Two Dark Lords?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by deagol

It makes for a wonderful epic, but a cynic might suggest that Frodo's ability to overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in his path was mightily convenient, both in terms of a ripping good yarn and the will of the Dark Lord.

Convenient? It took every ounce of Frodo's will and Hobbit-born humility to make it to Mt. Doom. And at the end, he failed, as would anyone with less strength than Sauron's. If he seems to have received more 'luck' in his quest than he should have, the same could be said for Beren, or Eärendil couldn't it?

Originally Posted by deagol

It seems to me that all the while the Ring (the influence of Sauron) was going exactly where it wanted to go, and all the designs of the Council and heroics of the Fellowship (the best laid plans, you might say) could all be seen as mere extensions of the Ring's (Sauron's) will to click its heels three times and recite "There's no place like home."

The Ring, containing Sauron's power and spirit, indeed wanted to get back to its master in Mordor. But Mt. Doom was not what it had in mind. Depsite the fact that its power increased so exponentially as it neared the forge of its making that any bearer would not have been willing at that point to harm it, the very idea of it being so close to total destruction alarmed Sauron.

Then [Sauron's] wrath blazed in consuming flame, but his fear rose like a black smoke to choke him. For he knew his deadly peril, and the thread upon which his doom now hung.

ROTK Mt Doom

Originally Posted by deagol

There was no worry that the silly little hobbit would actually cast the Ring away. As far as Sauron knew, no one ever had. But for the interference of the redoubtable Smeagol -- another of those pesky, unpredictable creatures, things worked out as wonderfully as Sauron might have hoped.

Are you suggesting that the Ring knew what Frodo was trying to do? I really don't see that. Surely if it had known, it would have 'left' Frodo at some opportune moment, as it had Isildur and Gollum long before.

x/d with Ibrin