Who would have fallen?

[The Saucepan Man]

I don't hold with this "X had the chance and didn't seize the Ring" argument. I think that we can all agree that, in terms of vulnerability to the lure of the Ring, Boromir was the weakest. So, we do not even begin to consider who would be next until following Boromir's attempt. Any opportunities that any of them may have had up to that point are irrelevant because they all would have resisted given the same opportunities. The primary reason being that (in my opinion), the Ring's power (and its need to "take action" to avoid destruction) grows in strength the closer that it gets to Mordor.

The question for me, therefore, is who would have been the next person to fall to the Ring's lure had they all stayed with Frodo on his Quest to Mordor. It is quite possible that none of them would have succumbed. I believe that they all would have succumbed eventually (with the possible exception of Gandalf, being as he is described as being equal in "power" to Sauron), given sufficient time and exposure but it is possible that they would have reached Mount Doom before the Ring had an opportunity to corrupt any of them. But, if I have to choose one (which this poll requires), then I choose Aragorn.

My reasons are stated in the link that I provided. My assumption was that the character in question would have to physically seize the Ring from (and therefore either rob or attack) Frodo, as Boromir did. I agree that if it came down to a question of who would (or should) have taken the Ring in the event of Frodo's death (or apparent death), then the analysis might be different.

I also identified the order in which I thought each member of the Fellowship would "fall", given sufficent time and exposure.

Originally Posted by Fordim Hedgethistle

...it just really boils my tea to see people who think that Aragorn could have taken the Ring. I mean, how can you think that after Faramir gave it up? Faramir! The ultimate pallid Aragorn-wannabe! If he can resist the Ring, Aragorn certainly can.

The point is that Faramir did not have anything like the exposure to the Ring that the Fellowship would have had if they had accompanied with Frodo on his Quest all the way to the Crack of Doom. Had you included Faramir as a "putative Fellowship member" I would have chosen him, as I agree that he would have "fallen" before Aragorn.