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FarFromHome
Valinor
Mar 3, 3:27pm
Views: 161
Shortcut
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a deliberately planned rescue:
"When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and his guards were slain or taken. It then seemed plain to us that the attack had been made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand. How that was contrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemy are many." (The Council of Elrond)
I must say I'd never thought about the logistics (or the logic) of this "rescue" before noWizardme brought it up, but when you come to look at the details we're given, I think you have to work with the idea that this appeared to be planned by someone, although who isn't very clear. Legolas goes on:
"The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon’s fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place, save where our realm is maintained."
I suppose the "dark things" must belong to Sauron, if they are the same ones that have "returned" since the days of The Hobbit. We never get a clear look at the "spies of the Enemy", although I recall that Aragorn hints darkly at one point that not all the birds can be trusted. So perhaps the "how" isn't too hard to answer, but we are still left with "why".
I'll guess that Sauron wanted Gollum freed again 1) so that he could carry on looking for Baggins and generally causing trouble ("He could work much mischief still, if he were free," says Aragorn, before he hears Legolas' news), and 2) perhaps to prevent Gandalf or anyone else extracting any further information from him.
They went in, and Sam shut the door.
But even as he did so, he heard suddenly,
deep and unstilled,
the sigh and murmur of the Sea upon the shores of Middle-earth.
From the unpublished Epilogue to the Lord of the Rings
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Subject
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User
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Time
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Gollum escapes them all
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noWizardme
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Mar 1, 10:05pm
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My theory
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CuriousG
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Mar 1, 10:29pm
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Nothing quite adds up....
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noWizardme
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Mar 2, 8:01am
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the Mirkwood Minutemen
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PhantomS
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Mar 3, 9:50am
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Rescuing Gollum wasn't the intention
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Mim
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Mar 3, 10:19am
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Legolas thought it was
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FarFromHome
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Mar 3, 3:27pm
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Fiasco rather than rescue?
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noWizardme
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Mar 3, 3:37pm
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It's only a fiasco
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FarFromHome
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Mar 3, 4:59pm
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True! Success for any rescue (as opposed to capture or recapture). Fiasco for the elves.//
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noWizardme
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Mar 3, 5:30pm
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vote for your favourite theory!
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noWizardme
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Mar 3, 6:44pm
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Legolas asks the right question
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Mim
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Mar 3, 11:54pm
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Yes we only have Legolas' guesswork here
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FarFromHome
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Mar 7, 10:02am
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Mirkwood vs Lorien as a Gollum Prison
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sevilodorf
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Mar 5, 2:14am
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Lorien is a closed realm.
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Elizabeth
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Mar 5, 8:27am
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Mirkwood was always the intended prison, it seems
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FarFromHome
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Mar 5, 10:19am
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