It’s unclear. The Professor himself said that he suspected they failed. On the other hand, he also said that they may have been spectacularly successful in their own theater, far away from Gondor and Mordor.
Either way, my point stands. Gandalf probably had no way of knowing what they were doing, or if they were even still alive, and thus still felt alone against Sauron.
i thought the istari were sent to ME with express orders? exhort the children to fight sauron without actually forcing them (through one’s maiar powers or deceit.)
anyone of the nine walkers understood gandalf’s objective and they knew he’d pursue it with or without them.
Also on Gandalf’s behalf, put LA escort yourself in his place. He was, as far as we know, the LA escorts very last of the Istari who was actually doing his job with LA asian [URL=http://www.laasianescort.com/]LA asian escorts escort regard to fighting Sauron. The Blue Wizards had failed their task long ago. Saruman, the most powerful of the Istari, had betrayed the Free Peoples and sided with Sauron. Radagast was doing mushrooms somewhere in the ruins of Dol Guldur (I know, I know, tending the beasts and plants of Middle Earth could very well have been Radagast’s mission, given that he was chosen by Yavanna.)
It’s unclear. The Professor LA escort himself said that he suspected they failed. LA escorts On the other hand, he also said that they may have been LA asian escort spectacularly successful in their own theater, LA asian escorts
far away from Gondor and Mordor.
Either way, my point stands. Gandalf probably had no way of knowing what they were doing, or if they were even still alive, and thus still felt alone against Sauron.
Like this. 
not likely that the eagles would cooperate in directly un-making sauron’s ring. i’m basing this from reading only the trilogy, the hobbit and the silmarillon. the eagles, i assume, are also maiars (at least gwaihir the lord of the eagles, who is descended from thorondor.) and just like tom bombadil who is also probably a maiar, he will not do it for the sake of the children of eru.
I don’t know that Gandalf was a manipulative bastard as much as an outright overbearing dick. When he recruits Bilbo, he doesn’t subtly convince him to go along with the dwarves, he just invites himself in and goes “well, you’re coming with us so be sure to pack your shit, all right ? Cheers !”
Same with Theoden - Gandalf just waltzes into court unannounced, throws a fit, summarily dismisses the king’s advisor and tells Theoden King he’s going to help Gondor right now and fucking like it.
in bilbo’s case, i can understand gandalf’s decision since he was concerned about the dragon at that point during the third age, and this called for stealth (ergo, a hobbit.)
in theoden’s case, rohan was a pivotal ally of gondor. both sides knew this. gandalf was undoing the treachery of wormtongue, who was a puppet of saruman and, in effect, sauron.
Hey, I didn’t say he was wrong. Just that to me, he wasn’t really manipulative per se. Wormtongue is manipulative. Gandalf just yells at people until they do what he says.
agreed, but i thought his attitude was more a case of him knowing you better than you yourself. his treatment of bilbo and frodo were consistent (a bit deeper for frodo.) pippin was always the foolish took that he was. he was overly respectful of those whose help he required and wielded powers similar to his (beorn and the eagles.) when dealing with lords and royalty, that’s when he tended to be over-bearing (you call yourself a king?)
so on the whole, i would pronounce him assholic in the way he related with different people.
I wouldn’t say he was overly respectful of them. I think he was just as respectful as he had to be, under the circumstances.
Bah…Gandalf was a non-dpsing waste of a raid slot.
<insert Oak standard rant #27 re: Gandalf learning “Affect Normal Fires” but not “Fireball” ,“Lightning Bolt”, or anything else actually useful.>
Oak, Oak, Oak. Though I generally agree with you on matters of Southern cuisine, capital punishment, and foreign affairs, you so tragically misled on this issue that you might as well be from New York. Or, worse, Los Angeles.
Gandalf’s using his full angelic power was not merely forbidden to him by his superiors, but actually contraindicated by their mission. The Istari’s job was not to defeat Sauron; if such were the aim, Manwë would have sent Tulkas and Oromë and what’s-his-name who’s now a Dope member to do the job in the first place. The Istari were suppose to guide and inspire the inhabitants of Middle-earth (read: Men, as the Elves had begun clearing out even before Gandalf & co. arrived) to overcome the Enemy themselves, to be independent of the need for Ainuric intervention. Using super-powers would not have helped in that.
Qadgop? 
Back in my military days, we had a saying about how it was better to take the shot and ask for forgiveness later than to not take the shot waiting for permission to fire. Same principle applies here. At Helm’s Deep, a couple of “Cloud Kill” spells, or at least a few fireballs, and the orc army is no longer a problem. Saves little Timmy (or whatever the kid’s name was) all the anxiety of suiting up for battle (movie version)…and if properly timed would secure victory for Gimli over Legolas in the final DPS standings. Who wants a damn elf to claim victory over a dwarf?
If you want a character who is a manipulative bastard, and knows it, and is not entirely comfortable with it, but still manipulates people again and again for the greater good even when he knows it might get the person he’s using killed, see Shef in The Hammer and the Cross and sequels, by Harry Harrison.
Bingo. Gandalf can’t hold a Phial to Dumbledore’s schemes.
The elf sure does, for one. 
Fighting ignorance since the Third Age, dontcha know.
“Gandalf, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!”