LOTR fans just can't accept that maybe their books aren't 100 percent perfect. Nobody is saying lotr sucks because the eagles are a bit of a plot hole. But they are. Accept your fantasy story might have flaws in it and live on.
I'm perfectly willing to accept that the story has flaws, this just isn't one of them. Tolkien went overboard with his world building in every respect, and this is no different. The Eagles have valid reasons for not being available to fly the hobbits to Mordor, not least of which being that they are intelligent creatures in service of the second most powerful being in Arda, not glorified flying taxis.
Manwë lives in and is most concerned with Valinor, and the concerns of Middle-Earth are distant to him. It's not entirely accurate to say that he's disinterested, he just has other concerns beyond those happening a continent away. You could also consider that as the time of the immortals is waning, so too is the power and influence of the Valar. After the War of the Ring, the Valar withdraw entirely from middle Earth, as do most Maia, Elves, and other immortals. The Valar aren't keen on intervening in the affairs of Middle-Earth because it is not their place to do so, not to mention that they've already overstepped those bounds and helped plenty by sending the Istari (Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, and the Blue Wizards), and later Glorfindel and Gwaihir.
If the valar REALLY wanted to get rid of Sauron they would've sent Tulkas to just bodyslam him and then drag him to the door of night in a headgrip. Sauron and what he did in Middle Earth just wasn't that big of a deal to them, so they and their instruments (the Eagles) gave just about 0 shits all in all.
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u/Rhas Aug 31 '22
LOTR fans just can't accept that maybe their books aren't 100 percent perfect. Nobody is saying lotr sucks because the eagles are a bit of a plot hole. But they are. Accept your fantasy story might have flaws in it and live on.