June 27, 2002

The Role of the White Tower
Brett C.

Danny, don't sell Minas Tirith short. Gandalf told Pippin he would be as safe in Minas Tirtih as anywhere when war broke out. Galadriel's power meant that nothing less than the coming of Sauron himself could breach Lorien's defences, but to do that he first had to win the passage of the Anduin at a point where he could easily move large amounts of troops across quickly, and could also not afford to have a large enemy army at his back while he marched a host north to attack Lorien. Taking Minas Tirith was key to his plans. The attacks on Lorien may have been to keep the Elves too busy to send significant aid to the defence of the West.

While we're on the subject two thoughts just occured to me. First, in the appendice Danny mention it says that Galdriel threw down the walls of Dol Guldur by her power, but this would have been after the destruction of the Ring, which means her ring should also have failed. Is this a discrepency?

Also, considering the vital importance of eventually taking Lorien, maybe all those years the Balrog sat in Moria were in preparation for the attack on the Golden Wood during the War of the Ring. Having the demon certainly would have made things a lot more interesting for the Elves, even with Galdriel's help. But of course, that prickly little wizard showed up at just the wrong moment. Poor Sauron. He just can't catch a break.