Lord of the Rings: Why Saruman Betrayed Gandalf & Joined Sauron – CBR – Comic Book Resources

What really motivated the once-noble Lord of the Rings wizard to turn his back on Gandalf the Grey and align himself with evil?

AlthoughSauron is the definitive villain ofThe Lord of the Rings,Saruman the White is a legendary secondary villain for the franchise and was immortalized by Christopher Lee (who actually met author J.R.R. Tolkien) in Peter Jackson's film adaptations.Saruman was compelling because he caved into the One Ring's temptation and showed how powerful a wizard could be when corrupted, contradicting the beloved Gandalf.

Shortly after being introduced inThe Fellowship of the Ring,Saruman quickly turns on Gandalf and imprisonshim in Isengard.His sudden turn is a far cry from the wise and noble wizard seen inThe Hobbitmovies and audiences of the film saga do not see his realignment with the side of evil.

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While it's easy to simplify Saruman's betrayal as him falling to the temptation of the One Ring, more detailed reasons have been discussed by fans for years. In apost on Quora discussing why Saruman betrayed Gandalf, a user by the name of Laurel Callahan explains that the white wizard has always been jealous of his grey counterpart. Before becoming Saruman he was known as Curumo and lived in the Blessed Realms with the gods, also known as Aman. Gandalf, known in that realm as Olorin, had learned to be kind and merciful while Curumo was more prideful, thus Gandalf earned the favor ofVarda, the Queen of Valar.

A similar situation occurred when Curumo and Olorin -- now Saruman and Gandalf -- were a part of the Council of the Wise. Despite Saruman arriving from Aman first, council member Galadriel proposes that Gandalf becomes the leader. Gandalf declines this offer, not wanting to be tied down in the position, and hands it off to Saruman.Saruman'spride is still damaged by the fact that they too like Gandalf more.

Fellow Quora member Nadeem Shaikh further explains that Saruman's growing pride and jealousy led him to "give up on his mission." Instead of resisting Sauron, hedecided to defeat the Dark Lord by using his own Ring. He then unwisely used the seeing-stone Palantir to come into contact with Sauron in an attempt to become a double agent. However, once Gandalf was with him in Isengard with news of the Ring being found, Saruman finally revealed himself as Sauron's ally.

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Saruman's character motivation was also discussed on Reddit, clarifying that he never fully joined Sauron. The most popular answer to the site's question as to why Saruman sided with Sauron was by u/12secondcountdown, who explained that the alliance was "merely a rivalrous faade." By keeping Sauron's focus elsewhere, Saruman could obtain the Ring first and become Middle-earth's sole ruler. The post also mentions that both Sauron and Saruman knew that they were in it for themselves and would have turned on each other once the people of Middle-earth were no longer a factor.

Despite his intentions of destroying Sauron by using his One Ring against him, it's all but certain that Saruman would have been just as evil and corrupted a ruler with the Ring as Sauron. Saruman is not only a secondary adversary for the Fellowship of the Ring, but a cautionary tale about how pride and jealousy can lead one down to a terrible, irredeemable path.

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Writer for CBR.com since January, 2020. You can find me on Twitter @mike_mccarrick. Super fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra and BoJack Horseman. Spends October scaring people at the Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride. Also loves Studio Ghibli, Wrestling, Shakespeare, Video Games, some Broadway and '80s Thrash Metal.

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Lord of the Rings: Why Saruman Betrayed Gandalf & Joined Sauron - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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