Aragorn, Sauron, and the Ring Ruse

***Alcuin*** · 02-21-2009, 01:08 AM

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-dÃ»r, 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 palantÃ*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 DÃºnadan 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 LÃ³rien: 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 palantÃ*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 DÃºnadan 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 NazgÃ»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:

He senses the Ring being used and is able to narrow down where it might be. If he looks again using the palantÃ*r, he finds a DÃºnadan on the Seat of Seeing where the Ring might have been.
He doesn’t know what happened to the two Halflings he knows the orcs captured, and because the Three Hunters are cloaked with Galadriel’s weave and travelling in the orcs’ ruinous trail, he could miss them.
The orc trail leads straight to Saruman.
Saruman is suddenly uncommunicative.
Saruman attacks Helm’s Deep with a superior army but is beaten.
Isengard is wrecked at the same time, but no army is in sight.
Orthanc itself is intact and looks undamaged.
A Halfing looks into the stone. He has no message from Saruman.
He is suddenly confronted with the Heir of Isildur using the Stone of Orthanc. The DÃºnadan threatens him with Narsil reforged, and he rips the Stone of Orthanc from his control.

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 NazgÃ»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.

02-21-2009, 01:08 AM	#1
*Alcuin* Salt Miner Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: gone to Far Harad Posts: 987	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-dÃ»r, 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 palantÃr 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 DÃºnadan 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 LÃ³rien: 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 palantÃr. 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 DÃºnadan 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 NazgÃ»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: He senses the Ring being used and is able to narrow down where it might be. If he looks again using the palantÃr, he finds a DÃºnadan on the Seat of Seeing where the Ring might have been. He doesn’t know what happened to the two Halflings he knows the orcs captured, and because the Three Hunters are cloaked with Galadriel’s weave and travelling in the orcs’ ruinous trail, he could miss them. The orc trail leads straight to Saruman. Saruman is suddenly uncommunicative. Saruman attacks Helm’s Deep with a superior army but is beaten. Isengard is wrecked at the same time, but no army is in sight. Orthanc itself is intact and looks undamaged. A Halfing looks into the stone. He has no message from Saruman. He is suddenly confronted with the Heir of Isildur using the Stone of Orthanc. The DÃºnadan threatens him with Narsil reforged, and he rips the Stone of Orthanc from his control. 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 NazgÃ»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.