Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikkolas
Saruman is perhaps just not suited for combat, lacking the necessary courage or fortitude to expend himself and his essence in a life-threatening manner like Gandalf did.
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Another factor may have been that Saruman had already begun following the path of Sauron and Morgoth before him - to whit, expending his native power to dominate and subjugate slaves, armies and (he desired) other peoples. While the total power may have been greater than Gandalf, it was more disbursed and, in a way, more vulnerable to being destroyed piecemeal.
Thus, when Morgoth's armies were destroyed in the War of Wrath, what remained (Morgoth, himself) hid in fear and was THEN easily captured and taken back to judgement.
And when Sauron's armies were destroyed in the Last Alliance, what remained (Sauron, himself) could be fought and defeated in direct, physical combat by an Elf and a Man (or by three Elves and two men).
Likewise, Saruman's power was being (probably he wasn't as far on this path as Sauron) disbursed in his slaves and to focus his power would have meant focusing all his armies and arming them to fight and burn a walking forest. But, by the time his armies came to grips with Huorns, many of them had already been killed by the Rohirrim and the rest were demoralized and ill prepared to battle walking trees.
Gandalf had never disbursed his native power and so was better equipped to face a Balrog (and even he failed to survive).