Would think of destroying the ring, only using it to supplant him. Gandalf banks on this. In fact, pippin staring into the Palantir actually turned into a strategic move because it forced Aragon to reveal himself to Sauron. Sauron then figured they had the ring and sent the Nazgul to recover it......leaving Mt. Doom open for Frodo to climb.

But even at the gates of Mt. doom the ring was so powerful that in the end Frodo DID want to take over for Sauron (so Sauron was right). Frodo put the ring on and it was all over.

Except nobody killed Collum and he proved essential to the story in the end, as Gandalf foretold.


It's all better presented in the book than the movie.