What if smeagol got killed by Bilbo in the misty mountains tho. Would the fellowship succeed in destroying the ring? Would Gandalf have suspected that Bilbo’s ring was the one ring? Would Sauron know that it was found?

What if Saruman had claimed the Ring for himself? Would he have been an even greater foe than Sauron?

What if Celebrimbor disclosed the location of the three elven Rings to Sauron?

What if The fellowship had thrown the ring into the pit of Moria that the balrog and Gandalf fell into? Could that have been as good as destroying it? Or would Saron still have been too powerful for the free people’s to overcome?

What if Tolkien never wrote any literature, how long do you think or even if at all, D&D and all the lore/education/fantasy surrounding it, would of happend? Was there any other Author dabbling in this.

Underrated

But he was delayed and didn’t arrive when he meant to at the prancing pony

FACTS 🤯

@@orestessophocleous4026 maybe he was meant to be delayed. If the Gandalf met with them at the Prancing Pony, Aragorn wouldve never been able to help the hobbits and be a part of the Fellowship of the Ring!👀

Hahaha

TOM BOM, BOMBADIL

The kingdom of Angmar should have a little unoccupied dot of foreign territory just north and east of the Old Forest.

Gandalf thinks that Tom Bombadil would eventually lose against Sauron, in The Fellowship od the Ring (he tells Frodo that "he would probably be the last one to fall"), so I don't see him resisting forever against Angmar's army

@@sandmaneyes 🎵 TOM. BOM. BOMBADIL TOM. ~~ARAGORRRN~~ TOM. BOM. BOMBADIL TOM. ~~ARAGORRRN~~ SAM. SAM. SAM GAMGEEEE. 🎶

@@the_nephandi4551 yeah but it would surely be too much trouble. They would probably let a spot untouched for a long long time.

Nazgul: I know right wouldn’t that be embarrassing to be killed by some random marksman in the FIRST TOWN you would attack in YEARS.

Smaug yo bro I know just imagine if some fisherman bard or some shit just got a lucky potshot Nazgûl bro I know

Smaug: Yo, Sauron, can you do something for this missing scale? Sauron : let's see....ah yes, a damaged quick is why the scale didn't regrow. No problems, just let me...(uses magic to heal wound)...there we go, good as new! Smaug: (checks chest) why thank you. Now I am invincible!!!!! Beer is on me tonight.

I would argue that the mouth and eyes are bigger weakpoints

@@RupertTheOctopus It Won't hit it either he will dodge for Blow them away with his fire or wings

But in the new meeting with Thorin while preparing that army, Gandalf would speak of the map, and they would found out about the hidden gate. Knowing that gate the chances of the dwarves to defeat Smaug would have been greater. The question is, would the elves and the men of Vale just let an army of dwarves pass by? Would the Orcs and Goblins too? No, so probably the Battle of the Five Armies would have taken place years later, and with a living dragon to face them as well... Too risky XD

I mean for the people of lake town an dwarfen army would be there best bet to kill the dragon in hundred of years (no one was trying it befor or would do it again) and with an large group entering from the secret door as well as years of preparation the dwarf could have won. With great loses but nonetheless. Also the orks maybe didnt attacked them. An army of dwarfs sitting in there kingdom is still a big threat to anyone.

The issue comes during the march towards Erebor, the elves likely wouldn't permit an army of dwarves to pass through their lands and the orcs would certainly attack the dwarves before they could reach the mountain.

The one person missing is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. He was always Gandalf's Ace in the Hole. And the most crucial element of all is the One Ring itself. It is always thought of something passive, as opposed to intelligent power with its own agency. If not Bilbo, it would have found another Bearer instead. A Dunedain?

Gandalf most likely never would have met Aragorn, as he met him while he was searching for Gollum

It's the butterfly effect. Only this time the butterfly is an absolute unit

It's like a sexy side plot that you don't need so many details to enjoy.

OR you can take in alllll the details and come up with this nerdy shit I can't get enough of.

