Did Gollum deserve death?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Lotrelf

Gollum wasn't happy when he had the Ring,Mithalwen. was what Gandalf had said. This doesn't sound like being happy to me.

I think what Mith meant was that at the moment of Gollum's fall into the Cracks, he was then fully content. He had his Precious again, he was saving Frodo, for whom he actually did have some genuine affection, he was forever depriving Sauron of the Ring, and Gollum himself could die, finally free of the Ring's influence forever.