What Was Gandalf's Plan for Defeating Sauron Without the Ring? Did He Have Any Doubts About Its Success?

Though Sauron's Ring was absent from his hand, the power it retained from residing in Middle Earth still nourished him. It is not a prominent theme in the story, but the Ring is sentient and contains a fragment of Sauron's spirit. This makes it possible for a powerful being, such as a Maia or an Elf, to access its power—enough even to use it against Sauron. However, the use of this power could warp the being's will, potentially turning it into another Sauron. This was Sauron's greatest fear, as it would merely replace him. His complete focus was on who would control the Ring, and the notion that anyone could give it up and destroy it for good made no sense to him.

Imagine a scenario where Hitler, Stalin, or another mortal despot possessed some alien technology, an immortal and nearly indestructible mechanical body with his personality partially imprinted on it. If this body disappeared one day, the despot's greatest concern would be that someone else might gain control of it rather than someone destroying it. This parallel underscores Sauron's anxiety and the importance of keeping the Ring out of anyone else's hands.

Gandalf's Strategic Plan: Neutralizing Threats

Gandalf's plan was for Frodo to take the One Ring to Mount Doom, where it would be destroyed. He knew this was the only way to end Sauron's threat forever. In the short term, Gandalf saw that Sauron's plan was to overrun the Free Peoples piece by piece. Therefore, they could only oppose Mordor's might by standing together. Sauron was isolating Gondor by threatening it with various forces: The Easterlings, the Misty Mountain orcs, and Smaug to the north, preventing Gondor from receiving aid; Saruman, threatening the alliance with Rohan in the west; and Umbar Corsairs, threatening Gondor's southern provinces.

Gandalf's strategy was to neutralize these threats so that the Free Peoples could unite behind Gondor, led by King Aragorn and his Rangers. He tackled each threat one by one. In the quest to retake Erebor, Gandalf outmaneuvered Thorin, resulting in the death of Smaug. He freed Theoden from Wormtongue's control, awakening Rohan to oppose and ultimately end the threat of Saruman. When Gandalf himself faced and exiled Saruman, Rohan was freed to send its full might to Gondor's aid. Gandalf then led Aragorn to Gondor, inspiring its people, and Aragorn, seeing the threat in the south, walked the Paths of the Dead. This led to the use of the Army of the Dead to defeat the Corsairs, freeing Pelargir to raise its full power to support Gondor.

The Role of Faith in Gandalf's Strategy

The story explores the theme of faith, with Gandalf trusting Eru Ilúvatar to have a plan to protect the Free Peoples. In the coincidences that brought the Ring to Frodo, perhaps the only being in Middle-earth not corrupted by the Ring's visions of conquest and great power, Gandalf saw signs of Eru's plan. Frodo's lack of ambition to rule over others made him the ideal bearer of the Ring. Seeing the overwhelming might of Sauron's armies, Saruman lost his faith in Eru, just as Denethor did. Gandalf, however, did not focus on the details of the plan. Instead, he trusted in Eru's grand design.

Gandalf recognized that Sauron could not be destroyed by physical force alone. If the combined power of the Free Peoples could defeat his armies and destroy his body, he would simply reform and continue his reign of terror. The destruction of the Ring represented an unprecedented opportunity to end Sauron's threat for all time, and this was the strategy Gandalf believed in and pursued.