What if Saruman Took the One Ring? Theory 

Y'know, with all that knowledge swimming around in Super-Saruman's head you'd think he'd know from Numenor's example that keeping Sauron around as an advisor is probably a bad idea.

Another great vid Yoystan! And the idea of Sauron making Saruman start Dagor Dagorath is so insane! Keep up the amazing work!

i love sharing this channel with other people. best LOTR channel on yt 🖒

Thanks for the video! I always enjoy these what-if stories.

Yay, my recommendation! Thanks!

Wow. The narration is absolutely amazing!

The moral of the story: Never ever make Sauron your advisor. It'll bite you in the ass every time.

Hey, love your videos! I recently went on the LOTR Wikipedia page and was upset to find that under "themes" they had one analyst say that the books justified racism, while another said it promoted the unquestioning rule of the elite... I found those both to be very silly, but what's your take on it? Also, what do you think about a possible major theme being the consequences of fearing death (or, in the case of the Elves, the fear of becoming obsolete)?

So... Saruman caused the end of the world.

This was AWESOME!!!!

This is a nice video I love it, it's interesting to see this happen.

I've been wondering what if Theodred survived the first battle of the fords of isen, its effects on grimboldd, helm's deep, and the story in general. maybe you could do a theory on this?

I guess the question has to be asked since it practically walked up to him in the person of Bilbo. What if Smaug had gained the ring?

Wouldn't Saruman have to avoid Sauron at all costs? Even if he was far stronger now? The ring answered to Sauron alone in the end. Surely if brought into close enough proximity to Sauron, the ring would abandon Saruman and go to its true master, tipping the playing field and allowing Sauron to kill him. If Saruman kept his distance, he might be strong enough to keep the ring to himself, as it would undoubtedly seek to return to Sauron. I think at first Saruman would have chosen this option, but over time (perhaps hundreds of years later) the ring would have driven him to seek out Sauron, under the impression he was seeking knowledge Sauron possessed in order to grow ever more powerful, while in actuality the One Ring was manipulating him into getting close enough to its true master in order to abandon him. Sauron would feign servitude, bowing before him and likely for a time giving the impression he did not have the strength to take the One Ring away from Saruman, but eventually he would betray him and the Ring would go to him. The only way I don't see this happening is if Saruman was so powerful compared to Sauron now that Sauron despite being the true master of the ring simply no longer had the strength to take it by force, despite both he and the ring trying to make it otherwise.

The main problem with this is i'd never let those filthy uruks get to frodo

What if THE BALROG got the ring?

I get the feeling that everything is going way too smoothly for Saruman. For instance I don't think that Aragorn would just surrender without a fight or that Gandalf would still try to reason with Saruman.

Makes sense, if anyone of power gained the ring. It would herald Dagor sooner. As the Valar would not let their creation be completely dominated by Sauron, Saruman, or Mor­goth himself.

YEEEES, Sauron plays the long game, and Morgoth is unleashed. I loooooove it!

Great story and great narration! Your videos are awesome!

What if Frodo never left the Fellowship with Sam? As in the group stayed together.

You did a wonderful job with this one. I like how Sauron used the tactics he did with the numenoreans.

That was fantastic. You are a great storyteller. Really enjoyed this episode Men of the West.

We come, we come with roll of drum: ta-runda runda runda rom!To Isengard!Though Isengard be ringed and barred with doors of stone;Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone,We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door;For bole and bough are burning now, the furnace roars - we go to war!

What if Saruman never betrayed the Free Peoples? Or What if he had a change of heart sometime before the end of The Two Towers?

Can you do. "What if a orc got the one ring" if that's possible.

sauron played the long game and saved the world in a way. never thought I would say sauron saved the world.

What if Lobelia Sackville-Baggins got the ring?

What about Tom bombadil? He seems to love nature, and we all know what saruman does to nature.

