They are agents of Manwë and so are constrained from too direct an interference in a similar way to the Wizards.
In-story there is no other good reason. Tolkien knew this and hesitated using them as deus ex machina because of it:
The Eagles are a dangerous ‘machine’. I have used them sparingly, and that is the absolute limit of their credibility or usefulness.”
I should point out that I don’t think the Eagles are a solution. I just think that a lot of the reasons people put forward for why, are easily disproven - the “they would be corrupted” one especially, as I’ve covered, but the flying Nazgûl one also - where were these flying Nazgûl when the Fellowship were in Eriador or boating down the Anduin? They only show up after Amon Hen.
If the Fellowship had set off on Eagle Airlines at the same date they had on foot, there would have been no aerial opposition from the Nazgûl - they were not yet rebodied after their little Bruinen disaster. And like I said, the eagles could fly at night and rest up unobserved during the days.
Why would only those two go on this trip? There’s a whole host of eagles, all capable of carrying a full-grown man.
They didn’t doubt Gandalf when they rescued him from Orthanc…
Like they did to Bilbo?
..and let Frodo go on with his mission. Is that not “deliberately take action they know will destroy it”?
Using what Ring-sense?
Evil creatures are drawn to the Ring because it’s literally part of Sauron himself, and there’s a bond there. What bond is there for an Eagle of Manwë?
At night?
The Ring Wraiths weren’t embodied until months later.
I don’t know what you mean by a Ring-Sense. The Ring is very pretty - people who see it, want it, even decent folks like Bilbo. People who know what it is face a different temptation, and if they’re smart, like Faramir, they stay away from it as muxh as possible.
Way back on August 16 I wrote, in response to furryman’s observation:
I said that I would’ve thought it was “Why didn’t they just use the Eagles to get the One Ring to Mount Doom?”
People immediately responded as if I was saying that Tolkein should’ve just had the Eagles fly the Ring to Mount Doom, when what I clearly said was that asking was “why that didn’t happen ought to be the single most popular comment about LOTR.”
Ever since then, whether the Eagles should’ve been tasked with getting the Ring to Mordor has been the major topic of conversation.
The discussion about the eagles carrying the ring perhaps risks overwhelming this more general thread. Let’s turn to other examples. If there’s interest in continuing this question, DM me and I’ll break it out into its own thread.
Ignoring that simul-post, let me suggest that there was something in the middle Harry Potter that drove me nuts when i read it, because it was an obvious easy answer and i couldn’t understand why the characters didn’t try it. But i no longer remember the story well enough to recall the details.
Possibly something to do with the time-turner? Once you include reliable time travel into the story there are thousands of ways they could have used it better, but like you I haven’t read them for ages and I forget the exact details.
The late 00s Dark Knight inspired “Every bad guys plan is to get captured by the police/heroes just so they can escape directly into their HQ and cause havoc”
How about, don’t put the most dangerous man on the planet where you keep ALL your secrets. Put him in a generic prison somewhere and then deal with him.
Or the opposite. In the final book, magic now can’t do shit to help you.
Speaking of that, Hermione claims that they can’t go back to the Sirius house because someone literally rode her coattails and she’s a secret-keeper. Why not confirm or deny that by calling Kreacher and asking if anyone has broken into the house or spy on the people watching to see if they know?
Best not to think too much about the logic of Harry potter. Basically every book / film has multiple known magic or Muggle tech that could solve the main plot.
The pitch meetings for Harry potter remain some of the best of that series.
liquidated, I’m afraid, sir. Our Finland, stabbed to death in a ladies sauna bath, sir. Our Madrid, burned in a blazing bordello, sir. And, Tokyo, sir, garroted in a geisha house.
I’ve never forgiven that movie for ignoring the basic question of: You have this mystery mass-murdering psychopath in custody – why didn’t you wash his face and take some ID photos as your first move? When they show him, he has bare patches where the greasepaint had worn off. Finish the job, cops!
I’ve heard numerous fanwank handwaves like “They were afraid of him” all the way to “Well, he’s The Joker so you can’t remove his makeup any more than you could take Zeus’s lightning”. They’re all weak justifications.
Maybe this wouldn’t have solved the question of why The Joker is but it’s dumb they didn’t even try. I wonder how long they’d let me stay in custody before running a wet rag over my face and taking photos.
