Resolved: Frodo was not justified in taking the Fellowship into Moria.

Reclarifying O1: The books have the priority. That seems clear enough so let's move on: O2: Frodo's view after the LOTR series. We should be taking a look from a speculated Frodo's perspective after the trilogy has ended. Countering responses to DAs: DA1: Con said 'White Wizard'. I have two responses: a) Gandalf suffered unnecessarily, which I will show later on. b) Con has brought forth no evidence showing that Gandalf wouldn't have become the White Wizard without the encounter with the Balrog. DA2: Con said a. Aragorn, and b. Not true. Aragorn did not prove to be a fully capable leader, although he was a good one. Take, for example, how he decided to look into the palantir. Although he made it, he only barely made it. Another application is when he was hasty to look for signs of Gandalf. He gave himself and the 4 hobbits away to the Nazgul, and Frodo nearly was transformed into a wraith. Addressing b. Not true, They did lose time, especially at the encounter with the Watcher, the orcs and the cave troll, and especially the Balrog. Besides, which can go under my DA3, Gandalf, as you may remember, got into a 3-way branch in the path. His sole decision for choosing the middle one was 'always follow your nose', as you may remember. If he had made only one mistake, and chosen the left or right paths, the Fellowship would have either been lost or massacred. This shows why the alternative: Bilbo's path, is actually better, which leads me to strengthen my DA3: Only 1 mistake: a. Con responded, saying 'beneficial'. I believe I've already addressed the Gandalf issue under DA1. Con also did not bring any evidence showing that Frodo could only have gone alone with Sam if Gandalf had not been there. Also, the death of Boromir was not shown to be beneficial, especially as he repented in the end, after Frodo's last refusal. Furthermore, if Gandalf had been there, this whole issue might not have happened, as Gandalf had more power (I would argue) than possibly the rest of the Fellowship combined. If he had lived, he might have proven a valuable defendant at Helm's Deep, Minas Tirith, and the Battle before the Black Gate (which could have been prevented). Furthermore, Con has shown no evidence that he would have become a wraith. Frodo did not become a wraith after years and years of possession. Why should Boromir become one only after months? b. Con responded 'Eru's protection'. True, it worked out for the best in the end. However, I have two responses: 1. No proof of Eru/Frodo's perspective/Topicality: The Con has brought forth no evidence that Eru even existed. Besides this point, we are looking at Frodo's perspective after the LOTR series. Frodo did not even recognize the presence of a 'higher force'. Furthermore, Eru's action and intervention does not 'justify' Frodo. Closing this response, if Eru did have supreme power, as the Con seems to hint, why didn't he destroy Melkor and Sauron and their hordes all at once? If the Fellowship had walked into Mordor sounding trumpets, shooting off rockets, and ultimately attracting the Eye of Sauron, then couldn't Eru have protected them all? Besides, why did he choose to let many Men, Elves, and Dwarves die in the War of the Ring? Couldn't he just have destroyed all of the bad guys? In response to Con's DAs to my Plan: DA1: Con said 'goblins returned': Con has brought forth no proof. Furthermore, the goblins were completely wiped out in the Battle of the Five Armies and the events following. What escaped the battle did not escape the dangers of Mirkwood or of the armies that hunted them down. Conversely, Dain and his people were not wiped out, but prospered, and refurbished the Lonely Mountain. DA2: Con said 'benefits gone' We have covered Gandalf and Boromir already, so let's move on to DA3: Con said 'Fellowship massacred': Con is contradicting himself. He's saying that the hordes of Moria, including the Balrog, from which the Fellowship escaped, would have less power than the few or zero goblins that might or might not have escaped from the Battle of the Five Armies. I've already shown that the Con has brought no evidence showing that the caves were reinhabited. Furthermore, Con contradicts himself again. He's saying that Eru can bring them all the way through Middle Earth and through Mordor and Moria, but cannot bring them through Bilbo's path with fewer disadvantages. Overall, I've shown that Con contradicts himself (no pun intended) quite a few times, while Bilbo's path is the way to go. Thanks for bearing with me for that almost 5,000 words, and I hope that you will cast the vote for the Pro. Thank you.