What if Saruman had repented at Orthanc ?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Gordis

WOW, Legate, what a great post! I like "what if's" so much and your scenario is excellent.

Well, thank you I like "what if's" as well, that's after all why I wrote it in the first place

In your answer the changes to the history are minor. But you see, IMO, you displace one straw and the whole pile may collapse. For instance:

Now Gandalf leaves alone, Pippin is left with Merry. They would try to ride with the Rohirrim, naturally sticking together. But Eowyn can carry only one hobbit on her horse. So what? Would both hobbits remain behind? Or would they find another horse to ride together?
Anyway, there would be no hobbit close enough to help Eowyn at the Pelennor. Not only would she likely get a free ride to the houses of Lamentation, but the Witch-King would remain alive and well. And here the victory of Pelennor becomes uncertain, Saruman or no Saruman.

I am not saying that all this will necessarily happen. Maybe something else will go wrong. There are so many what if's...

Yep, I said that it is just a possibility, counting on what I consider likely and keeping the original intentions of the characters (their thinking and personalities will likely not change drastically based on Saruman's turning). As for Merry and Pippin, well, I figure that the two of them would have found a way - at most, stealing a horse for themselves or something of that sort.

It is true that one might question the very reasons for them going to war: if they were together, Merry might not get as much time to stick to Théoden, and therefore not pledge him his loyalty. Also, he will feel no need to go to war not to "stay behind" in comparison to Pippin - as Pippin will be with him, of course. Perhaps they will both stick to Aragorn and company - now that might be even more interesting, they will likely be scared to death by the Paths of the Dead, but alongside Legolas and Aragorn, they will likely keep it up.

I was, of course, stemming from the fact that Gandalf would not have the same reason to take Pippin with him as in LotR: since the Palantír will remain locked safely inside Orthanc, Pippin would not get to its proximity in the first place and thus not be tempted to look at it. Of course, one could come up with a way for Pippin to get to it (like, "tailing" the Wise ones when they would go to take a look at it, and in a very Pippin-ish way sneaking to Orthanc at night: with a funny episode of, instead of putting a stone under Gandalf's head, putting a spoon into Saruman's pocket instead of the Keys to Orthanc or something like that). In that case, the changes to the story will be really minor. But based just on mere probability, it does not seem likely.

Nevertheless, when it comes to Witch-King's defeat, it will come in the end anyway. On first thought, one thinks: all right, Éowyn might have nobody to save her, that means that she will indeed die. However, we are forgetting about one important thing. There is no Pippin to warn Gandalf about Denethor burning himself alongside Faramir - and that means also no Pippin to distract Gandalf from riding out to deal with the Witch-King!

Gandalf looked through the gaping Gate, and already on the fields he heard the gathering sound of battle. He clenched his hand. "I must go," he said. "The Black Rider is abroad, and he will yet bring ruin on us. I have no time."
"But Faramir!" cried Pippin. "He is not dead, and they will burn him alive, if someone does not stop them."

As we can see, Gandalf was reluctant to go even here - now if there was nobody to stop him, he will ride out and save Éowyn, possibly even Théoden, if he arrived on time! He might not kill the Witch-King (unless we imagine some heroic scenario of the WK, being driven away from the Rohirrim by Gandalf, chooses to descend upon the incoming ships - of course, there is some Return of the King going on! How dare they! - however, Aragorn having Saruman by his side, we might witness another "Battle of the Sorcerers", and if the WK landed aboard the ship, if Merry and Pippin were with Aragorn, perhaps we could see one Hobbit suddenly attacking WK from behind, and after the WK turns and the poor Hobbit faints from Black Breath, the other Hobbit, horrified, picks up his sword and crying "for the Shire!" stabs the Nazgul for good - with some assistance provided by Aragorn, Saruman, Legolas and/or Gimli to distract the WK from smiting the little Hobbit. Speaking of that, does Legolas or Gimli count as a "living Man"? Likely not).

So, as you see, I don't think it would be that much of a problem if neither Merry or Pippin were there. It is always questionable, but some basic things could be done, one way or the other.