You're next What if should be either What If Kili and Fili had Survived or What If Thorin Survived. Other suggests are What If Gollum redeem himself, What If Saurman never joined Sauron, What If Isildur survived the ambush of orcs, or What If Deagol killed Smeagol.

A very interesting twist on the fate of Middle Earth. Really enjoyed this video like the others. Can't wait for the Celebrimbor video since I have become more intrigued with him since the Silmarillion and the Shadow games.

Honestly I look forward to the end of the videos with the nice music and discussion of Tolkien's world and the meaning behind it. It is calm, soothing, and leaves me feeling pretty happy with life! Thank you!

What if Aragorn succumbed to the temptation of the ring and took it for himself?

"The ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master!"

Imagine an alternate ending in the films based on this. Amazing.

When you speak as Saruman, i can sense Christopher Lee's voice. Your speech rhythm was so similar. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

You forget that the One Ring Of Power has a mind of lts own. Whichever of Saruman's troops captures lt will get corrupted & thus not bring lt back to him. He would have to capture lt himself, but then lt would corrupt him. Also keep in mind the fact that the Ring wants to return to Sauron, lts one true master. It did everything in lts power to prevent Frodo & Isildur from destroying lt, which succeeded. It was only defeated by Frodo holding Gollum's treacherous promises to the Ring. In essence, the Ring defeated ltself. There is also the fact that Eru Illuvatar intervened, so the victory was predestined.

I've heard this theory about the one ring representing the ablility to control lenguage. Meanning, if you can use it, it turns you into a cult leader who influences others and if not into a cult follower who tyrannizes himself (golum). If this is right then the ring would not just let you control other ring bearers, it would let you corrupt and influence (relatively) weak minded beings at a massive scale, wich would explain how sauron got his massive army and caused the fall of numenor. What do you think?

What happens to tom during this period?

Saruman was no friend of Sauron. He was a freelance traitor to everyone. Dale

I love this hypothetical. I don’t think the One Ring would ever betray Sauron though. “They are one and the same”

Good morning, I've already commented this, but I was kinda late so here is the copy & paste: "Hey Yoystan, I've been thinking about a lotr game concept for a while, it would change a major event of the legendarium, but remain faithful to Tolkien's concepts and rules(the one thing SoM and SoW haven't done). What are your thoughts about it?" Also, I would like to see videos about necromancy(and variations of the "things that avoid Ilúvatar's Gift", such as Oaths and Curses) and how it works in the Legendarium. Also, it would be great to see more of magic, specifically dwarven magic, is it inherent or just lore/goetia? Can it cause physical effects or just create artifacts? There are many other questions I would like to ask but, for now, thanks for the attention

I've always imagined if a wizard got the ring, they'd be freed of their handicap, they wouldn't lose their powers while also amplifying them. In Saruman's case, his voice controllong anyone, or extremely manipulating the weather

The ring would not improve his powers that much and Mordors army’s would immediate march on Isengard a word of betrayal and serenely win by strangth and the sheer extreme numbers of Mordor plus Sauron has the nine rings of men giving him complete control over the nasgul (and a ring of the dwarf) also where the ring would torture saromon(sorry can’t spell) du to his level of power and Sauron rings corruption ability also Sauron would of killed him some time before 500 years

Make it stop please. The terrible ending of GOT is bad enough. The blessings of the Valar on Tolkein for the ending of hope.

i think something else would have happen. When saruman reveals his plans to use the ring himself in the first book of the lord of the rings, gandalf tells him, that the ring only has one master - sauron. So first Saruman would gain great power and easily conquer rohan and fangorn an may march against either elves in the north, gondor in the south or even morder in the east, the ring would currupt his mind and soul. Saruman is wise and has a strong will, but he is jealous and greedy by his nature and therefore an easy victim to the power if the ring. In the end I think the goidhearthed earthbound hobbits are more resilent against the power of the ring than saruman. After a few victories on the battlefield his will would perish and sauron would take control him. saruman would become a puppet of sauron and after giving the ring to sauron, he himself would face endless torture for his arrogance

"So that i may defeat sauron and save this world" Well, i do not think that would be a lie and that was sarumans plan after all.

