Who would have fallen?

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Pippin - Merry - Sam - Gimli - Legolas - Aragorn - (Boromir) - Gandalf

Huh. Pippin? Really? Even considering the episode with the palantír? Pippin seems by far too immature and careless to be considered as the Bearer. I'd put him near, or at, the bottom of the list myself. Though I suppose I could see him playing Sam to Merry's Frodo.

I can't see any of the Fellowship besides Boromir attacking Frodo and wresting the Ring from him by force, even at the Crack -- at least until Frodo had "cracked" himself and claimed the Ring, which would make Frodo first to fall again. alatar's comments about Sam seem spot on here.

I'm more interested in scenarios where someone would have to take the Ring. Suppose Frodo had died in Moria, for instance? Who takes up the Ring then? Or, as I mentioned before, suppose Frodo were down in Cirith Ungol -- a more desperate situation. But I suppose we get deep into "what-ifs" then, because presumably with Gandalf and/or Aragorn in the lead, they might not have taken the Cirith Ungol route, or if they did, they'd be more wary about Shelob, more knowledgeable about the effects of her poison, etc.