Orcseys - always Evil?

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Raynor

Well, his treachery falls under the conditions of the Quendi and Eldar (fear of torment):

Surely it had nothing to do with Tuor and Maeglin's desire for Idril (or was that HoME?). So Maegil's exempted because he bought his life (temporarily) with the blood of Turgon and the millions of Gondolindrim who perished at the fall of the city.

I agree, they weren't. However, I would opine that their oath and the curse is what led them astray, not a desire to serve Melkor. Then again, you might be right if we give "going down Melkor's road" a large enough meaning - i.e. turning towards evil, for one reason or another. But on the strictest of senses, I would say it was not the case.

True - they didn't serve Melkor, but from their actions, it's hard to see how they could have done his work any better. So in the less strict sense, if an elf can work against Eru (or however you want to phrase it), and yet go west, why cannot the orcs, who, again assuming that they were taken and corrupted by Melkor? Ungoliant served Melkor when it served her purpose. She was evil, yet not always his pet.

Where do we draw the thin red line?