galadriel may have overstated her knowledge to a)make things easier for poor dimwitted Frodo to understand and b)impress Frodo with her nearly divine stature so that she would have one more dopey admirer to add to already impressive collection.

She might have also understood that Frodo would write a book about his adventures that would one day become quite popular. She would want to portray herself as being as wondrous and powerful as she possibly could.