I too feel that Radaghast was sold short; he is sort of like the free-spirited, nature-loving son who decides not to take over the family business. As honorable as the family business may be, you cannot discredit the son too much for choosing a life that revolves around understanding & interacting with the natural world, instead of the business world. Of course, this analogy trivializes the whole affair, but you get my drift.
But
Saucepan Man, can we be sure about Alatar & Pallando? In the "Istari" essay in
Unfinished Tales it says:
Quote:
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Of the Blue little was known in the West... for they passed into the East with Curunír, but they never returned, and whether they remained in the East, pursuing there the purposes for which they were sent; or perished; or as some hold were ensnared by Sauron and became his servants, is not now known. But none of these chances were impossible to be; for, strange indeed though this may seem, the Istari, being clad in bodies of Middle-earth, might even as Men and Elves fall away from their purposes, and do evil, forgetting the good in the search for power to effect it.
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It is uncertain whether they truly stayed in the East to fulfill their purpose, or whether they turned to evil or stopped caring; though I agree that declaring that they have failed without any substantial evidence does not seem justified.
Ironically, the last statement about "forgetting the good in the search for power to effect it" seems to tie in with the 'Tolkien, Technology & War' discussion, since the same statement can be applied to the scientific minds who attempt to make great strides that benefit humanity only to create things like the atom bomb. But that is a topic for another thread.