What happened at Mount Doom?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by davem

The problem with A is that it is too 'coincidental'. It reduces the end of Sauron to a fluke. For an 'accident' to save the whole world from disaster seems beyond belief. There must have been a purpose behind it, or it kind of makes all the struggles up to that point 'pointless'.

At the risk of my morning tea 'n' toast, I have to disagree.

The 'point' to me is that the whole quest was the true battle, the true heroism. it was the getting there that was the difficult part. That Frodo then could not destroy the Ring and that it was destroyed by accident is beside the point - and in any case, having the Ring destroyed in this way would avoid making a kind of uber-hero, the all-conquering-Ring-destroyer (or something along the lines of grand hyperbole usually found in fantasy). to have that would only replace the Dark Lord with his opposite, an unbearably perfect hero.

If it was a fluke that Sauron ended this way then that is just perfect, as it proves that despite having as much power as anyone could hope for, a simple accident can quite literally bring it all crashing down. It could be a lesson in pride?