True. Sauron wouldn't need the other 2 once the forces of good were defeated. They are also the last 2 remaining beings of power that would stand a chance to fight him

They'd merge into an armored dragon in white robes: Smaurumong

@@christophernemeth421 true but there is also a possibility of Smaug being content after receiving even more riches. And Sauron probably wouldn't make a move until he found the one ring cause most of his power would not be with him otherwise

And then the Valar would come

@@scockery thank you, I am now imagining saruman and Smaug doing the dragonballz fusion dance lolol

Thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch. Great Actor.

@@Samulise Yeah.

Yeah but the mighty dragon Smaug ate up all the budget for CGI so the those other animations look not good. Rewatch the scene when Bilbo wakes the dragon up. The pile of goldcoins looks very very bad around the pillars.... Yeah and all these orcs.

​@@MrFeuerkuchen you must be pretty annoying to hang out with

Yeah. Absolutely. I just rewatched them, for the first time since I saw them in theaters. I remember being underwhelmed by them, as a whole, but thinking YES! they did the Dragon right. That's still true. All the scenes with Smaug are excellent. But I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I also very much enjoy the 'Riddles in the Dark' scene in the first film.

@@Linkskyfyre i would hope the Eagles would take a more significant role at that point!!!! And for some strange reason I think Saruman would have intervened as it would've messed up his plans of dominating Middle Earth...... plus Smaug can't be controlled so either way I think it would've backfired big time for Sauron!!!

Yep

Nah, in the movies at least, we just get another cgi shot of Legalos shooting him instead of Bard, with Gimli yelling how it only counts as one, or just standing there dumbstuck, muttering to himself

@@backonmygrind6826 ehhhhh there is only one thing i dont agree with. And that is sarumans compliance with sauron here. I think he only joined sauron AFTER the one ring was found. As in only after the events of the hobbit does he start changing sides.

It's pretty interesting how many small moments have very big, lasting impact!

I have a feeling Gandalf's "chance" encounters were well planned

Such is the way of life. "The flap of a butterflies wings can create a hurricane on the other side of the world. If given time"

What if Hitler was accepted into art school 🤔

@@notayoutuber3518 unfortunately, WWII was just a direct consequence of WWI, so even if Hitler wasn't there, fascisms would have still rosen

Smaug would probably be wise enough to flee at the first look of galadriel and Gandalf's power if they let him flee that is and he would be bitter about the loss of his gold and more ready to ally himself with Sauron

@@renarddubois940 i don't think they would have that much of a chance

@@brachialtick6539 I don't agree, I think the White Council could defeat Smaug.

@@58jharris Smaug is much more powerful than a severely weakened sauron. They probably could not win against a full power Sauron/Smaug but i'm not certain. After all smaug was only defeated by luck

@@brachialtick6539 and yet we have seen Dragons far more monstrous and great than Smaurg, in both size and in strength, slained by either a single champion or probably several normal warriors in the War of Wrath during the First Age. I doubt Smaurg could stand against the combined force of two Nordorian Elven Lord/Lady and two freaking Gods in disguised

After all, he was the greatest dragon of the 3rd age.

Dragons are blinded by wealth in Tolkien's universe. Pretty ez to bribe them imo if you could offer something great as Sauron did in this theory - the rule over the northern middle earth.

@AlHasan Sameh Sauron doesn't really seem the type to try and brute force Smaug into submission (if he was strong enough to, which I doubt), he seems like the type who'd manipulate Smaug

@AlHasan Sameh sauron was essentially a glorified secretary, but he was definitely a lot smarter than what he let on!

Dragons were always loyal to Morgoth. No reason to believe that it would be any different with Sauron. But a fun "what if".

me too :)

@Richard Garrett This links to what if Gandalf took the ring. He asked what if GALADRIEL took the ring.

@Richard Garrett The link is for if Gandalf took it

I have a feeling she would become a queen as terrible as the dawn

I'm also very interested in this scenario. Galadriel is my favorite character

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

@@SehlraC Thats because it comes straight from the books if im correct. But instead of Smaug its Dain who speaks to the messenger.

