[Kuruharan]

All right, if Saruman had been smart here's what he would have done.

He would have concealed his true mind from Gandalf. Given Gandalf an answer to satisfy the reason why he had come. Maybe even say something along the lines of, "Why Gandalf, my dear chap, why don't you bring this little Ring down here to Isengard and then the two of us could together decide on what to do with it." Even if he did not say that he should have let Gandalf depart thinking that he (Saruman) was still on the side of Good. Afterwards, if Gandalf had brought Frodo to Isengard then the Ring would have been his. If not, it is much more likely that the Fellowship would have travelled through the Gap of Rohan, maybe even to Isengard itself to consult with Saruman. Same ending.

During the time that Gandalf would have been away, Saruman would have been visited by the Black Riders searching for the Ring. Saruman would have to come up with a very convincing story sending them off to the Iron Hills or some other place sufficiently remote to get them out of the picture for at least a little while.

After Saruman got the Ring things would not really become less "interesting." As has been suggested, he probably could have more easily squashed Rohan with the Ring, but as has also been mentioned that would only expose him to the power of Mordor. Upon obtaining the Ring he should have continued his hidden course, continuing to pretend to serve Good to keep Rohan and Gondor as buffer states to shield him from the Red Eye. During the initial phases he should refrain from personally touching the Ring, and he would also have to break contact with Sauron through the Seeing Stones. What he should have been doing during this interval is continuing to build up his strength and doing all he can to aid Rohan and Gondor in their fight against Mordor. Obviously, Ugluk and Crew would have given the game away instantly, but I think that a horde of wild Dunlanders sent to aid Gondor and Rohan would have been welcomed.

Sooner or later Saruman would have to gather himself and try to win mastery of the Ring. The moment that he did so Sauron, Galadriel, and Elrond would be aware of him (Gandalf you recall being out of the picture.) However, above all else he should still maintain the guise of serving Good for as long as possible. Obviously, this would not work with the Elves, but the Elves are not important. The Men and their large kingdoms protecting him from Mordor are. This is another reason Saruman must stop using the Stone, because Denethor would be aware of Saruman possessing the Ring and the game would be up. As a matter of fact, if possible, Saruman should not openly reveal that he has the Ring at all. The Elves and Sauron would know of course, but the humans did not trust the Elves (certainly not Galadriel) and Saruman should have made every effort to intercept messages between the more trusted Elrond and Gondor. Sauron would probably not even bother to tell his enemies what he knew, and if he tried they would have no reason to listen to him.

Then would come the showdown. If all went well, Saruman would be commanding the forces of Gondor, Rohan, and Dunland against Mordor and most of the rest of the East and South. This is where things get unpredictable. If the Ring enabled the Bearer to actually command the orcs then Saruman should have brough his own in tow (hidden from his human allies) and then when the moment was right taken control of the orc hosts of Mordor, unleashed his own orcs from hiding, turned the Dunlanders against his erstwhile human allies (unless they submit to him of course), and kill every human (except the Dunlanders) in sight. Who knows, some of the Southrons and Easterlings might have switched sides seeing the "Great and Glorious Saruman of Many Colors" unveiled on the battlefield in all his splendor, but that would probably not really matter. Much of the course of the battle would also depend on the circumstances of the fight, and Saruman's ability as a commander. If he won this battle then Middle earth would have been his for the taking.

There are obviously many, many problems, and holes in the above strategy. The biggest wildcard would have been Saruman's ability (or lack thereof) to control the Ring. Tolkien himself said that this was not possible so there goes the whole thing right there.

However, since this is a speculative sort of thread, assuming that Saruman could control the Ring, there are still several variables. The most important is when he chose to try to assert his control of the Ring, what Sauron would have tried to do, and the role of the Nazgul. They probably would not have been able to do anything to him directly, but their fealty was to Sauron alone, he held their Nine Rings. They would certainly have tried something.

Another variable is Denethor. If he somehow found out about all of this then the game would have been up.

Yet another variable is what exactly one could do with the Ring. Saruman may or may not have been able to control Sauron's orcs. If not the problem becomes much more complex i.e. he would still have been heavily outnumbered.

And still, yet another variable was Saruman's ability as a general. He did not strike me as being militarily gifted. Now if he had the military ability of Napoleon he might have been able to pull it off, even if he were heavily outnumbered. However, he struck me more as having the military ability of Gomer Pyle so...

It seems like there are some variables that I have left out, but I can't remember them, and this post is long enough already.

Basically the whole key to this strategy is Saruman's ability to keep his secret, well, secret for as long as possible. The more time that he was able to gain, the better off that he would have been.

Comments, scalding criticisms, flaming rebukes? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ March 01, 2002: Message edited by: Kuruharan ]