LOTR Plot Hole Debunked: Why Saruman Didn’t Kill Treebeard & The Ents

The fact that Saruman didn’t use his forces to wipe out Treebeard and the other Ents has been called a Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers plot hole, but when considering his power and theirs, such a strategy wouldn’t have boded well for the fallen wizard. It’s revealed that Saruman had once been friends with the Ents and used to commune with them often. Therefore, it’s thought that he should have known that their power could devastate his plans in Isengard. Treebeard and his kin were why things fell apart for Saruman, and he seemingly did nothing about it.

Saruman’s goal in Lord of the Rings was to industrialize Middle-earth. Of course, this made him a natural enemy to the Ents, who were responsible for protecting the forests that Saruman destroyed. Once Treebeard and his fellows decided at the Entmoot that this couldn’t continue, they marched into Isengard and destroyed everything the wizard had worked to build. Additionally, the Ents sent their Huorns to Helm’s Deep to defend the Rohirrim against Saruman’s Uruk-hai. All of this could have been avoided if Saruman had dealt with the Ents, to begin with, but he couldn’t have expected this outcome in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Saruman Couldn’t Have Predicted The Ents Would Fight In LOTR

The Ents were the opposite of Saruman, especially who he became under the corruption of his greed. They were slow to act and considered everything they did carefully. They despised violence, and there had been no instances in Middle-earth history in which they rose to fight against those who damaged their forests. During the First and Second Ages, Morgoth and Sauron both did terrible destruction to the Ents and their homes, and it’s suspected that the latter Dark Lord was responsible for wiping out the Entwives. Therefore, it’s reasonable that Saruman would have expected them to sit back and do nothing.

On the off chance the Ents did rise against him, Saruman would have expected them to take a long time to make it happen. These creatures of the forest move and think at an entirely different pace than other beings of Middle-earth, as seen by Treebeard’s frequent comments in The Lord of the Rings about not being hasty. What Saruman didn’t know is that Gandalf, who had been resurrecting as Gandalf the White, had already visited Fanghorn Forest and that this, combined with Merry and Pippin’s presence there, motivated the Ents to act “hastily” for the first time. These were all events that Saruman didn’t foresee.

Saruman’s Growing Evil Made Him Arrogant & Prideful

Gandalf sought the help of the Ents because he knew how passionate Treebeard and his people were about the forests they were trying to protect. Though they were not a species prone to war, they knew how ancient and important forests like Fanghorn were, and they were willing to do anything—even go against their nature—to stop Saruman from wiping them out. However, the evil wizard himself had grown to only value power. Since he couldn’t understand what the Ents were trying to protect, he couldn’t fathom how hard they would fight for it.

Additionally, the Ents were merciful, and this is something Saruman considered a weakness. The wizard wasn’t entirely off on this since, in the Lord of the Rings books, Treebeard let Saruman go after Sauron’s downfall despite the wizard’s remaining evil influence. This may be what Saruman had expected from the very beginning—that the Ents would come to Isengard and attempt gentler methods of stopping the destruction of their forests. Of course, this was folly. Once the Ents arrived and flooded Saruman’s industrial kingdom, the wizard knew he didn’t have the power to do anything about it.

A War Against The Ents Would Have Weakened Saruman’s Forces

On the off chance that Saruman pushed his arrogance aside long enough to consider the Ents a threat, it’s still unlikely that he would have acted against them. Recognizing Treebeard’s strength would have meant seeing how devastating the Ents could be to his forces. Even if Saruman succeeded in eliminating the Ents, they would have destroyed a great many of his Uruk-hai, and since Saruman had his eyes on much larger targets than Fanghorn Forest, this is something he couldn’t have risked. It would have taken far too long to build his forces back up, and by the time he succeeded, Gondor might have added its forces to Rohan, or Sauron might have obtained the One Ring.

Therefore, since it was so unlikely that the Ents would fight, to begin with, it wouldn’t have been worth it to attack them before they had a chance to march on Isengard. Had Saruman tried it, he would have been betting everything he had on a battle that would have achieved nothing other than keeping the tree shepherds from attacking first. Still, these are factors that Saruman likely never considered. Unlike the Ents, he acted hastily, seeing an opportunity in the weakened Rohan to add even more to his growing industrial empire. In truth, Saruman would lose no matter what since he wasn’t as clever and strong in The Lord of the Rings as he thought—especially in comparison to Treebeard.