If everything Sauron had created had not been destroyed when he was, who would have taken his spot? (keep in mind the Witch King and the Mouth of Sauron are dead)
Interesting speculation ... I have no sure answer ... but I think the process would be a bloody one ... and the answer not an already evil one ... but rather based on corruption of someone who had been good. Remember at the Mirror of Galadriel when Frodo offered her the One Ring;
"Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. `Wise the Lady Galadriel may be,' she said, `yet here she has met her match in courtesy. Gently are you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting. You begin to see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer. For many long years I had pondered what I might do, should the Great Ring come into my hands, and behold! it was brought within my grasp. The evil that was devised long ago works on in many ways, whether Sauron himself stands or falls. Would not that have been a noble deed to set to the credit of his Ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest?
`And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! '
She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
'I pass the test,' she said. `I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel." (The Lord Of The Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter VII ~ "The Mirror of Galadriel", pg 366)
But what if it was Thranduil. He had so much corruption at his borders ... he would start by using Sauron's assets to expand his kingdom pushing out the spiders and Orcs. Then he becomes corrupted and seeks to ensnare the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and the men of King Brand ... he might even corrupt Beorn (who was suspicious of men & dwarves in the first place) and gain a powerful allies. Maybe even finding one or two of the Blue Istari as wizard advisers
A very interesting speculation ... with all sorts of plot twists ...
I will be looking forward to others responses ... A very nice idea Teralectus, Bear
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Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit Called or uncalled, God is present
I've always fancied that the treasuries of Barad Dur might have been perused instead of utterly destroyed after the War of the Ring. Aragorn would not want to repeat the mistake of his forefathers by leaving the foundations in place afterwards and would have had them destroyed. Undoubtedly, Aragorn's forces would have made their way through the stronghold, releasing prisoners and recapturing things that did not belong to Sauron. In that time some of Aragorn's Captains would have seen the Rings of Power. Would they have been looted and taken as "Weregild"???
Perhaps by their crafting, and without Sauron's influence they are still cursed? We may never know. But if this scenario were to play out, a new enemy would arise in time.
Good question...
Worthy of the Speculation Thread that someone ingeniously created some time ago.....ahem......just saying....
Thranduil, is a definite possibility. He has a mean streak to him. Especially when you remember some of the scenes of the "Desolation of Smaug" and not helping but hindering the dwarves and Bilbo. I guess Legolas was not too thrilled with his dad either, seeing he went on quest of the Ring with Frodo some years later.
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Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, Jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
And what of the Blue Wizards? People assume they went about undermining the Dark Lord's rule in the far east, but then what? Word comes of the downfall, along with hordes of fleeing, leaderless orcs. I would guess that the wizards, or perhaps one of them, would see the need to assume direct control and guidance of the people to guard against chaos. In time, such power would bring about corruption, and maybe a falling out between wizards.The darker wizard would speak against the West, who had had little thought for Easterlings in their time of need. He would speak of a Dark Tree, sending its roots westward to found cells of discontent in Gondor. And most certainly he would not foolishly cast his essence into some bauble for half-wits to play with. By the time the East was ready for a direct assault, the undermining of Gondor would be complete. Men would be on their own, with no elves or dwarves to help them, except perhaps a disaffected blue wizard, or even a brown.
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Pay little heed to these Great Ones with their boast and bluster. I have been threatened by no less than a wizard, yet bear no scars.
