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DarkLord153
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Post Sauron and the Balrogs
on: April 14, 2017 04:36
In the last battle for the Ring, The Free People of Middle earth unite to attack. Why didn't Sauron have zero defences on the paths for Mt. Doom or seal off the entrence to the volcano? Also,could Sauron summon Balrogs to help him in the war? If yes, why didn't he?
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Gandolorin
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on: April 15, 2017 03:31
First, the concept of destroying the One Ring was utterly foreign to Sauron's thinking. He could only envision someone trying to use it against him.

Second, when Frodo and Sam looked out over the plains of Gorgoroth and the Morgai from the Ephel Duath, shortly after having escaped from the Tower of Cirith Ungol, the region was filled with camps of soldiers. That is why, after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Aragorn led that force to the Black Gate to challenge Sauron, to make Sauron believe this was the arrogance of the new bearer of the One Ring come to challenge him. Sauron threw all of his forces to the Black Gate to overwhelm this uppity usurper, clearing the plain for Frodo and Sam to pass through it unnoticed.

Third, as to Balrogs, the one in Moria had been the last surviving one from the First Age, and since Gandalf had dispatched of it (him?), there were no more Balrogs for Sauron to summon.
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DarkLord153
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on: April 15, 2017 10:08
Wow, I didn't know he was the last Balrog...

I knew that it was filled with soldiers, but I didn't know that Sauron was that stupid... You can clearly suspect that there is something fishy about Aragorn gathering his entire army to come to the Black Gate.
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Gandolorin
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on: April 15, 2017 11:32
Well, Aragorn laid the groundwork for Sauron to be preoccupied by something he, Sauron, had been looking for to get revenge, the heir of Isildur, when Aragorn wrenched control of the Orthanc Palantir from Sauron. First, of course, it tells us that Aragorn had some awesome mental prowess to be able to do such a thing, thus making it clear to Sauron that he had a dangerous enemy out there. It moved Sauron's concentration outwards from Mordor, a good thing for Frodo and Sam to start with, and it may very well have led Sauron to strike at Gondor sooner than he had originally planned. Made Sauron hasty, as Treebeard would have put it. So even though the force that Aragorn led against the Black Gate was, as one participant put it, not larger than the mere vanguard of the Last Alliance which defeated Sauron at the end of the Second Age (when Sauron still had his Ring until Isildur cut it from his finger), the brashness of this advance also focused Sauron's mind powerfully on this force, thinking that is was led by the new Ring-bearer Aragorn, and made Sauron throw everything he had into the battle at the Black Gate. Meanwhile three Hobbits (one not quite recognizable as a Hobbit anymore), the most unobtrusive creatures in Middle-earth, sneaked their way to Mount Doom ...

P.S. I noticed you had opened a chat window earlier, while I had been out on our balcony. Must have gotten back just a tad too late

[Edited on 04/16/2017 by Gandolorin]
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DarkLord153
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on: April 16, 2017 09:04
Erm,question unrelated to the books... In the movie we can see The Nazgul heading straight for Mt.Doom when Frodo puts on the ring... Now the question is,how did it take them enough time for Frodo to put on the ring,wakj a little,have a duel with Gollum,and then let Gollum drop with the ring in the fires of Mt. Doom.Now tell me, how big is that damn distance?! It doesnt look that far-it took frodo and sam at least half an afternoon from Cirith Ungol to Mt.Doom ON FOOT! Either the fellbeasts are going with what, 1km/h or the distance is enormous...

P.S. Our balcony?! Do i know you or something??
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Gandolorin
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on: April 17, 2017 02:26
With our balcony I mean my wife's and mine here in Germany ...

Half an afternoon from Cirith Ungol to Mount Doom??? Where did you get that from??? As per Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas It took them ten days for that journey (having to take a huge detour first north, then east, then south), and another day to get to the Cracks of Doom - the One Ring was destroyed on 25 March. Even as the crow flies, the distance from Cirith Ungol to Mount Doom is at least 40 miles. And the distance from the Black Gate to Mount doom is about 95 miles. How fast could a fell beast with a Nazgûl on its back fly? 400 mph? Forget it, that speed was only reached by the fastest propeller-driven fighter planes of WW II, aerodynamics are still valid in Middle-earth. And even at that speed, reaching Mount Doom would have taken almost 15 minutes. The Nazzies never had a chance (interesting similarity to some historical baddies who were about as evil).
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DarkLord153
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on: April 17, 2017 05:13
Well i kinda guessed it was half an afternoon in the movies ( I'm stupid i just noticed). But it doesn't make sense...How did they survive with i guess 0 food and very few to no water? Even the part where he stands inside the volcano with no protection doesn't make sense but it's fiction so we can deal with it... But 10 whole days? Argh, I've just started to feel bad for their feet.

I noted that above just for fun, I already knew what you meant
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tarcolan
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on: April 19, 2017 01:48
I get the feeling you haven't read the books. It's worth reading them. Tolkien was very careful about timings and distances, and we can be sure he knew how two hobbits would survive in that place. Also it does make sense within that secondary world. They did have water and food all the way to Mount Doom, though Sam was giving all the water to Frodo.
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Gandolorin
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on: April 19, 2017 03:30
I think they may still have had some lembas, though probably only Sam's as the Orcs would have thrown away Frodo's in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. As yes, they did as per chapter "Land of Shadow". And they did manage to get some clean water and fill their flasks in the Emyn Muil (where they had to detour to the north after escaping from Tower of Cirith Ungol). Still, no question, in that environment they would have needed more to be comfortable. But then I get back to the point that the Hobbits were, when in a tight spot, a lot tougher than we are.
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DarkLord153
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on: April 19, 2017 07:50
I get the feeling you haven't read the books.

.
I have actually read them but as far as i remember I didn't finish RoTK. But just as you noted it, I'm actually reading the books again. I have finished the first and im 1/4 of the way and a little bit more on the second

P.S. I haven't read any of the sidebooks like Unfinished Tales and stuff... The only ''sidebook'' I've read is the Silmarillion and I haven't even finished,but just as I noted above, I;m refreshing my memory on the books by giving them another read!

[Edited on 04/20/2017 by DarkLord153]
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