When the fellowship of the ring was formed at the Council of Elrond, those gathered there knew from the beginning that the ring bearers quest to get the evil object back to the fires of Mount Doom and destroy it, was always going to be a difficult one. In fact, even Frodo himself knew that it would probably cost him his life. After all, as Boromir wisely states, one cannot simply walk into Mordor.
It is a land filled with a thousand orcs, watched over by the great eye of Sauron at every corner, and so Frodo and Sam have to take the round-about route of getting there, which ends up being through the pass of Cirith Ungol, more commonly known as Shelob’s lair. But this path too, has its own perils, not least the giant spider demon who dwells there, the Silent Watchers, who are ancient cursed beings guarding the entrance, and the tricky Gollum who lured them there in the first place.
There are many times during that treacherous and winding staircase, and the dark deep tunnels that follow, in which Frodo and Sam nearly lose their lives. So, with this in mind, was there another way that they could have gotten into Mordor? Of course, no way that they chose would ever have been easy. That’s exactly how Gollum was able to lure them into Shelobs’s lair in the first place, by convincing them that it was the only way.
It is never known if Gollum escaped, or if he was released as part of a cunning plan by the enemy, but Gollum himself survived the dangers of the spider demon on his way out of the land where he was held captive and tortured. And at the time, he brokered a deal with the demon that he would bring her tasty bodies to eat, as payment for letting him live. Thus he comes up with the plan to offer up Frodo and Sam, and once she has finished eating them, to sneak in and find the ring among their remains.
However, right before Gollum’s dastardly plan takes place, before they even begin ascending the Winding Stairs, a different opportunity presents itself, and is perhaps one that they should have taken. The glowing green city of Minas Morgul, represented in Peter Jackson’s movies as a dingy place covered in sharp spikes and gargoyle-looking creatures, is the home to the Nazgûl. When Frodo Sam and Gollum arrive at its gates, a huge cry goes out and summons the warriors inside out to join the great battles being fought on the borders of Men. The perfect moment arises for Frodo and Sam to slip inside, but Gollum stops them, telling them he knows a better way. Of course, that seems like good sense at the time, if there is a secret passage that can get them there undetected, instead of risking going straight through the fortress of the enemy. However, they don’t know about the giant spider that awaits them.
As it happens, the route through Minas Morgul may have been the safer route after all, as almost all of the soldiers inside vacate when the call to arms arises. This means that it would have been almost entirely empty when Frodo and Sam had entered, with the possible exception of having to sneak past a few guards, which is a skill that all hobbits share.
This would have saved the two ring bearers all of the danger and the heartache that befalls them. They never would have trusted Gollum, who betrays Sam and Frodo over and over again, and they possibly could have even found food and water supplies within the tower that would have saved them from arriving exhausted and dehydrated at the volcano’s edge, and almost too weak to complete the task.
On the other hand, as with every good fantasy story, there is an element of fate to the tale. They managed to accomplish the quest, both because they fought hard, remained true to one another, and had strong enough hearts to resist the temptation of the ring right up until the end, but also because they had the help and guidance of many magical beings in the world. From their friend the grey wizard, to the Valar referenced in the Rings of Power, who watch over the lands and intervene in people's fates when the situation becomes dire enough.
Therefore, if they had chosen different paths, and gone through the gates instead of Shelob's lair, who's to say they wouldn't have been caught by a roving orc guard, or gotten lost in the walled towers, and the quest would have failed, to the ruin of all. Perhaps the way through Cirith Ungol was the way that they were always meant to go, guided by the powers that be.
