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Sorry Sono, but I don’t buy your rebuttal. Aragorn’s primary goal was not to defeat Sauron but to become worthy of Arwen by saving Gondor, and to thus reunite the bloodlines of the Half-Elven. His historical/mythic purpose – his Duty – is to procreate, not to destroy.
Not so Gandalf: he is entirely sexless and wholly devoted to the combative overthrow of Sauron. In this regard he is like Boromir – can you imagine Boro ever settling down with a nice girl from Rohan in the greenwoods of Ithilien? Nuh-uh. The same is true for Gandalf – he’s not going to be doing anything after the War. One way or another, his purpose is fulfilled; his job is finished with its conclusion.
So while I agree that the Ring would have corrupted Aragorn in time (terrible thought) I still don’t think he would have succumbed before Gandalf. The Wizard was thinking at every point, “How can I defeat Sauron?” and to that the Ring gives a ready answer; Aragorn was thinking at every point, “How can I save Gondor and thus marry Arwen?” – the Ring would have found a way to deceive him into thinking he could have that, but it would take much longer insofar as it’s hard to see how Aragorn could be fooled into thinking that seizing the Ring would give him Arwen until he was completely corrupted. Gandalf, on the other hand, was already pretty desperate to defeat Sauron: so desperate that he conceived of the hare-brained idea of sending the Ring into Mordor in the care of a Halfing!
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Scribbling scrabbling.
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