Riker Googlingwhy didn't they ride the eagles into mordor
Darla Donna v2.2@RikerGoogling Because Sauron had the flying fell beasts the Nazgûl rode. The Eye of Sauron would have spotted an airborne ring coming (normally it was concealed by ground clutter/distance) and had the Nazgûl ready to intercept, kill the Eagles and recover the ring. Gandalf knew this and did not try. Deception and an unthinkable covert Op to destroy it was the only viable option. #LotR
Charles Gaba@DarlaDonna @RikerGoogling Plus, the Eagles aren’t beasts of burden. They’re fully sentient, intelligent creatures who help Gandalf because they want to, not because he controls them. They were willing to fly in for a rescue mission but didn’t want to make themselves long-term targets.
BibbleCo@charlesgaba @DarlaDonna @RikerGoogling Exactly. SAR is not the same as combat strikes deep behind the lines into enemy territory where they have complete air superiority. The eagles had no SEAD capabilities, either. (Do I sound like I have a clue what I'm talking about, rather than just spraying around overheard jargon? XD )
@BibbleCo @charlesgaba @RikerGoogling Haha I did consider Sauron's ground based Air Defences, but they were never revealed. I imagine they were there and effective though. That's gotta be something he'd think of for his dark fortress of Barad-dûr, even if it was more for military anti-rescue/raid reasons. Even if he hadn't thought anyone would be foolish enough to send in unmagical nobodies to destroy a ring that could have granted Aragorn, Gandalf, Galadriel or good Saruman a temporary victory.
@DarlaDonna @charlesgaba @RikerGoogling
No doubt while we're joking about it there are srs academic papers on military doctrine in LotR somewhere out there. If not a whole community... if not yet, well, its only a matter of time.
I propose Rule 35 - everything online intersects eventually ;)
@BibbleCo @charlesgaba @RikerGoogling Ask and the Internet provides: https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1422&context=mythlore