@@YawnWoofDog Correct, id does come from the books from the Fellowship when a messenger, hooded and cloaked, comes to the Lonely Mountain and exchanges the following dialogue with King Dain. Bascially the messenger offers the friendship of Mordor, and seeks information of a 'Baggins' and 'Shire' and seeks a ring. A lesser ring, the merest of trifles that Sauron desires. In return for their friendship and information of this Baggins or this minor unimportant ring, the messenger promises that Sauron will give Dain the Three remaining Dwarven Rings of Power. As before Dain said neither yes nor no, and wants more time to consider the message. For his time is still his own. The messenger gives the same veiled threat 'for now at least'. And departs. The key difference is what occurs next. While Smaug is convinced to ally with Sauron, Dain's reaction is the opposite. He summons Gloin, and orders him and his son Gimli to travel to Rivendell with all speed to bring warning to both Elrond, the White Council and Bilbo that dark forces are seeking him. And then he tells his warriors to prepare for war. So when war came to the North, the forces of Mordor did not find them unprepared.

@@NerdoftheRings It may interest you to know that the game The Lord of the Rings: War in the North adapted that same bit of dialogue to a conversation between a servant of Sauron and a dragon of their own making.

Damn right ✅️. If he gives the rings up there's no books and no movies either. Just a paradox.

I kinda agree, only Melkor could control Balrogs and Dragons, Mairon would have to put his ring and all other rings, to even come close to subordinating Balrog or a Dragon. and making pacts with them would be very difficult - Smaug was darn lazy, and Mairon would rather provoke him to battle common enemies, than buy his alliance.

Yeah I think we would gotten another Melkor&Ungoliant story

he would not part with a single coin

I definitely agree. I don't think Smaug cared about any one side, and would have stayed neutral.

Then mordor is starting to look terrifying.

It is pure luck that Sauron never found out Durin’s Bane existed. Otherwise, I could easily see those two striking an alliance together-to say nothing of Smaug being still alive. The importance of Gandalf systematically taking out two of the heaviest players that could’ve aided Sauron in the Third Age before he could team up with them, is beyond staggering. Like, imagine how bad the Battle of Minas Tirith was. Just picture that battle for a moment…and then, Durin’s Bsne shows up. And not long after, Smaug.

@@joshuastrittmatter4188 The thing is that Balrog and Sauron are both Maiar so it's highly unlikely that Durin's Bane would bow to Sauron who is possibly on the same power level as him A partnership could've been made but it still would've been a problem

@@Darkstar_Dayne I never said he would bow to Sauron. An alliance is literally what I stated.

@@joshuastrittmatter4188 I just don't see it happening. The balrog has no armies or kingdom. It has only hate and malice. It was a relic of Melkor's failure. It had no goal it could ever accomplish. It doesn't have any ambition and it can't be bought. It just wanted to sit in the dark and stew in it's hate until the end of time. I don't think anyone could have gotten the Balrog on their side. Melkor was the only being in the universe that could have gotten the Balrog back into the action. Sauron had nothing the Balrog wanted because the Balrog didn't want anything. Sauron couldn't have gotten the Balrog to get out of bed. Let alone go to war together.

Saruman Smaug and Sauron? Nice threesome x)

It is highy likely they would have fallen out with each other.

@@mussardlucien6355 *foursome: Everyone forgets that the Balrog is still alive too

@@AeneasGemini that one would surely serve saurom as he is the Balrogs former masters apprentice lmao

@@enricozoller9535 I think the Balrog could definitely come into play here. If you look at the way things play out, Moria is basically ignored while the battles against the Free Peoples go on. Meanwhile, Gollum had already become a little lax and restless hiding in the Misty Mountains. I think sooner or later, he gets caught by goblins, and the Great Goblin claims the Ring. Depending on how that goes down, it might be a bit tough for the outside powers to get to him; they'd be hard to storm from the outside. But there's no telling if the Balrog might have a path in the depths of the earth. And if he claims the Ring, he's got the power to use it fully and supplant Sauron.

It would! I actually started down that path, when I re-discovered the Gandalf quote about it all coming down to the chance meeting between him and Thorin and decided to go with that.

