Valar and Maia abilities?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Ivriniel

Then, even given all of that--one of the things The Powers just never were able to do: they were the *worst* at being able to see a lie. There was no-one in Arda who really ever had the capacity to read a mind, or a soul, infallibly. In fact, all the ruin in Middle Earth seems attributable to this one major pitfall.....

Well, I would clarify that idea to say that the Valar had great difficulty detecting deception because that act was in itself negative. It was said of Manwë that he did not comprehend Melkor's devotion to evil because Manwë himself was free from it. I think the same could be said of the other Valar. And yes, though that lack of insight led to their being deceived, I see it as also being a saving grace in that none of them followed Melkor into evil, turning away from their assigned duty of "administering" Arda for the One.