[Simaron]

Just think about it, all the importans things that happens in the 3rd age involves gandalf... He kinda made bilbo get the ring by taking him on the journey (the hobbit), he made sure that bilbo didnt keep it, and he made frodo realize what he had to do. He made Aragorn king, he even helped himself become more powerfull..

It like gandalf knew what was about to happen and had it planed all along..

[Jesugandalf]

Well, actually in the book Gandalf says the third age was his age, and when Sauron is defeated and so the Third Age ends, his time in Middle-Earth also ends and he goes to the West.

But Gandalf is "just" Sauron's enemy. He fights Sauron. The Third Age is his age, but not all the important things that happened in that Age involved the participation of Gandalf.

Oh my God. I think my ability to express myself in English gets worse everyday... I hope you understand what I wanted to say...

[seregmegil]

And Gandalf didn't make Bilbo found the ring, He was planing to defeat Smaug because Sauron will have too many force on the north because Saruman was triying to stop an atack to sauron's lair in the Black forest (I suppose the name in the original book is it ).

Please, correct me if I don't know how to explain that Gandalf is only a person that didn't use his power to fight against sauron and it hasn't any power to see the future when he sent bilbo with the dwarfs.

[Simaron]

What I ment, you could belive that he could see into the future if you looked on his actions... Hes actions cant just be coincidences (or could they ?)

im not saying Gandalf knew but he did make some pretty nice choices

[Ancalagon]

They were chances and coincidences for the most part. Though he did have intuitions (sparing Gollum's life and saying that he feels that Gollum has a part to play in LotR before the end, foreshadowing Gollum falling with the Ring into the Cracks of Doom) and such. But it was mostly luck and coincidence, IMHO.

[maia]

Well, in some ways you could say that, especially considering that the third age of the sun ended not with the fall of the dark tower but with Gandalf's departure to the undying lands.
However, you have to remember that the Istari didn't arrive in the grey havens until a thousand years of the third age had passed.
I do think that Tolkien wanted Gandalf to be the true hero of the third age though.

[Ancalagon]

Well, the Valar (Powers, Lords of the West) sent the Istari to aid the inhabitants of Middle-Earth when Sauron arose into power. Their main purpose was to spur the Peoples of Middle-Earth (a proverbial fire under their butts) to take action and amass forces before it was too late to stop Sauron's return. Unfortunately, as LotR shows, only one of the Istari truly accomplished this: Mithrandir, or Gandalf. The rest remained in Middle-Earth (save Curunir, or Sauruman who died by the hands of his own thrall), being ensnared by other things and digressing utterly from their path purposed to them by the Valar. Radagast diminished because he cared more for the creatures of the wild than the welfare of Men. Sauruman fell (literaly) because he became ensnared by thoughts of Power and Dominion over all. It is sad that he became so ensnared, he who had studied the arts of the Enemy for so long.

But only Gandalf sayed true to his purpose and mission, and thus was the only Istari, out of the five, to return to Valinor.

[Fezzness]

Very well put ^_^

[SimVig]

Another thing to point out is that Gandalf was sent to Middle-Earth against his will. He never wanted to be one of the Istari, and actually was just told by the Valar to go there. He did his duty despite all however, and saved Middle-Earth.

[Jesugandalf]

Yes, actually he was the last of the Istari to come to Middle-Earth, and the only one who keep true to his duty.

Good old Gandalf!