Could Gandalf have won the war alone?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Letter #131
While he wore it, his power on earth was actually enhanced. But even if he did not wear it, that power existed and was in 'rapport' with himself: he was not 'diminished'.

Raynor's brought up a crucial quote. As long as the Ring existed, then some part of Sauron existed. You could throw all the Gandalfs (Gandalves? ), Aragorns, Gimlis and Legoli you liked at Sauron and beat him to a pulp, but as long as that Ring existed, some part of his incredible power existed, waiting to corrupt the unwary.

That's at the very heart of the difficult decisions made at the Council of Elrond. They could plan and make strategies, pool resources, get their powerful aides such as Gandalf or Galadriel out there to fight and connive and in some way to beat Sauron. They could even use the Ring as Boromir wants to do. But the real difficulty is that the Ring must be unmade to have any kind of effective victory - as long as that exists no victory could be complete.