i think Gandolf really dropped the ball on the whole quest to destroy the ring

[charlie and algernon]

did he convienently forget about the eagles till the very end? He never considered sending 5 of them with the ring to drop it from the air into the volcano? Or even to have 1 or 2 provide air cover over the fellowship? How high must one be to allow that kind of oversight?

[Danger Mouse]

1. Maybe the eagles are vulnerable to the ring's effects, too?

Or maybe that'd be too obvious?

[XemaSab]

2. .

:rofl:

[arcadian]

3. Susan Boyle

[Catshrink]

10. Sarah Palin

Joe the Plumber

Fucking teabaggers

Rush

[leeroysphitz]

4. That's just what they'd be EXPECTING him to do...

[JimWis]

5. I just finished watching it (again) and was thinking the same thing.

[RoyGBiv]

6. The Eagles were drama queens ...

They'd only show up in situations where they could make a grand entrance.

[texanwitch]

7. I have thought the same thing for years.

The book and movie would have been really short.

[RandomThoughts]

8. silly person,

Nazguls would have gone after the eagles, and found the ring. Not to mention, the temptation of carrying the ring, may have been more then even an eagle could defeat.

After the ring is destroyed, or just before, they could join in the battle at the gates.

But most importantly, the eagles are not treated as if Gandalf commands them, they would do as they wanted, and might not have joined the battle without first seeing the good and courage of the hobbits, Ents, elves, and men and women of Gondor and Rohan.

To think Gandalf can just give orders to the Eagles is a fundamental misconception of what he stood for.

[Hanse]

9. The eagles weren't allowed to interfere with the affairs of mortals.

Being divine beings in the form of giant eagles, they were allowed to interact with Middle Earth, but not in any direct, major way. So they could save Frodo from Mt. Doom, sure. And help Gandalf (also an angel) get off of the tower of Isengard. And fight in the Battle of the Five Armies. But actually be directly responsible for the destruction of Sauron? Nope, no chance. That would be like the ghost of Hamlet's dad just killing his uncle himself.

Besides, the eagles never would have made it past Sauron's defenses until after he was killed.