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The Over-the-Bree-Hill Gang Rides Again - Page 4

© Michael Martinez

Now, take the Blue Wizards, and what have you got? A couple of Maiar who had remained faithful to the Valar (and Iluvatar) throughout most of Time. These guys might have failed in their missions, but would they completely rebel? Even Saruman didn't really achieve much. How long had he been sour on the cause? A few decades? A couple of centuries? Gandalf still believed Saruman could be redeemed, right down until they met for the last time in Dunland. Did Gandalf ever hold his hand out to Sauron and say, "Well, you've done some wrong, son, but if you work with us you could get a reprieve"? Not a chance. Sauron was too far gone for that kind of offer. He had had his chance, and he blew it. Had Saruman not been killed in the Shire, had he not gone back there to achieve some petty, malicious revenge against the Hobbits, he could have scurried off to the shadows, retreated to distant lands, and plotted to become the next Dark Lord. It's true that he had lost a great deal of his power (and we need not debate whether that was due to Gandalf's work at Isengard, the destruction of the One Ring, or both). But Saruman was an immortal being who, unlike Sauron, had not fully divested himself of his strength. What's a few thousand years of recovery to a Maia? If Sauron could grow stronger through the ages, then so, too, could Saruman. Saruman was still "anchored", as it were. The Blue Wizards, however, never became a threat to Middle-earth. Whether it was simply not in their nature or they lacked the power, they didn't have to be dealt with as Saruman had been. Gandalf wasn't sent east to find out what happened to the other Istari, or to bring them to task for wandering from the ways of Iluvatar. He was allowed to return home. Some people point to Gandalf's prophetic statement, "other evils there may be", and suggest that other servants of Morgoth may still linger undiscovered. But I don't think Gandalf was thinking strictly in terms of what the Ainur could achieve if they went rogue. Men were capable of inflicting great evil upon themselves. Even prior to World War II, we had already committed some grievous deeds against our fellow man. The Assyrians slaughtered whole tribes and left the skulls of their victims piled up alongside the roads as a display of their power. The Romans conquered an immense empire, forcing whole tribes into slavery, often wiping out entire towns and cities which proved troublesome.

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