If they still had Gandalf...

[Glirdan]

Has anybody else thought of this question??? What do you think would have happened if Gandalf wasn't held captive by Saruman?

In my opinion, Gandalf would have made it back to Bag-End before Frodo and Co. left for Crickhollow and probably would have left as soon as he reached Bag-End seeing as he knew the Nine Riders were out and abroad. Therefor, they would probably have not left through the Dark Forest, never met Tom Bombadill (who was, sadly, left out of the movies) reached Bree earlier and possibly not have met Aragorn until later and by the time they reached Weathertop, they would not have ran into the Black Riders and Fordo would not have his shoulder wound. Then they would have reached Rivendell without any problems and this is where it gets tricky. Would they have left Rivendell before Boromir or Legolas or Gimli and Gloin or any of the others who were part of the Council of Elrond arrived???? I would really like to hear others opinion on this because this question has been burning in my mind since I reread the FotR.