Should Saruman have accompanied Mauhur and his "lads" ?

[PrinceOfTheHalflings]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

But the problem is that he would not have anyone to command Isengard while he was away. Saruman would not trust anybody that much, especially since the situation was so crucial. Again, he could not put all bets on getting the Ring, and it would be highly irresponsible to go there just because of that. Also, Saruman was much more of the type of a ruler, like Sauron, who would not usually do things himself, but who has slaves to do that. Also, Saruman was too much of a coward to, for instance, follow the Fellowship to Moria. So if on his journey he came to such a place, he would probably not like to go there himself. But as long as it was somebody else, he would gladly send them in. So that's why he sent Uglúk and others and didn't go himself.

Oh, I quite agree. Saruman was not very brave and certainly didn't trust anyone. Although he didn't have to go to Moria - the ideal time would have been after the Fellowship left Lorien.

The thing is - all of Saruman's plan really did depend on getting the Ring - perhaps he didn't fully understand how much peril he was in once Sauron discovered his deception.

If Saruman had obtained the Ring then Sauron would not have been confident that he (Sauron) could have defeated Saruman. Although a Ringless Sauron might have still "beaten" Saruman-with-the-Ring in a one on one, mano a mano, confrontation - possibly by simply commanding Saruman to hand it over - it's unlikely that Sauron would have dared to leave the comfort of Barad-dûr to make such an attempt.

Sauron would have hoped that Saruman-with-the-Ring would make a mistake, being over-bold, that might fatally expose him. Perhaps the Ring might assist, by betraying Saruman in some way. It might tempt him to assail Mordor too soon by persuading him that his forces were far greater than Sauron's.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by PrinceOfTheHalflings

Oh, I quite agree. Saruman was not very brave and certainly didn't trust anyone. Although he didn't have to go to Moria - the ideal time would have been after the Fellowship left Lorien.

Well the Moria was illustration. Saruman could not have known where the Fellowship will go, I was speaking generally. Imagine that Saruman would not have caught up with the Fellowship until, say, Cirith Ungol. He would not have liked to go there either. Or to Minas Tirith. Or to Edoras. Stuff like that.

The thing is - all of Saruman's plan really did depend on getting the Ring - perhaps he didn't fully understand how much peril he was in once Sauron discovered his deception.

Definitely. But Saruman was ultimately deceiving himself, there's no way how it could work. But he could have deceived himself also by making himself think that he will manage to survive as Sauron's faithful servant in the worst case. Of course it wouldn't work, but if it came to that, that's what he would sort of try to hope for.

In any case, Saruman really could not put all his bets on the Ring - even if he had achieved it, he had to have his strong Isengard with a strong army behind him to take the Ring safely to. The Ring alone would not give him victory and he knew as much. Getting ther Ring and returning to Isengard besieged by Rohirrim would not be good at all. That's why he could not dare to leave the war against Rohan to somebody else. He wanted to make sure that it works.