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I know it was already asked, "Why didn't Aragorn keep going with the army of the dead?" and the obvious answer that he gave his word and had to keep to it. I'm not sure why somebody didn't read what I wrote here and forced me to edit it again. I had already read that question and all of the answers. It is substantially different. I know that Aragorn made a promise. I know they were traitors. I know they had to aide the king of Gondor to get set free. I know Aragorn had to keep his word...however I completely disagree with the comment below that it wasn't Aragorn's deal to make. In fact it was Aragorn's deal to make, since he made it. How would they know in the future exactly what was needed from them and when? They did not know that a king would arise to offer them a deal. In fact they thought Isildur's line had ended. So it was a surprise when Aragorn went to them asking them for aid. So again since it was Aragorn's deal to make...

Why didn't Aragorn simply tell them they had to fight for him until Sauron's armies were defeated? Or tell them to skip the battle at Minas Tirith and go straight to the black gate and take out Sauron's main army behind the black gates?

We're talking about Aragorn, a very wise man who was over 80 years old at the time. He knew already how difficult Saruman's much smaller army, without the aide of the Nazgûl, was to defeat in an area that was smaller and easier to defend. Why simply ask for aid in a single battle?

Also related to this is that one the way to Minas Tirith they did aide him additionally on the ships. So was his releasing their oath really only tied to this one battle, couldn't he have sent them on as a continuation of the same war that needed to be concluded?

Why didn't Aragorn cut a better deal? And was the deal really that limited?

Rand al'Thor
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JMFB
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    I fail to see how this is different to this question. See this answer which specifically states that it was not Aragorn's deal to make. – Möoz Apr 02 '15 at 05:33
  • @Mooz I responded to your comment and the block somebody put on the question by lengthening the first paragraph to address why it's a different question I'm asking and how it wasn't answered. – JMFB Apr 02 '15 at 05:51
  • Reading your additions, it pretty much just sounds like you don't like the answers on the other question - but the questions are the same. – phantom42 Apr 02 '15 at 05:56
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    @phantom42 It was obvious that he couldn't break the deal once he made it. I like the revisions one person listed showing how it progressed. What I don't understand is why Aragorn being as smart and wise as he was, and with the experience of just having been through a difficult battle, why he wouldn't cut a better deal. I don't think he could have had them kill Sauron. But couldn't he have had them go straight to the black gate to give Frodo his chance? In the least they would have taken out a lot more of Saurons army & Sauron might have even recalled his army from MT in fear. – JMFB Apr 02 '15 at 07:05
  • "They knew " this and that - they're dead; how does anyone know what they knew? – Matt Gutting Apr 02 '15 at 10:29
  • The first linked question has a highly upvoted answer which addresses the question IMO. The answer for the expansion here is: Jackson broke the story having them appear at the main battle and Jackson wisely decided to not absolutely destroy the story further by having the completely fabricated dead-army-that-fights go all the way to Mordor. – Yorik Apr 02 '15 at 15:30
  • @Yorik Where does this question mention the movie? (And I must say that at least in the book I don't remember Aragorn making a specific promise to the Dead.) – Matt Gutting Apr 02 '15 at 16:42
  • His question says "Or tell them to skip the battle at Minas Tirith." In the books, upon arival at the battle, the ships were manned by people from southern gondor and freed slaves from the ships. – Yorik Apr 02 '15 at 17:53
  • @Yorik dangit how did I miss that? :-{ – Matt Gutting Apr 02 '15 at 19:23
  • @JMFB - the point that Mooz is making is that Aragorn had little to no flexibility in the deal. Think of it this way - Isildor is the banker who made the deal - Aragorn is just the collection agent who showed up years later to collect. – Omegacron Apr 03 '15 at 16:07
  • @Omegacron What deal did Isildor actually make? – JMFB Apr 04 '15 at 11:16
  • @JMFB well, it was actually a curse - he cursed their entire kingdom so that they would find no eternal rest until fulfilling their pledge (which was to show up & assist in the battle) under his command or that of his heirs. – Omegacron Apr 06 '15 at 14:10
  • If you think it was his deal to make, consider this - they were damned to the existence as the undead until they fulfilled their oaths. That doesn't mean that they instantly were compelled to do whatever the heir told them. Why not strike a better deal? "I need you to fight in this battle, and see your oaths fulfilled" "Okay, deal." vs. "I need you to fight indefinitely until all evil is vanquished from the planet" "Meh. We'll stay damned." - then Gondor is lost because Aragorn was too greedy, and all of Middle Earth falls into ruin under the yoke of Sauron's evil. – PoloHoleSet Jun 24 '16 at 14:40

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