Gandalf Vs. The Witch King

[The 1,000 Reader]

Originally Posted by obloquy

You take for granted your own idea of what Tolkien meant by his letter describing the Witch-King's "added demonic force," which has not been established conclusively. My reading of the letter bears as much legitimacy as yours does, and does not ask us to gloss over holes in logic: for example, If Sauron could literally channel more power into his Nazgul, why not do it when he knew exactly where the Ring was and didn't think anyone knew he was coming for it? Why only soup up the Witch-King? After all, wasn't the War of the Ring an "all or nothing" situation? Sauron wasn't personally at risk in Barad-dur, so why not pump even more vital juice into the Nerd-King?

Sauron never knew where the One Ring was save for when Frodo claimed it in Mount Doom. Sauron, though powerful, was still limited and "powering up" the Witch-King (or anyone) would probably be a tiring process, possibly taking some time. The Witch-King, being the Dark Lord's most dangerous servant, was probably the best candidate for an increase in might. Regarding the War of the Ring being all or nothing, Sauron was quite arrogant, with the most notable example of this being his inability to comprehend anyone trying to destroy the One Ring.


Speaking to everyone here, since Gandalf's purpose in LOTR wasn't to save the day for the people, could PJ have made the scene to show that the people of Middle-Earth would have to save themselves? To me, all the scene appears to do is reinforce that idea. I don't see how Gandalf being bested by the Witch-King is an insult to his character--he just lost a fight. His character is still intact.