What if Gollum had lived?

[Andsigil]

Originally Posted by Moonraker

Nope, not speculation. If Gandalf thought Gollum as evil regardless of what influence the Ring had on him, he would not have offered pity, he would have ordered jail at the very least, or death. Instead, he thought Gollum had a small chance of being cured from the evil of the Ring, and had him treated well by the Wood Elves. Tolkein even suggests that the archers of Gondor killing him in the dark would also be against Gandalf's wishes. The creature was not wholly evil or wicked in origin, and deserved a second chance, to his mind at least.

It is speculation. You said:

so he probably would not agree entirely with your assessment that Gollum was like you say before he saw the Ring for the first time.

which is a guess about what someone (a fictional character, to boot) may or may not think when presented with a (another fictional) hypothetical.

Also, since I never said anything about executing Gollum, I'm not sure what your first quote in my reply here has to do with what we were talking about, or the price of tea in China.