The Lord Of The Rings saga, while visually impressive and a feat of filmmaking wizardry, is also a VERY long affair to wade through. Even the most hardcore fans of Peter Jackson's films have a handful of notes as to how the whole series could have been a little more streamlined, with one particular point always sticking out: why didn't the Fellowship just fly the damned ring into Mount Doom with the Eagles who fly them home at the end? I mean sure, "one does not simply walk into Mordor," but flying should have been a tactic given a lot of thought that went into planning the phases of this endeavor. Well, according to one fan, this question was not only thought of, but has an answer that has been right in front of our faces this whole time.
An Imgur user has posted a several-panels long theory about how Gandalf himself figured out that The One Ring could have been flown into the fires of Mordor thanks to his own use of the massive eagles who help break him out of prison in Fellowship Of The Ring. The theory further explains the different routes to Mount Doom, and why each of them wouldn't have worked out for the wizard's purposes - which is what ultimately made him decide to take his partners through the snowy, treacherous mountain path that Saruman eventually drove the Fellowship from.
The kicker to this Lord Of The Rings theory is that Gandalf, once faced with fending off the Balrog to save his friends, tried to warn them in plain as day language. He tells them in those three simple words, "Fly, you fools." You can watch the scene for yourself below, and feel free to cue it up to 02:13 for the relevant line (though don't fool yourself, you know you want to watch Sir Ian McKellan yelling, "You shall not pass!")
This theory is all well and good, but personally, I don't buy it for two big reasons. First off, the line "Fly, you fools,"when applied to this theory, means that The Fellowship would have had to be in on the plan the whole time. The flying scenario would have had to be mentioned and rejected/sidelined in order for this line to mean that Gandalf was telling them that the most obvious option was flying. Second, I'm still not convinced that the flying option would have made sense in any form because, like the creator of this theory states, Saruman was watching certain obvious areas for movement.
Holding true to the silly/meme worthy clause that one doesn't "simply walk" to the gigantic mountain of fire the Lord Of The Rings is known for, what would the first simple option be when you discount walking? Flying! If Saruman is watching all of Middle Earth with a view akin to a game of Risk, he'd definitely see flying objects of great velocity heading towards the very point he doesn't want them to head towards.
Am I wrong in my thinking? Do I need to watch Lord Of The Rings again? Read through the theory yourself, and feel free to dissect this to your hearts content in the comments section.
The Hobbit: The Battle Of Five Armies will end Peter Jackson's big scree the Middle-earth Saga once and for all on December 17th.