@@NerdoftheRings that makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

@@AduAlexxx Still, the scenario of the quest failing at, for example, the mountain, would be interesting aswell. So the ring may have been found and the group already gathered.

@@SantaClause862 Smaug with the ring would have...changed things.

not very different ig, either bilbo gets killed in one of the battles and his ring might get discovered or worse, if he returns to the shire, and on getting enslaved, Sauron defo would have got that ring

😁

Sauron probably didn't even know that the Balrog was even there. Nerd of the Rings even hypothesized in another video that Sauron and the Balrogs were on the same power level. Even if he knew the Balrog was there, he probably deliberately left it alone or would've looked to it as an ally rather than a servant. At least at first.

I dont think the balrog would answer to sauron. Arent balrogs just maiar who changed their appearence and shapeshifting potential into more direct power? As far as i remember, they are servants of melkor. Not sauron who is roughly at their power level.

Both Smaug and the Balrog would have heeded commands from Sauron. The Balrog was indeed a Maiar like Sauron, however Sauron outranked all the Balrogs (Including Gothmog) just as Sauron outranked all five of the Istari.

@@wij2012Gaming Yes, like Smaug. But Sauron is more powerful than the Durin's Bane, he was in the same hierarchy that ancalagon, glaurung and gothmog (Strongest Balrog) were as Morgoth's best lieutenants. A lesser Balrog would not be his equal, if he regained his power at least. But then its the same with smaug, Sauron treated him as an ally.

Bilbo would have likely claimed the Ring for his own, briefly becoming the Dark Lord of the Shire, in the process: -putting the Sacksville-Baggins to death -conquering the Breelands -Slaying much of the Dunedain, including Aragorn, inadvertently bringing an end to the line of Isildur -He would then lead his hordes of hobbits southward, sacking Rivendell before moving on into Rohan and Isengard -Eventually, with Gondor about to arrive to save the Rohirrim, the Ring would betray Bilbo, and would find its way back to Sauron...

@Richard Garrett I know, this was supposed to be a ridiculous joke, based on the comical image of Bilbo leading “hordes of hobbits” to conquer the North, slaying Aragorn in single combat, etc Eh, maybe it wasn’t as clear as I had thought 😅

The survival of smeagol/gollum was of the utmost importance, with no smeagol Frodo and Sam would have likely perished as there would have been no one to guide them into Mordor, nor to take the ring from Frodo at the end in Mt. Doom.

@@warlordofbritannia I loved it 😂

I've always thought about this secenario, such a great and interesting video could be made!

Sauron probably doesn't convince Smaug to join him and plans on dominating him after he finishes off the rest of Men/Dwarves/Elves.

I thought the idea of playing on Smaug's fear of both loss and the unknown was convincing. He's insulated from the world and knows nothing of what is going on, so the implication that his treasure is on the tip of everyone's tongue sparks paranoia. And while he may bluster about his power, he's wise enough to know that other dragons, far more powerful than he, had been defeated by capable hosts. The promise of a powerful ally, an expansion of his territory and riches, and -- most of all -- security from future invasion seems to be a knockdown offer to entice him. And while that may not have been the exact way Tolkien envisioned the conversation going, it's pretty clear that he wrote Gandalf as being worried that the alliance would occur given time, so I'd be inclined to believe Smaug would take the offer.

I have to disagree, I believe that the Alliance would initially be formed, but that it wouldn't last. Remember that Tolkien always believed that evil betrays itself, in the end all the different competing evil forces would turn on each other before fully finishing the good guys

Offering Smaug the Three Rings might have been enough.

@@jdshofner834 if Smaug accepts the three rings, then two things can happen. 1. After Smaug put on the rings, in time, he will be enslaved to Sauron forever. 2. After Smaug put on the rings and is strong enough to withstand the domination of Sauron, because of the nature of dragons, he would no doubt be corrupt by the power of the rings, having the effect similar to what had happened to the dwarves. Then with time, he will become more greedy and seek out more treasure. In this scenario, due to the insufficient amount of treasure to satisfy his greed, Smaug would betray Sauron, resulting in a war between the forces of Smaug and the forces of Sauron. With all out war between the dark forces, all the lands of Middle Earth is covered in darkness until, in the mountains from the ruins of a place forgotten, a pale dim light shines. And from that light, sparks insurrection.

