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Why send a near-Maiar when you already have a full strength Maiar?
Wizards are like specifically not full strength maiar. They were limited in order to not do too much collateral damage.
Actually Gandalf had his whole strength the entire time, he was just forbidden from using it in front of the Children of Iluvatar. Just like how the kids at my daycare probably think I can't tell colors apart or find anything, he could solve this whole problem by himself but he knows it's better for their development if he lets them try by themselves.
Damn, in the Amazon series he is like kinda clueless.
As the progenitor of one of these little demons you get at work, your comparison utterly cracked me up.
Thanks. That being said, if he did try to handle Sauron (not to mention going after the Witch King, the real Dark Lord of the 3rd age according to what the history books will say) and then got sent back to Valinor, I am pretty positive the Valar would have put him in in the time-out chair to think about what he did.
Thats my pet theory about what happened to the Blue Wizards. I think they strayed from the path for what they thought was the greater good, died, and then Mandos gave then a stern talking-to instead of sending them back.
I was about to say that worked out so well with Sauron, sarcastically, but I looked it up and it turns out Sauron was an Ainur which is basically a full power Maiar, or in other words Sauron is the reason the limits were established, lol.
Well, Istari were not full power Maiar, that was kind of the point. Honestly, there may have been some elves from earlier ages that were stronger than some of the wizards.
I like to think of Gandalf as like how I act with the kids at my daycare. I think the Istarii asking the children of Eru to clean up Sauron's mess is like me asking the kids to show me which bucket the toys on the floor go in. I could do it all by myself, but it's better for them if they do it.
The Istari were conceived because the last time Maiar went to war a continent sank. They have their memories altered in order to greatly weaken them and prevent that kind of power from being thrown around. Their mandate is to do exactly as you say, get the kids to get themselves straightened out, but they very specifically are not powerful enough to do it on their own, by design.
That is true, it is pretty directly stated that they were weakened, but need I remind you how our favorite frail old wizard beat a Balrog to death so loudly that it could be seen and heard from miles away? I firmly believe that, with power equalling a Balrog and with their wisdom as ageless beings, the five of them working together couldn't figure some way to deal with it. Maybe they would mug Sauron in a back alley or something. Besides, the actual Dark Lord of this age (the Witch King) would have been relatively fair game as far as his prophecy was concerned, since they are not of the race of Men.
Of course, if they tried to do this and died, Mandos would almost certainly put them in time out instead of sending them back. That's my pet theory about what happened to the Blue Wizards; I think they broke from their path for what they thought was good reason, got sent back to Valinor, and then Mandos put them in the time-out chair to think about what they've done.
Considering what Fingolfin did to Morgoth, you'd think so. Gandalf claimed he was the most dangerous person on Middle-Earth save for the dark lord himself though, which would imply he still held more power than the likes of Galadriel.
Gandalf's danger didn't come from raw power though. Olorin was considered the mightiest Maia they could send, but Olorin's power was greatly diminished when he became Gandalf. The danger Gandalf presented was due to his ability to inspire and organize the mortal races, not in his prowess or main force.
I thought Fangorn was dangerous.
'Dangerous!' cried Gandalf. 'And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord. And Aragorn is dangerous, and Legolas is dangerous. You are beset with dangers, Gimli son of Glóin; for you are dangerous yourself, in your own fashion. Certainly the forest of Fangorn is perilous — not least to those that are too ready with their axes; and Fangorn himself, he is perilous too; yet he is wise and kindly nonetheless.
I guess it's up to interpretation, but personally I interpret that as dangerous as in lethality. Only Sauron had the power to best Gandalf the White in direct confrontation.