Gandalf's Staff

[Earendilyon]

'What ifs' have no point in fiction, IMO, because the story is as it was written by the author.
Anyway: if Gandalf had gotten away, he would have prevented Boromir from attacking Frodo, who wouldn't have fled alone with Sam to Mordor. Merry and Pippin wouldn't have been captured, for Gandalf woul'd have prevented that also. The Ents wouldn't have been roused, so Saruman would've conquered Rohan, preventing them from aiding Gondor. Gondor would've been overcome by the power of the Witch King. They even would not have had the aid of the Undead, for Aragorn wouldn't have been there to take them with him to Pelargir. (As a side note: the Undead wouldn't have redeemed themselves.)
The Fellowship (except prob. for Boromir and Aragorn, who would've travelled to Minas Tirith) would go to Mordor. Since Sauron had not to spend all his efforts in attacking Gondor and keeping in check Saruman and making his Mordor armies ready for the war, he would have ample of time and energy to seek the One Ring. He would have been aided by the fact of Gandalf's presence, who he would feel when close by.
To come to the point of all this: the West would have been utterly lost and even we would now be living in dire circumstances (which we wouldn't mind, because we would not know any other reality).

Edit: I typed 'Boromir and Gandalf' instead of 'Boromir and Aragorn'. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

[ October 11, 2003: Message edited by: Earendilyon ]