Morgoth and his disciple Sauron are both most powerful threats in Middle-earth, but they are far from the only ones. In Peter Jackson’s trilogy, our heroes have a hard time destroying the One Ring and putting an end to the Dark Lord’s evil spawn. Even Gandalf, the famous wizard in the service of Good, has difficulty triumphing over these formidable enemies… His great defeat against Saruman in the first film of the saga is proof of this.
Gandalf VS Saruman, a remarkable fight
Gandalf is one of the fans’ favorite characters of the Lord of the Rings. Sent to Middle-earth to combat the threat posed by Sauron, this magician played by Ian McKellen is as good as he is wise. Along the way, he will have to fight many enemies, including a former ally, Saruman, played by Christopher Lee… Indeed, in The Fellowship of the Ringthe wizard helps Frodo destroy the cursed artifact, and the path to get there is strewn with pitfalls. Determined to guide and encourage the forces of Good in this quest to destroy the forces of Evil, he will realize thatone of his friends has fallen into the wrong camp. Upon his arrival in Isengard, the immense fortress where Saruman is sheltered, the magician will have the unpleasant surprise of finding an enemy, where he had left a companion. But Gandalf does not immediately realize that Saruman has turned his coat around. The latter, however, exudes self-importance and cold assurance.
An unexpected betrayal on the part of Saruman
“against the power of mordor there can be no victory.”
— saruman the white; gandalf the grey; the fellowship of the ring pic.twitter.com/cLH16Bc6oN
— Ø (@tolkienjournal) https://twitter.com/tolkienjournal/status/1620933216159801353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
One of the most obvious reasons why Gandalf will lose his fight against Saruman, as our colleagues at CBR point out, is thathe did not expect that the latter would now be a disciple of Sauron. It is only during the dialogue where he reveals where the Ring is that it becomes clear that Saruman has bad intentions towards Gandalf:
Saroumane : So the ring of power was found.
Gandalf : During all these years, he was in County. Right under my nose.
Saroumane : And you didn’t have the sense to see it? Your love of smoking weed has clearly altered your mind.
Gradually, the conversation becomes more and more explicit. As Gandalf begs his friend to act quickly to counter Sauron, Saruman indicates that the Dark Lord is gathering an army to invade Middle-earthbefore trying to persuade him to join his side. When the two men engage in combat, Gandalf has already understood that Saruman has fallen to the dark side; However, upon arriving in Isengard, the Mage did not expect a confrontation, and was therefore not prepared.
A powerful enemy and a mind elsewhere
Not only is Gandalf taken by surprise by this unexpected duel, but Saruman is also a worthy adversary. Of the five Instari of Middle Earth, he is the one who chairs the White Councilan assembly of wise men. His opponent is still wearing his gray outfit; if he had been Gandalf the White at that time, he would have had a better chance of winning his fight at Orthanc. And that’s not all, since in addition to being less powerful than Saruman, Gandalf’s mind is elsewhere, and more precisely focused on Frodo.
The Nazgûl, nine terrifying specters, are on their way to hunt down and kill the Hobbit, then recover the One Ring. Concerned for the safety of Frodo, now in mortal danger, Gandalf does not have the head in his fight against Saruman. He feels responsible for the Hobbit, whom he launched on a dangerous mission…
And you, what do you think?