Followed by the videos "What if Treebeard had the Ring" ... "What if Fatty Bolger had the Ring" and "What if Bill the Pony had the Ring" etc etc

She would've caged Bilbo and nagged him for an eternity. She is that evil.

She was the "Karen" of the Shire

@@zach6395 and taken bag end as her own!!

What if the ring made loud farting noises whenever evil was near?

Yes this version of alternative history relys on the good guys doing nothing proactive

That only works with dragons that are not hyper intelligent

a random guy The black one seemed to be.

@@RS-vz5gc maybe

HTTYD dragons are animalistic at best, though fairly intelligent.

@@dirandrous7682 just above a well trained dog

Not how you intended it, but I got a very King Richard from Galavant vibe from that comment.

Is it just me? Or do guys also say: "this shit tastes like smaug" after eating a sausage.

Smaug: Sorry, you need to teach me the Fly TM.

SAME Absolutely bone-chilling thought...

Lol

Eru never chanted a thing. The Ainur did all the heavy lifting while Eru sipped his soy latte and nibbled a biscuit

This man Bombadils.

@@MrKbonez I think the Ainur sang to create an idea of the world but Eru used his power to bring the world into existance. It's like creating a game idea and asking a game dev to make and publish it

@@arandomguy1226 Eru puts the song into the minds of the Ainur, lets them sing it, and then shows them what they have sung. Frankly, they do all the work while he sits there like a movie critic

“Yo Eonwe time for War of wrath 2.0, just try not to sink a continent this time round.” - Manwe, probably

It seems like Gandalf and likely Aragorn would die at the Battle of Imladris. Boromir would fight hard but fall. With Theoden under Saruman's sway, Rohan never unites and yes, actually does twiddle their thumbs. Curious about Ents and Bombadill - they very likely may never be risen to give a crap The Balrog was pretty cool chillin in Moria amongst the Orcs. No reason why he would rise from his slumber either!

He answered some of these questions. As christiansenator said, Aragorn would likely die defending Rivendell. The fellowship would never happen, so Gandalf would never fight the Balrog, and would die as Gandalf the Grey. Whether Illuvitar would send him back again is another question. It's possible that when Sauron's victory looked certain, Illivutar would intervene, but it's an impossible thing to predict given how little he intervenes in his creation. Boromir would fight valiantly but fruitlessly in defence of Minas Tirith. Denethor's sanity is an interesting question. It's likely that he would eventually go a little mad and depressed through his continuous use of the Palantir, even with Boromir and Faramir alive and well. Sauron would greatly delight in showing him the power of Smaug and the destruction of Rivendell and Lothlorien. The Balrog may stay sleeping through the whole thing. Or Sauron may approach him in a similar way to how he approaches Smaug. A last alliance is plausible. Gondor, Cirdan, and the Woodland Realm may send some troops North to fight and help defend the Elven kingdoms, but they would still lose. Rohan would be either rendered useless or destroyed by Saruman and Wormtongue. Tom Bombadil's area does not include the shire. His lands are next to the shire. It's hard to say what he'd do when his lands were inevitably invaded. Maybe he'd run off to the Undying Lands, maybe he'd defend and forever have his mini 'kingdom', or maybe he'd be overrun.

