Who would have fallen?

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Originally Posted by davem

In short, no-one who was a potential Ring user was a potential Ring claimer. All those likely to fall were not strong enough to get away with taking it.

davem, though I understand your argument, I'm not sure that the Ring could successfully be reclaimed from one of the slappees. Gandalf was able to help Biblo let go of the Ring, yet this was many years and many miles from Bag End (e.g. they are now a lot closer to a more potent Sauron). Boromir unsuccessfully tried to take it from Frodo; what chance would someone, even Gandalf, have against one of the Fellowship who took the Ring to do something with it?

What if Boromir got the Ring from Frodo? Would Aragorn or Gandalf have been able to get it back? Would Boromir have run off to Minas Tirith with his prize, leaving the Fellowship to fend for themselves? Somehow I feel that if he did take the Ring, then he would have died shortly thereafter by misadventure.

Would Gandalf have to break 'one of the rules' to rend the Ring from Boromir? Would Aragorn have to kill him? What would or could they do against an invisible warrior?

Anyway, Merry and Pippin would have done something foolish after acquiring it (I don't see them as takers), and a storyline could have developed in which the Ring would have to be recovered from Orcs or something. Legolas, Gimli and Sam would not take the Ring, and if they did, they would give it back.