I like the idea that it's the first thing that happens in chapter 1. Pippin uses the nuke before having been given any narrative reason to want to use it. Because he's just that kind of chaotic energy.
Yeah but what about the Balrog? They'd have that to contend with.
And maybe... in fact I'd bet that creatures like Smaug could survive a nuclear blast even relatively nearby and probably even radioactive fallout, and just in case, they'd also know where every single cave in Middle Earth is, could quickly find cover before being exposed too much.
The only reason we get 3 books out of LOTR is because Legolas (and Gandalf) will it so. They could end the story at any moment but choose not to so others can have some fun
As someone who mained Aragorn because my brother was playing only legolas (poor gimli), while we were pressing 3 buttons to kill a single guy, legolas was pressing a single button to shoot 2 arrows that PIERCED EVEN SHIELDS, killing at the very least 2 orcs before we can even see them and sometimes even more cause they pierced through them. Im not bitter at all, its perfectly normal to remember this 20 years later.
He's nuking Mordor though, not the Ring. Mordor wouldn't survive, but Sauron probably would survive, since his fate is tied to the Ring, which hasn't been destroyed. So Pippin didn't really do anything other than kill some orcs and trolls.
I know it isn't like this in the books but if you killed every single orc and glassed Mordor, and Sauron doesn't have a body and can't retake one without the ring...what's he going to do? Turn his shitty eye and shoot bad vibes at your forever? Just don't live near him (you glassed it anyways ). Pretty funny to think of Sauron still alive but utterly impotent because all his servants are dead and he's still disembodied.
Yeah but I am talking about nuking the ring itself. Like you mentioned Sauron is tied to the ring, and destroying the ring will kill him.
Would a nuke take out the ring?
It was mentioned by Gandolf that there were no dragons left who had the fire to destroy the One Ring. Presumably, you just have to get it hot enough, and a nuclear bomb just might.
Pippin commits a preemptive strike against a low grade threat. Thus becoming war criminal; the international community turns against The Shire as the dangerous loose cannons they have shown themselves to be.
The fact they are nuclear armed leads to years of protracted negotiations; extremely harsh sanctions and the economic ruin of The Shire.
The remains of Mordor; rise up and become far more important on the international stage. As the injured party they telegraph this into a much louder voice than they should command. They oppose the Elves but have similar goals, the control and subjugation of the humans.
Problem is that Sauron looked dope as fuck, and terminators love looking badass, and so they'd immediately take his side. Number one rule of being a terminator is to always look cool.