re: Laundry list of LOTR questions

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- Saruman, their creator, was originally good. But in using the Palantir he saw the might of Sauron and was corrupted to believe that there was no hope for the good people of Middle Earth. He despaired and then decided to make a deal with Sauron.

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To be fair, Saruman was actively planning on taking the One Ring for himself and then challenging Sauron. He was delusional to do such, but his alliance with Sauron was bullshite, and even Sauron was aware of this.