Gandalf wouldn’t even still be there, since he was only there to aid in the fight against Sauron. He’d have gone off to Valinor shortly after Sauron’s defeat, together with the rest of the elves. And there’d be no Aragorn to be a good pal and extend the good lifespans of the realms of Men, so Gondor would never get a new king and the realms of Men would likely fall to evil a bit into the third age.
I could totally see Gandalf still being in middle Earth. He cared about his mission because he fell in love with middle Earth. Had he not been elevated to Gandalf the White explicitly to compete his task reminding him he doesn’t belong there, I could very much see him having gone the way of Radagast, being a force for good in middle Earth for a long time.
Saruman, for all his faults, was correct, Gandalf’s love of the haflings and the good of middle earth was making him complacent.
Gandalf wouldn’t even still be there, since he was only there to aid in the fight against Sauron. He’d have gone off to Valinor shortly after Sauron’s defeat, together with the rest of the elves. And there’d be no Aragorn to be a good pal and extend the good lifespans of the realms of Men, so Gondor would never get a new king and the realms of Men would likely fall to evil a bit into the third age.
I could totally see Gandalf still being in middle Earth. He cared about his mission because he fell in love with middle Earth. Had he not been elevated to Gandalf the White explicitly to compete his task reminding him he doesn’t belong there, I could very much see him having gone the way of Radagast, being a force for good in middle Earth for a long time.
Saruman, for all his faults, was correct, Gandalf’s love of the haflings and the good of middle earth was making him complacent.