The closer to Mordor the ring got the more powerful its pull becomes. To the point that realistically no one would be able to willingly throw the ring into the lava. The ring simply would not let them. It's how Isildur failed. He was met with maximum temptation from the beginning.

[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

Tolkien corroborated this in one of his letters by saying that in mount doom, where the ring's power is at its highest, even Souron himself would not be able to throw it in (not that he'd want to anyway of course).

[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

Which is why Frodo cursed Gollum, so that if Gollum ever took the ring back, he would immediately fall into the lava. And the ring held him to his word.

[–] Starbuck@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Okay, glad I didn’t make that up. But it’s been a while since I’ve read the book. Guess it’s time to rewatch the movies though.