Quote:
Originally Posted by Morthoron
The same can be said of Aragorn. If Denethor survived, there would be little he could do. Aragorn had control of the army, was victorious against Sauron, had a claim for the throne better than anyone in a millenium, and was highly respected by both Prince Imrahil and Faramir; whereas, Denethor, had he survived, could be charged with dereliction of duty and perhaps attempted murder and treason. From a cynical standpoint (and not at all in Aragorn's character), all that had to be done was to reveal that Aragorn was the great Thorongil returned, and Denethor would have been sent into retirement somewhere unpleasant, like in a hut overlooking a slag pit in the Morgul Vale.  |
Or combine both this and the other concept; make Denethor Lord of the now conquered Mordor lands, and task HIM with putting them back into shape on a sort of "You sort of helped to cause all this, now you fix it!" mentality. It probably isn't all that risky. However much Denethor hates Aragorn, he hated Modor even more, so concepts like him trying to become the new dark lord himself seems remote. Aragorn could even let him keep the Anor stone(he has the Orthanc stone, so he really doesn't need to keep two so close together) so that he can keep an eye on him. Let Denethor keep those troops that are loyal to him (presumably his personal guard) and see how he does.