@@KeppyKep The video creator made a strong and valid argument, and so did you, but as Gandalf admitted: For even the very wise cannot see all ends. Firstly, I refuse that argument based the character of the good people. If for some reason you were never born, that doesn't mean your parents would never have a child in your stead. They would try again, because it was in their character to want a child. Just because Gandalf didn't meet the dwarfen king on that one day, doesn't mean he never bumped into others on another day to try again. It's the same thing with every other good character and the will to fight against darkness and persevere. Lastly, I also refuse the argument because of the opportunity cost of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. With every sacrifice, small and great, made by every good character mentioned and not mentioned. Directly or indirectly as a cause, partially or wholly, of the meeting in the Prancing Pony. With every sacrifice that didn't occurre according to plan, there was the opportunity to sacrifice something else at different time. Such as this example: When the pandemic, a year ago, swept across the globe, with self-imposed exile on a scale never before seen, it didn't mean people apathetically looked at a wall 9-5. They found new opportunities, such as they could spend the time they usually spent commuting to work, on other activities. Lots of people now prefer working from home, but they only know it because things didn't go according to plan. Or the inverse example: Imagine the fellowship managed to sneak past Moria, and Gandalf never fell, we might never have seen he become The White. Things didn't go according to plan, jet a better opportunity came to pass because of it. In the same manner, but broadly speaking: In the absence of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, who is to say the good people of middle earth and the Valar didn't find better opportunities? Why do you only see the end of all things and not any hope? Cheers

It's heavily implied in the books that if the Fellowship, including Aragorn and Gandalf, had not come to Rohan, that it would've fallen under Saruman. Aragorn would likely die in the defense of Rivendell. I do agree that Gandalf might be a stronger player than hinted at in this video, so agree with you on that!

That's a great connection I didn't think of! Though Elrond wouldn't have a flying ship or a Silmaril.

@@NerdoftheRings maybe the Silmarilion repeats itself and Earendel saves the day against Sauron like against Morgoth.

Earendil could have seen from afar the doom that approached his son and descend into Middle Earth one final time. Lets also not forget that the eagles could have been summoned to attack Smaug alongside both Elrond, Gandalf or even Earendil himself.

@@KMT1998 Ëarendil is in the sky protecting the world from Morgoth's return and won't return himself until the Dagor Dagorath

@@zachiboi5253 Definitely think the eagles would have turned up for the Rivendell fight. And that could very well have made the difference against a dragon

That's a really interesting premise! I'll have to think on that one!

Or what if saruman didnt hunt the fellowship i think rohan and gondor will fall

The original screenplay actually called for Gandalf to survive and become Gandalf the Black, thereafter being portrayed by Robert Downey Junior. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts prevented this and the plot point ultimately had to be rewritten.

@@richard1493 thank god

@@user-ft3jq5vi2l I’m pretty sure that’s a joke

I did think about Glorfindel, but in the end, I think that by this time in the Third Age, many elves have sailed west. Elrond even says in FOTR that they could hold out for a short time, but if Sauron came, Rivendell would fall - and this is without a dragon attacking. While Glorfindel may be able to take on Sauron one-on-one, I think the sheer might and numbers of the forces here would be too much for them.

a lot of power in rivendell. I also believe they would have gotten reinforcements from galadreil/grey havens. Surely Glorfindel, gandalf, and elrond would have been enough to take down smaug. Not to mention the sons of elrond. That said I don't think defeating smaug would have prevented a dark ending. Rohan would still fall, Gondor would continue to grow weaker and eventually most of the elves would leave middle earth.

@@NerdoftheRings I think my main criticism of your overall deduction would be that you ignored the key weakness that Tolkien ascribed to all evil forces. The fact that evil will always betray itself. Personally I think that the Dragon would've turned on Sauron before their victory was complete. Their boundless greed and egotism would lead one the two sides to be as much a danger to each other as to their enemy. Without going into too much detail, I believe that the Balrog of Moria, Smaug and Saruman would all compete with Sauron for power, even before defeating the free peoples (at least not fully). They would be arrogant enough in their supremacy to win over the forces of good that they would fight each other before finishing them

@@AeneasGemini Interesting take there! Yes it's true. Look at the orcs and the Uruk-hai, evil when left to itself always turns on itself, so this would possibly be inevitable. Tolkien had a keen intuition with this and would be interesting to go into it, would be an epic fight to have all 3 of them turn on each other....wow

@@NerdoftheRings What do you think of the above? To have all 3 face off for the ultimate power, 3 forces with an epic army behind them. Kinda drooling in thought of that battle haha

Agreed. I am also late to the discussion, but immediately thought how it would only be a few years until Sauron plucked the ring from the Goblin king. It had already left Gollum.

