# What hypothetically would have happened to Gollum had he survived the Ring's destruction?



## BalrogRingDestroyer (Dec 11, 2018)

The thought crossed my mind just now and it would be interesting to see what would have happened to his personality had the dangerous influences of his "precious" been removed.

Obviously, if, for instance, he'd been somewhere else in Mordor when the Ring went down (maybe a fight between Frodo and Sam that destroyed it), then he'd have aged like Mother Gothel at the end of Tangled and turned to dust. 

However, assuming that he'd have survived the Ring's destruction, perhaps if he'd only been the age of Bilbo and perhaps could have lived despite being 129 or so, would he have become far nicer now that the Ring was gone, or would he have stayed his mean self?

If his Gollum half only had life due to the Ring, would his Smeagol half, now having won due to Gollum's "death", have spent his final years feeling remorse for Deagol and the others that he killed due to the Ring, if perhaps, for no other reason than the kindness Frodo showed him having reformed him?


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## Valandil (Dec 12, 2018)

Even if he had been far from Mordor when the Ring was destroyed, I think he would have aged and died very quickly. He himself thinks so - as you say, that he'll turn to dust. I don't know if it would have been near instantaneous, or taken weeks, months or a few years... but I suspect rather quickly since he's so much older than Bilbo.

If he did physically live for awhile, yes - I think he might have become a bit kinder. I wouldn't look for a saint - he began bad and went from bad to worse - but the hardships he had endured, the perspective he might have gained (??? did he?), the love he may have been shown, and the lifting of the Ring's burden from his mind - might have made him a bit easier to be with.


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## BalrogRingDestroyer (Dec 16, 2018)

I do wonder, though, if once the Ring was gone, if he'd mourn for it, or see it for the evil that it was and be glad to be rid of it.


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## Eebounnie (Dec 16, 2018)

BalrogRingDestroyer said:


> I do wonder, though, if once the Ring was gone, if he'd mourn for it, or see it for the evil that it was and be glad to be rid of it.



I think his mind was so polluted by the Ring that he'd still mourn for it. He spent most of his life with the Ring (or thinking about it) that losing the Ring would be like losing a part of him. A bit like the phantom limb syndrome.


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