02-21-2009, 01:08 AM | #1 |
Salt Miner
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: gone to Far Harad
Posts: 987
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Aragorn, Sauron, and the Ring Ruse
Rereading The Lord of the Rings, it suddenly dawned upon me why from the moment Aragorn wrenched the Orthanc-stone away from its link with the old Ithil-stone in Barad-dûr, Sauron panicked. Once he saw Aragorn, he must have believed the Heir of Isildur had the Ring, and that he had begun to wield it.
When Frodo sat on Amon Hen wearing the One Ring, Sauron knew the Ringbearer was wearing the Ring, and he knew generally where he was. Frodo sensed him searching Amon Lhaw and Tol Brandir, and tore off the Ring just before Sauron checked Amon Hen. Sauron’s reaction would be to grab his trusty palantĂ*r and start looking – and hard. Within an hour or so, maybe less, Sauron could see a man seated upon Amon Hen. Whether Sauron could determine that he was DĂșnadan or not, I don’t know, but I suspect he could. Whom do you suppose Sauron would assume had been wearing the Ring? Who could that Man be? The orcs seized Merry and Pippin. This Sauron knew. But neither he nor Saruman knew what had become of them: no orcs escaped. Perhaps he saw the Three Hunters chasing the orcs, but perhaps not: they were running along the messy track the orcs made, and they were wearing the grey cloaks of LĂłrien: he could easily have missed them. If missed them, that could only make him more anxious: how did the Man hide himself? Like Saruman, Sauron probably believed Isengard strong enough to defeat Rohan. How did Saruman’s suffer twin defeats at Helm’s Deep and Isengard? Could the Ring be at work? A Halfling looks into the palantĂ*r. Sauron believes Saruman has done this to torment the creature, and sends his erstwhile sidekick a message. But then… The Heir of Isildur reveals himself, threatens him with Elendil’s sword reforged, refuses to speak to him, and wrenches control of the Stone of Orthanc away from him. How did the Orthanc-stone fall into hands of Isildur’s Heir? Orthanc was still standing, and it was virtually impregnable. (Even to ents!) There was no sign of siege engines or that the fortress had been invested: it was just ... wrecked. Overnight. Kablooey. The Halfling’s appearance must have been the DĂșnadan probing the stone. From Sauron’s point of view, destroying an expendable person is a perfectly reasonable, acceptable practice. After that, he would naturally misinterpret the dream-rhyme: the Sword-that-was-Broken was reforged in Imladris. Check. The Elven-spells made there had already proven stronger than all his NazgĂ»l, who were defeated near Imladris. Check. Isildur’s Bane had appeared with a Halfling. Check. Doom is near at hand. Uh-oh. Sauron’s point of view:
The Heir of Isildur must have his Ring. What will he do next? Go to Minas Tirith, of course! What to do? Stop him NOW! Sauron has to keep the Heir of Isildur from reaching Minas Tirith. If he has the Ring, he can easily take command of the City and marshal all its forces, perhaps raising up who-knows-what long-forgotten weapons from the City’s ancient past. He might be able to resist the NazgĂ»l, or even take command of one or more of them. The speed of Sauron’s attack was not just to strike first and hard. He had to prevent Isildur’s Heir from reaching Minas Tirith and establishing a strong rival power center with the Ring. Last edited by Alcuin : 02-21-2009 at 01:12 AM. |