Love this video Yoystan the What if scenario if Sarumon had claimed the One has always facnated me though I am glad it never happened but it still is a facnateing concept to me as with all Middle Earth what if scenarios and thanks so much for explaining this one so well you have such great storytelling and I love the little twist you put with that Sauromon made Dagor Dagoroth actually happen because Sauron once again (in a sense) deceive all anyway love this video an can't wait for the next one!!!!!! :)

Thank you , I enjoyed this one but would like to suggest a slightly different path. Lord Saruman head of the White counsel , Warden of Orthanc, offers to broker peace between the good men of Dunland and Rohan. King Théoden is persuaded to have peace and names his niece Éowyn as his heir. King Théoden retires from public life and Rohan is governed by Éowyn aided by counselor Gríma, son of Gálmód whom she soon weds. Saruman send messages to Denethor informing of the sad death of Boromir in battle with the Orcs of Moria, near the lands of the elfen sorceress. He warns of Aragon ranger of the North is coming to usurp his rule. But reaffirms his friendship with the Stewards of Gondor, he invites Denethor to join the White Counsel and others his aid to recover Minis Ithil and knowledge of the palantír . Steward Denethor is persuaded , invites Saruman to join him in Gondor, where with Saruman's help Minis Ithil is recovered and Aragon is exiled from Gondor and disappears . Denethor is hailed as a hero by the people of Gondor , whilst Saruman becomes his chief advisor and helps to negotiate peace between Gondor and the men of the south and east. Soon Saruman's fame and knowledge spread throughout the realms of Middle Earth and his friendship and advise is sort by many. Saruman offers help and knowledge inviting many of his new friends to join his New White Counsel. With his aid the Dwares recover Moria, Dol Guldur is cleansed, the Old Forest cleared for farming , the Barrow Downs leveled. All new member of the New White Counsel wear a ring of clear crystal which aids their decision making and renewals their vitality , lengthening their life time. It becomes an age of peace, crafting, building , irrigation, deforestation, the number of men and dwarves increase but the elves quickly leave going west. Peace is ensured by the New White Counsel lead by Saruman the Wise.

There is only one Lord of the Rings and he does not share power

In an alternate version of this alternate version, Tom bombadil, enraged the orcs burned his weed crop to the ground, Walked right over to Isengard, entering the gates, flinging the hordes of armies out of his way like shit through a goose, walked right up the stairs of orthank, pushed open the door to Sarumans chambers, kicked him square in the balls, pulled the ring off his finger, swallowed it, took a wee on him and then bitch slapped Wormtail on the face eliciting a girlish scream from him as Bombadil walked back down the tower out the gate, flung the dazed armies in front of him to the other side of the court yard, pantsed the nazgul for good measure and proceeded to walk back home, grab his hoe and begin the arduous task of regrowing is weed crop. All the while middle earth collectively asks... What the f*ck just happened? Roll credits. Post credits scene: Bombadil walks into mount doom with a news paper, takes a squat and craps out the one ring into the firey casam from whence it came and destroys Sauron, and lights a joint while doing this!

And with morgoth having been unleashed I will be reincarnated and as glorifindel became more powerful so shall I and I shall destroy sauron and ram my swords through morgoths heart avenging the theft of the silmarills and the destruction of the 2 trees and the death of my father finwe.

You really have a way when it comes to talking about the death and rebirth of a world. And I suppose we think a lot alike because if such great evil did exist-which I sadly think it does-then the only possible way for peace would be a rebirth of the world, even if we were to end with it, it would need to happen.

what if ungoliant ate and consumed morgoth? would she gain immense powers from eating him? who she also devour his souk i mean morgoth seemed pretty damn scares to scream like that lol

That’s easy to anserw ive, read the book and its Well discribed, Saruman would be the next Dark lord! So would every wizard in middel earth be. Galdriel would also be the new Dark lord if she get the ring! Great video tho!

