What if Arnor survives?

Ever wondered how Middle-earth would change if Arnor wasn't destroyed? Well, don't stop wondering, but do watch this video - it might help.
If you're wondering why I sound different halfway through the video; it was recorded in two halves, and I became sick in the second half.
/ darthgandalftv

[@frggdeckkkydexhhgg]

Don't know why, but Arnor's history fascinates me the most. You give Arnor the attention it deserves. Thank you.

[@JustinWilkinson8699]

Here's a "What If" scenario, What if Beren & Luthien had regained all 3 silmarils?

[@istari0]

One other possibility. With Arnor never falling, perhaps Isengard is never turned over to Saruman, who then ends up having to build his stronghold somewhere else entirely. By the time of the War of the Ring, the Fellowship can safely travel from Imladris to Minas Tirith (or wherever they might decide to go) in much more safety as they would not have to go through Moria either and certainly it would be a lot harder for the Nazgûl to pursue them.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

If Gondor's steward had accepted Arvedui's demand to become the king of Gondor after Earnil II's death then Arnor would've come back very strong according to the seer Malbeth.

[@mr.foxtrot1381]

For the War of the Ring, I suspect that Sauron would at least attempt to revive the Realm of Angmar in some capacity. As we know, Sauron's whole strategy was to keep the forces of his enemies from uniting against him, so it stands to reason that preventing Gondor and Arnor from joining forces would be at the top of his list (In fact, this is probably what prompted Sauron to send the Witch- King to Angmar in the first place. Destroying Arnor would not only destroy one kingdom of his most hated enemies, but also deprive the other of a valuable ally). An old enemy resurfacing on their very borders would likely set off quite a few alarm bells in Arnor, who would send its forces to put an end to the threat as soon as possible, which would delay the arrival of any Arnorian reinforcements to Gondor for quite some time. Time enough, perhaps, for Sauron to overrun Eastern Gondor.

[@raulbaez8526]

I was thinking about this for about a week. An Arnor that is still alive and providing aid to the southern realm would mean that Gondor and Rohan would not be in dire straits and Mordor would have to wait longer to make it's strike on the free people. Sauron has all the time in middle earth. But with Arnor recovering and not engaged that time is cutting both ways. It might be possible that the paths of the misty moutains will be cleared. With Arnor still around there might be enough strength for a direct conflict with Sauron that might not need such a gamble with hobbits. Or at least the hobbits could take the ring to mordor without as much peril. Aragorn might not have the skills he had as a ranger though. Like Darth Gandalf said this is speculation. In any case an Arnor that did not fall would put the Dunedain in a much better place.

[@Edward-nf4nc]

Ow, and if Melkor never became evil there would never have been a Numenor, and so there would never have been an Arnor!

[@ellanenish5999]

Please make an episode "What if Angmar would reborn?" Angmar is my favourite realm and it's the one of the greatest potential in Third Age, even Tolkien many times stated that reborn Angmar which would be a lot weaker than the original will still be a great threat to the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.

[@baizen1]

I think the war of the ring would have happened in a similar fashion regardless, but just later. Sauron was definitely a very patient being, only revealing his hand once he is confident he can win with his armies. He had already hidden himself for a couple thousand years while waiting for his enemies to inevitably decay through his influence in the east and the nazgul, what's a thousand more years gonna add anyways

[@rael7298]

If Melkor didn't turn evil, the perfect world of harmony and ease would have been created and everyone that came into existance would live happily ever after

[@mikealexander1935]

Had Arnor survived the role of the hobbits would have greatly expanded with the Earth-shattering event in ca 2670. This was when "leaf" was invented (Tobold basically is the Middle Earth version of John Rolfe) who came up with a strain of tobacco that was mild enough to have market appeal. Tobacco is addictive, and soon the elves of Lindon would take up the habit as well as the dwarves of the Blue Mtns, and possibly also the elves in Mirkwood and the Dwarves of Erebor. This would create enormous foreign exchange for the Shire which would allow the Shire to acquire Elvish seeds and plant-growing know-how that would give them vastly increased agricultural productivity making the Shire the breakbasket of Arnor. This actually happened in the actual timeline to a lesser extent as evidenced by the high standard of living the hobbits enjoyed*, and the fact that families like the Baggins were able to live a life of leisure apparently from investment income.

[@GirlNextGondor]

Great work as usual; I lol'd at the Tolkien Gateway notes.

[@Fin-mh9jl]

YES! Been waiting on what if Arnor survived for ages.

[@ellesartelcontar2387]

The fan fiction we never wanted but we all needed keep

[@Miami-jt2jp]

Can you do a Arnor Army/population size speculation video?

[@reecepip4857]

What if Darth Gandalf had the 300 000 KZbin following he deserves, is a scenario I'd like to be explored indepth.....also cheeky on the "never read the books" part, nearly got me there mate, nearly got me

[@rafaelbogdan9307]

This might come off a bit optimistic, but if Arnor survives and has many centuries of peace to recover, and Gondor is also strengthened by its survival, it may well be that the alliance between them, Rohan and the remaining Elves and possibly Dwarves, brokered by the Wise, invade Mordor before Sauron can even try to get ahead of them in military buildup. Sauron himself would be put to flight or lose his body (again 🙄).

[@sageofcaledor8188]

That is an excellent video with great points! Thank you for making it!

[@oliveremmettknox7776]

Arnor deserves to have its own Middle Earth spin off movie or tv series.

[@bankerduck4925]

Ah yes. Enveloped in Tolkien's magical grasp once again.