Welcome to NOTR! 😁

Excellent point!! I also think the Council might have reached out to Saruman before attacking the Necromancer - and Saruman probably would have jumped at the chance to weaken Sauron (giving himself more time to search for the ring). I think everything else would probably have worked out the way it was described here, but with Saruman with the Council (at least for the time being). Doubt it would change the course of things much.

Excellent point, Saruman would be waiting for the best moment to betray each party, playing both sides until seeming to align with whoever he thought was going to win

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it! These are a lot of fun to do and give my brain some good exercise. There's a fair number of trails I go down, only to realize there's a better path I should've taken, so I scrap it and go back. haha.

@@NerdoftheRings eh, that’s always the way! :) who doesn’t enjoy getting lost in the thousand possibilities anyway :)

It seems like middle earth couldn't possibly be more screwed. But there is still the east to consider. There are still 3 wizards left, and 4 if Gandalf comes back to life. There are forces of the east that could fortify themselves against Sauron and the others.

He died because the arrow had hit a wound he already had. So the arrow went deep

@@optimizmanadic4564 Nah. That's a film addition. In the books, the stated thing is that a dragon's underbelly is its only weak spot (a reference to the story of Sigurd and Fafnir).

I'd say it's very likely that the black arrow was indeed magic--to the extent that well-crafted items in Tolkien are often labeled as such. Bard does say it has never missed its mark, and it has always returned to him. It was also an heirloom from his ancestor Girion, and rumored to be crafted by the dwarves.

It's mostly just a black arrow with vague magic behind it, but Smaug's wound was mostly just a convenient Achilles' Heel meant for the simple story of The Hobbit.

It is also stated that it pierced his belly completely, head, shaft, and feather went fully into his heart.

Awesome! Glad you liked it and I hope you enjoy the other vids. Thanks for subscribing!

Read 1984. I think Orwell would agree with you. For most, it would be just tolerable. On the other hand, in history, it seems to go far worse & burn itself out. However, in history the tyrant isn't immortal, with unimaginable personal power. I expect in Tolkien's world, with no hope of Middle Earth righting itself, the Valar would intervene like they did in the past.

@@stephenbrown9949 i agree

@@stephenbrown9949 I think that Sauron would probably force their hand by attacking them first (pulled by his ego of course), but six and half a dozen I suppose

Maybe or maybe not he caused alot of chaos for someone who wanted order and start a industrial revolution, I can see saruman bringing order and a industrial revolution if he comes down a bit , saruman has the means in isengard to have a modern metropolis he has a 500 ft tall tower to lead from , a ring wall around them to protect the place, and he can use the iron mines he has to mass produce iron tools etc , iron beams to build skyscrapers inside the walls as apartments for people to live in put some wood floors and inside wood walls and stone for outside walls of skyscrapers and he has a dammed river to control the water and build a water pipe to the city and each skyscraper floor have toliets, baths and drinking water and just let the drainage go down a central empty space in middle of skyscraper to go down a sewer etc, build outings like schools, parks , pubs and pools etc and a open market etc and , have a water pipe built to irrigate the farmland around the wall area and outward to feed population etc, and have a railroad going in, around and Through area to help get to places easier with horse cars a big wagon size railcar pulled by horses or other animals etc, and reinforce the dam with iron beams to make it stronger and have a fishing industry from the dam river to have more meat etc, and have a logging industry for ironworks cooking fires, torches to light up the city at night to have a nightlife and paper etc to use and saruman and the people of isengard would be living good lives in a modern city lol 😎🌆🌁

I agree, Eru as behind the chance meeting in Bree, just as Gildor Inglorian said to Frodo when they met in the woods of the Shire.

Haha! Thanks! I take that as a compliment. :) Thanks so much for watching!

Thank you🙏 Galadriel is unmatched by anything less than the Maia. Lothlórien would likely become the fortress from which all meetings and offensives were carried out, and either Sauron has to go down there himself (potentially giving the forces of good an opening to siege Barad-dûr), or Lothlórien is never defeated.

Glad you are enjoying the channel! 😁

Thanks! Glad you are enjoying them!