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I certainly think that the original version of RitD is much more in keeping with the style of the rest of TH up to that point, & that the later, darker, version we're all used to is out of place.
You have to ask whether the change was necessary - the account given in the Prologue of LotR, of the original version of the encounter with Gollum being a lie by Bilbo would have meant he could have preserved the style & charm of TH by keeping it unchanged & allowed LotR to work in its own right.
Certainly the new version was only written by Tolkien & sent to the publishers as an example of the kind of change that would have to be made if TH was to be made to fit with the Gollum of LotR & he was surprised when he found they used it to replace the original, but he let it stand - even though it makes the whole 'lie' scenario in LotR unnecessary.
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