This is very good. Especially how Sauron pulls, well, a Sauron and ultimately brings about Saruman’s doom, and the final battle as prophesied, and wrapping a neat bow on things in the process. However, I don’t see things necessarily going down as outlined here. I think Gandalf, having already been betrayed and imprisoned by Saruman once, and presumably being wiser and more powerful anyway as the white version of himself, would not confront Saruman and try reason. He would likely send Legolas and Gimli both back to their respective lands and peoples and inform them of events and rouse them quickly to war preparedness and even swift action. And then I think he and Aragorn would both be needed to rouse Rohan and pull Theoden back to reality (presumably a tougher job now that Saruman has the ring, but still doable I believe), and also prepare to wage war and defend against Saruman. But firstly Gandalf must take leave of Aragorn and go to Fangorn to warn the Ents, and ask them to make the supreme sacrifice and attack Orthanc to buy time (no more Entwives anyway dudes, may as well go down in a literal “blaze” of glory, striking a hard, but doomed blow, for trees everywhere) for Rohan, before meeting up with Aragorn there. Aragorn must of course reveal himself as The King to get maximum cred, and then tread the Paths Of The Dead to rouse those guys to battle vs Saruman, perhaps saving Rohan’s bacon temporarily so they can postpone their doom at least a bit longer. Then it’s off to Gondor where Denethor is quickly deposed and since we don’t have much time before D-day, the kingdom quickly rallies behind Aragorn in opposition to Saruman. Sauron would indeed offer to join forces with Saruman though, because if he waits until the west is (presumably) destroyed, his value to Saruman goes way down. Although he could simply vacate Mordor and move to the Far East and prepare for a larger war vs Saruman, hoping time somehow proves his friend rather than enemy. Either way, if Saruman gets the ring he just becomes the next Sauron, and the Valar likely would eventually need to intervene. Or even more exciting of a story would instead be a huge host of the Vanyar and Teleri, and the Noldor that stayed behind, suffering from a form of observers guilt, petition to help save the free peoples of middle earth, and show up with a vast host and maybe a second group of Istari, to take on Saruman. That’s probably pushing it but man that would be awesome! And maybe also Sauron in the Far East would figure out a way to bring Melkor back from the void, making that tandem a much more interesting third player in the deal and allowing the final battle to become a reality also. Anyway, just my ramblings here. Probably tons of flaws in my logic, but it is fun to imagine all these what-ifs!

God this channel is fantastic plz do a '' what if aragorn had taken the one ring'' theory

Hey I was wondering what would happen if the dwarves were more involve with middle earth and help the free people of middle earth

Sauron can't possibly lose, the ring is a part of him... no matter how much Saruman could try it would be impossible to "gain" its loyalty.

Huh, didnt expect Saruman to make the same mistake the Numenorians did, trust Sauron

Lies! Deception! Aragorn would never fall to Saruman! "Men of the West" is a deceiver do not believe him! 😂 jk great work man

Saruman wants to destroy Sauron too. He wants to own the ring to rule the middle Earth.

There are some skyrim images in there

3:50 Great Aragorn sketch, very beautiful!!!

I don't think even Saruman could bend the ring to his will. Instead it would weaken and corrupt him. Saruman would be rapidly turned into a brainwashed servant of Sauron.

I've always wondered what would have happened if Sauruman the White had got hold of the One Ring. JRRT certainly built this tension into the story by purposely making the names of Sauron and Sauruman so similar, and cleverly slightly confusing. Great storyline Men of the West! This is easily my favorite of your what-if alternate explorations. I agree, I'm sure the 2nd Song of Creation would have been the conclusion in this case.

Then he would become Sauruman The Black

Also Saruman would have gotton Gandalfs ring of fire.

very good. what if sauron had escaped numenor before the wave ?

