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Originally Posted by Lotrelf
Gandalf was as powerful. Who knows Valar would intervened directly!
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No Gandalf was not as powerful.
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Originally Posted by TTT, Bk. 3, ch. 5, p. 123
I am Gandalf, Gandalf the White, but Black is mightier still.
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Saruman was "higher in Valinórean stature than the others" and was not stronger than Sauron either. In the text of
The Istari it is said that Saruman "was ensnared by that dark spirit, mightier than he."
The Valar used emissaries [the Istari] to deal with the Sauron problem, not to overwhelm the Children of Ilúvatar with their prowess, but to unite them. Basically what Gandalf did. They would be peers of Sauron, Maiar on a lesser level, and "they were forbidden to match his power with power" [RotK, Appendix B].