[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by alatar

So which is it? Was Sauron flying or faking?

I agree with what skip said here. Sauron has retreated, but of course first the Council would have needed to have enough power to drive him out in the first place. Otherwise, he would have just merrily remained in Dol Guldur. It was certainly not easy to drive him away from there, Gandalf says:

I alone of you have ever been in the dungeons of the Dark Lord, and only in his older and lesser dwelling in Dol Guldur.

which emphasises the power of Barad-Dur, but at the same time it shows that Dol Guldur, if we placed aside Barad Dur, would be still pretty remarkable. That means that Dol Guldur was at its time (and later, after being reoccupied, too - actually, "with power sevenfold", as Haldir [? I think] says) a mighty fortress and not just one tiny hut in the woods; it had its garrison and all sorts of defenses, no doubt. And you will find more quotes showing in one way or another how mighty it was (e.g. Haldir to Frodo on Cerin Amroth, the Appendices - about Galadriel and others, Gandalf's words to Thorin&co. etc.). So, as soon as it was decided to attack (or rather: as late as it was decided) the Council assembled as much strength as they could, and would attack Dol Guldur. Unfortunately for them, Sauron had already learned about that, so he had a back-up plan, that if they come and prove mightier than his forces (which they did), he could easily retreat to Mordor. Sounds logical, doesn't it? But, had it not been for the "devices of Saruman" (whatever it was - spells, machines, or just "plans"?), Sauron would have merrily remained in Dol Guldur (or possibly just moved to Mordor, but Dol Guldur will remain in his hands all the time, without any interruption).

So, I hope it is clear now. In short: Sauron was driven away, i.e. he had to leave Dol Guldur, was forced to do it. However, knowing beforehand about the attack, he prepared himself - of course he would not just disappear, that would have been indeed curious, and besides, there was always a chance that he would actually win the fight against the Council. Also, I doubt he knew "on 13th August at 5:30 AM they will attack", in fact, the Council did not know until very late that they will attack themselves! (It was decided very fast in place.) So, one day Sauron simply looked out of his window and saw the enemies rushing through the forest, and he thought "Ah, so it has come". Therefore, some battle needed to be fought. The other option would be to leave Dol Guldur empty, but when? He could leave on the 13th August at 5:30 AM and it will later be shown that the enemies planned to attack only five months later. Sauron preferred to stay in the place as long as he could, which makes perfect sense.

Originally Posted by skip spence

Myself I'm more curious about this phrase: "the Council put forth its strength and drove the evil out of Mirkwood" The White Council has an army at it's disposal? And how would this force be made up?

I have actually a long time ago started a thread touching this topic, I may as well link it to you, if you are interested in the matter: HERE.