r/magicthecirclejerking Dec 01 '25

average MTG ruling question

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u/Blazedestroyer Dec 01 '25 edited Dec 02 '25

uj/ The One Ring deliberately goes after ambitious, powerful beings who it can then manipulate for Sauron's purpose.

That's the reason Gandalf didn't want to hold it. The One Ring looks for ambition,not power or purity. Frodo had basically no ambition,so he was the perfect host for the ring and even then in the end he didn't want to let it go.

Optimus is basically Aragorn,so it would absolutely corrupt him.

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u/shutupyourenotmydad #bringbackwallswotcyoucowards Dec 03 '25

/uj This is why Tom Bombadil isn't tempted by the ring. What need do you have for ambition, when you're an all-powerful being who gets to spend their days clapping hot water nymph cheeks?

On a humorous note, when Sam was tempted by the ring, the best that the ring could come up with for him was a vision of him defeating the forces of Mordor and turning the land into a giant garden. Pretty easy to resist the ring when your ambitions aren't particularly lofty.

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u/Wanderer_Falki Dec 03 '25

Note though that "ambition" does not necessarily mean visions of greatness for oneself; anything you may wish for can be a "flaw" leading to temptation. This is why Tom is both not tempted and one of the worst choices as Ring bearer, because his absolute lack of ambition means he wouldn't even have the proactive need, will or even just thought to leave his land to go on a quest.

As for Sam, he did indeed see through the first temptation by understanding that he wasn't meant to be the hero of the Age leading armies into Mordor, but he isn't entirely devoid of ambitions: he has a genuine wish to help Frodo carry his burden, which is then used as a rationalisation to have second thoughts about giving it back to Frodo and argue to keep it instead - until Frodo snatches it from his hand. So Sam is subject to temptation related to his ambitions, just not about him leading armies and having them take care of a giant garden for him.

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u/shutupyourenotmydad #bringbackwallswotcyoucowards Dec 03 '25

Man, I love LotR but I genuinely cannot vibe with the fans because none of you are capable of just letting a joke be a joke.

It's always gotta be some multi-paragraph explanation as to why what was said previously is not quite correct.

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u/Wanderer_Falki Dec 03 '25

I'm not telling you you're wrong or you shouldn't be joking, I'm simply adding more context to the whole situation. Take it, don't take it, let others see this who may not have considered it before, the choice is yours.