What do you think would have happened had the Fellowship not broken?

[BalrogRingDestroyer]

There are two choices that they would have made. What do you think would have befallen had they taken them?

(In either scenario, we can assume that Boromir didn't try and grab the Ring, though he may, possibly, do so at a later time in either one. We can assume that he didn't by Rauros at any rate.)

A.) They all go West toward Minas Tirith.
B.) They all go East toward Mordor.

I can admit that option B would likely mean the fall of Rohan, unless Gandalf the White was able to save it by himself. (And without the help of Minas Tirith, Gondor would certainly fall, sooner or later, and that would mean no army at the Black Gate to distract Sauron from the Ring being snuck into his own land.) And Option A runs the risk of Boromir or even Denethor taking the Ring by force. And, while Option A seems the more likely to succeed, that would also mean they'd lose crucial time to get into Mordor, time they might not have before Sauron mustered another army and took down Gondor and Rohan.

 

[Sihtric]

Hmm... I would agree with you about the fall of Rohan. However, I almost feel that some 'breakage' would have occurred-whether by (like your point about option A) corruption/desire, the need to continue the quest with as much secrecy as possible, or due to loyalties that the fellowship had with others nations (ie Gondor/Rohan). Due to the fact, they were not bound to any oath (even though the bonds of their fellowship are very strong), it could have been possible they would have (had to?) split ways eventually. This is super interesting to think about!

 

[Shadow]

I say they would have all put up a good fight but would have failed. How the story actually went was how victory was won. A mixture of strategy, timing and luck.

 

[Aramarien]

The story would be quite different and Rohan would have fallen and most likely Minas Tirith too. Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin all wanted to go to Minas Tirith, but all of them said they would not abandon Frodo and go with him. Aragorn felt they should split up and he, Gimli, Sam, and Frodo should go to Mordor and the rest would go to Minas Tirith. Merry and Pippin were adamant about staying with Frodo, but also wanted to persuade him to go to Minas Tirith.

Most likely, Boromir would have had to make the journey to Minas Tirith alone, but perhaps the lure of the Ring might make him agree to go to Mordor where the lure would strengthen and he would try to take the Ring again. If he succeeded, and claimed the Ring for his own, the Nazgul would most likely find them quickly.

Even if Boromir was not with them, I doubt that the Fellowship would have been that successful in secrecy with so many of them. They may have been able to cross the Dead Marshes with Strider leading them, but how would they have entered Mordor? They may have needed to go the long way around where the mountains were lower and add too much time to their journey. They would not have been able to cross the Gorgorath with all Sauron's troops.

In addition, without Merry and Pippin arousing the Ents, Rohan would have fallen. Gandalf may have helped in gathering Eomer and his men, but without the Ents, the battle of Helm's Deep would have been lost. Rohan would not have been able to come to Minas Tirith. Aragorn would not have summoned the Army of the Dead and eventually gather the ships to arrive to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Aragorn would not attain the Palantir to challenge Sauron if Saruman was not defeated, thus pushing Sauron to use his army more quickly and have his eye beyond Mordor enabling Sam and Frodo to more easily move about Mordor more secretly.

If the Fellowship did not break up the way it did, the Quest would not have been achieved.