In Lord of the rings the fellowship Saruman had asked do you know how the Orcs came to be. Then said that Orcs were Elves once. My question is how do elves become orcs

This was incredible. You're writing is wonderful and the music was beautiful and wrenching.

This isn't a theory, it's fan fiction.

Thanks for accepting my idea,and you should do if Aragorn or Leoglas or Gimli or Boromir took the one ring

I believe he would have been instantly consumed by its evil. And he most certainly would have had to deal not only with the Nazgul but Sauron himself!

What if Celebrimbor had survived?

This was almost better then the original story nice job.

Amazing job, this is about how I would imagine it would be. Grand job

I got a what if story challenge for you. Been running starfinder and the story is paraphrased star wars. How do you envision lotr as a science fantasy and/or space opera?

he'd propose to Gandalf of course

how terribly awesome Yoystan such a incredibly dark version

Yeah, I was expecting Valar intervention and I got served. Thanks bruh, that's awesome. Subscribed

What if legolas or gimli took the one ring

Well that was depressing.

Petition for these videos to be uploaded to podcast apps

I don’t think the commenters here understand Tom Bombadil. He’s an enigmatic being with mastery over a finite realm. Period. He’s not going to “level Isengard.”

Let me sum this up. DOOM

I have to say your reasoning, and knowledge of Tolkien lore is astounding. Time after time, as you progressed through your narrative, I found myself shaking my head yes... 'yep, that makes sense' time again. Very enjoyable narration, and your character vocalizations are pretty darn good too! Thanks!

Love your videos man. From the Philippines here😊

Saruman had a major technological advantage that the one ring would have been optional. He had gunpowder. Not sure if it was in the book. I know it's in the second film. He had explosives and has the means, materials, and knowledge to develop firearms.

I might be wrong but didn’t Tolkien say that only Gandalf with the one ring had a chance against Sauron and that when face to face with Sauron the ring would force them to give it to Sauron?

We should totally see Aragorn claiming the One Ring. That would be something we'd want to see.

Your “hurry Sam!” really sounded like Elijah Wood, you should be proud : )

Nice video ;), i really love to see a video about the haradrim and the corsairs in the future.

But he wouldnt be able to control the ring cause its a part of saurons mind. For there is only one Lord of the rings

It's a good what-if tale, but I would think that Saruman could not in fact master the ring. It would gradually at first and then quickly consume him, at which point Sauron could easily reclaim it from him due to his clouded vision and corrupted power. In the end, the story was clear that the ring only answered to Sauron and nobody could ultimately control it but him.

Interesting, I think of all the characters in middle earth only Saruman potentially had the power to break the ring and master it though I think he would need to study it for quite a bit. That's why taking the ring is really just a fools gambit. Anyone trying to claim the ring would just becomes it's slave and deliver it to Sauron. However, Saruman may have been able to master it in a contest of wills though I don't think he could have done it as fast as he did on your story. However, your ideas are very interesting to contemplate. I like that you made the ring enhance the power of Saruman's voice, which is very likely what would have happened.

...That was cool

Saruman getting the One Ring would have been the biggest disaster since the casting down of Numenor! Saruman would turn into Sauron plus! Saruman & Sauron both like order, it would just be a shift in management. Though I have a sneeking suspicion that Rhadaghast the Brown's fate would be along & painful one, before being killed. Moving on, Saruman would control the Ringwraiths, nothing on Middle Earth could stop him. I think even Tom Bombadil's days would have been numbered as well. I think everyone could guess what Saruman would do to Gandalf.

So, bascially it would have been better for Saruman to have taken the ring........ Eventualy....

One thing to remember: There is NO scenario where Eru doesn't win. Ring found? Not found? Thrown into the fire? Taken by Sauron? Taken by anyone else? It all goes for naught because Eru told all the ainur what would happen before Middle Earth even existed. You can't beat the Big Guy. Ever. At anything, even checkers.