the fellowship had one mission to get the one ring to Mount Doom but was there a better way could they have avoided The Perils of Moria could they have reached moral without splitting up or Dare we say it could the Eagles have flown them straight to Mount Doom hello and welcome to the Broken Sword today we're diving into the alternate routes the fellowship could have taken why they weren't Chosen and whether any of them might have changed the fate of Middle Earth would any of these choices have led to a better outcome or perhaps just
an even greater disaster let's look at this today build me a arming worthy of eagles the Eagles are [Music] coming before we explore the paths they didn't take let's break down why they chose the one they did the journey wasn't as simple as take the shortest route every decision was a trade-off between secrecy speed and survival from rival the fellowship had two initial options the red horn pass over the Misty Mountains or the Long Road South however Saran is actually the one that made that decision for them his unnatural storm on kadras forced them back
leaving them with only one real option Moria could they have just gone around yes potentially but also potentially at a huge cost circling the mountains would have taken weeks time they just didn't have sauron's power was growing day by day and every delay increased the risk of being discovered therefore Moria despite its dangers became the only choice but even this Choice carried consequences if they had avoided Moria Gandalf might not have fall he never would have come back as the white and this would change so much and also without that loss would Aragon have stepped
into leadership so quickly would the fellowship have splintered earlier later or even at all these aren't just paths they're turning points gandal is it left or right left the fellowship already use boats on the Anin so why not take them all the way surely a water route would be faster and less exhausting right well on paper yes they could have continued South past Gondor and followed the Riveras into mordor's eastern mountains but that path was heavily guarded Gondor controlled those Waters and anyone passing through un recognized would have been seen as a spy or Invader
even if they slipped past Gondor the river itself wasn't safe the closer they got to Mordor the more sauron's forces controlled the land the river Paras marked the border of M Bor and his Watchers patrolled every crossing a small group in boats would have been exposed vulnerable and really easy prey for the enemy therefore while boats seemed like an easy option they actually would have put the fellowship directly in the path of two major Powers Gondor and Sauron neither of whom would have particularly welcomed them and even if they did get through would Frodo and
Sam really have reached Mount Doom faster the final leg of the Journey had to be on foot and carrying a boat into Mordor wasn't exactly an option either we could pass through the mins of Moria I would not take the road to Moria unless I had no other choice but let's Circle back for a moment to Moria after all Moria was a nightmare The Watcher in the water goblins a bow Rock Gandalf himself fell there so why go through instead of around they had two Alternatives go south through Rohan early or take the high pass
near Rivendell but rohan's borders weren't safe San's spies were everywhere and the high pass that was the same route Bilbo had taken decades earlier but by this time it's crawling with goblins and Wars any alternate route would have cost them time and secrecy therefore Moria despite its dangers was still the best of their bad options but let's also move on to the classic debate why didn't the fellowship just fly to Mordor on the back of the Eagles surely it would have saved a lot of trouble right no and here's why first the Eagles weren't Gandalf's
personal taxi service like so many think they might be they were powerful independent beings who didn't serve the free peoples but even if they did agree to help mordal was not undefended Sauron controlled the skies foul beasts archers dark magic all would have made an aerial assault impossible therefore trying to fly into moral would have just been a death sentence a beacon shining saying here we are here we come maybe you could just choose to ignore us definitely not a shortcut and so there you have it looking back was there a better way maybe but
every alternative had its own dangers the river exposed avoiding Moria would have led to disaster flying impossible therefore the fellowship's path wasn't just the best choice it was the only real choice that had a chance of success Middle Earth is full of choices but Fate has a way of guiding the right ones in the end the fellowship didn't just take the best path they took the only path that had any hope of working but with that now it's your turn could another route have worked that maybe I haven't mentioned today or was the fellowship's path
the best choice share your thoughts and opinions on this in the comment section down below and along with this if you would like to support the channel in other ways please consider our patreon you can't always rely on YouTube itself so this extra support will really help the channel stay strong and keep us getting that content out for you but with that thank you for spending just some of your time with me today and I will see you next time on the broken sword [Music]
