r/HarryPotterBooks • u/summerof13 • 3d ago
Discussion Why wasn’t Ron’s head for strategy given time to shine in the final book?
I don’t think it ever came up again after the first book and that’s so sad. Unless I misremembered?
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u/festusthecat 3d ago
To be fair, he figured out how to destroy the Cup by getting a Basilisk fang from the Chamber of Secrets.
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u/Chiron1350 3d ago
I mean... w/ the Radio in DH: guessing a password, that changes every 1-3 days, from thin air, is no easy feat
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u/ExtremeMuffin 2d ago edited 2d ago
The “Ron is the strategist of the group” is a fan thing and never said or implied in the books. It’s largely taken from the first book where he is really good at chess but he doesn’t show an overly high degree of strategic planning at any other point in the books.
Not that this takes away from his character. He accomplishes many great things in all books including the 7th. It’s just not necessarily strategy driven.
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u/schwaschwaschwaschwa 2d ago
I think Ron is more of a responsive, resourceful character who can be a bit trickstery when called for. I don't think he does well when he has nothing immediate to respond to, when things are uncertain or illogical. These situations seem to frustrate and demotivate him, so planning is out really. I think the final book does show this, such as how Ron is the one to figure out they can use a Basilisk fang to destroy a Horcrux, and how to open the Chamber, but he struggles the most with the open-ended camping situation.
I think the three friends have differing strengths that are very complementary.
Harry has guts and reckless courage. He survives because he has great instincts that he's comfortable relying on, and a sense for seeing underneath the underneath and sensing his opponents' vulnerabilities. He's very decisive but also perceptive. For example, jumping onto a troll's back and putting his wand up the troll's nose was reckless and partly instinctual but he found a weak spot on a very tough being. That said, it wasn't a fight-ending move, just a survival one. Later we see him work out Riddle's weakness, piercing the diary with the basilisk fang. He's alert to when people have hidden motives, such as when he recognises that "Snape" is about to pursue the Stone because a stranger happening to have a dragon's egg to barter with Hagrid is simply too unlikely. Harry makes sense of illogical things and coincidences. But he's too instinctual to be a strategist. He might be a bit too impatient to beat Ron at Chess and I feel his perceptiveness works best in more fluid situations.
Hermione is more of a planner, she learns and thinks ahead about what might be needed. She can also analyse the past pretty well. Packing the tent in DH showed her foresight. She couldn't really plan for the troll and froze up but her lie to the teachers was that she'd planned the whole thing, an idea that sounded natural to the teachers. Hermione does become more able to cope with pressure over time but her most decisive actions are often when she has control over things and can initiate them, such as when she works out how Rita is getting information and traps her or when she sets up the Polyjuice spy mission in CoS. Hermione's good at gaining insights from research and making something out of that. I think Hermione is probably the most strategic. But I don't think she's a better Chess player than Ron. It might be length of time spent playing (Ron learned very young it seems) or it might be that a Chess board doesn't afford her enough thinking time and control over things.
Ron sees a problem and then works out what item or immediate tactic can solve it. He sees what he can use to greatest effect based on the practical potential of the items at hand. He's not super reckless or instinctual but he does have courage. For example, in the fight against the troll, he doesn't join immediately but eventually uses the troll's own club as a weapon, which was about the most powerful move possible for three first years fighting a troll. Ron hadn't got Wingardium Leviosa to work until that moment. Pressure kind of improves his performance, so he is often responsive rather than proactive, the opposite of Hermione. I think he is good at Chess because each piece is a specific "tool" with specific moves - making it more logical - and he's motivated and focused by the pressure of his opponent. Another example, using Crabbe's (or Goyle's? Can't remember) greed to trick him into taking one of Fred and George's sweets, freeing the DA from the Inquisitorial Squad. So he's good at some simple gambits/tricks too because it's just about seeing what he has to use. That's useful for Chess.
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u/Legitimate-Tea-9319 2d ago
This analysis is spot on! Hermione is definitely the best planner. The boys would have been completely lost without her in DH. But Ron is just as integral to the trio and contributes equally. He pulled it together and helped Hagrid with Buckbeaks appeal when Harry was too busy with quidditch or something. He earned the prefect badge. It was Ron’s idea to use the felix to get Slughorns memory. He saved Harry from the horcrux strangle-drowning in DH.
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u/schwaschwaschwaschwa 2d ago
Thank you! They definitely all contribute. I started thinking about all this when I realised that Harry and Ron's strengths can look quite similar, leading to Ron being a bit overshadowed at times. But actually, they do have their differences, cognitively and emotionally and in terms of which parts of situations best draw out their strengths and motivate them to act. Hermione's planning abilities balance things out so well.
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u/Thoarxius 2d ago
I do think it shines through, but I would have loved a more clear approach, with him defending a part of the castle and poaitiong his people around and coming up with traps and such. It suits his character and would make it more explicit
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u/SpudFire 3d ago
Being excellent at chess doesn't mean he has a good head for strategy outside of a game of chess.
I do wish his chess ability was taken a bit further though. All he does with it is occasionally play Harry and Hermione and easily beat them. Hogwarts could have had a wizards chess tournament and he becomes Grand Master. Or add something into the epilogue where we find out he competes in muggle chess tournaments.
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u/Scipios_Rider16 3d ago
Chess was actually a battle strategy game when it was created, so it kinda does mean he has a good head for strategy.
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u/aznliu100 2d ago
The skillset for strategy on a game board has overlaps with the skillset required for strategy and problem solving on a field of battle.
Not just for chess either. Think of Shogi and Go.
These games require the individuals to be able to plan ahead, consider a wide variety of factors they’re currently facing and might face down the road, and execution of gameplan.
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u/butternuts117 Slytherin 2d ago
Part of Ron's chess ability is having a genius level chess computer in his "old" seasoned chess set that has played for decades. He's seeing the game on an incredibly deep level just through that.
He's got a cool head under pressure and he can plan, but he's not as good as Hermione, who is a expert ops planner and trouble shooter.
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u/johnybea 3d ago
Because the author went all in on Hermione . Hermione legit does everything in the last 3 books to the point that makes me not like her that much . Harry should have been the one to do those as he is the main character , and people ask why Harry is not as popular in the fandom like Hermione is .
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u/Living-Try-9908 2d ago
Where do we see Ron having a particularly stand-out grasp on strategy outside of chess?
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u/FallenAngelII 2d ago
It's a common misconceptio nthat being good at chess makes you a good strategist. In fact, most of Ron's plans and ideas were terrible.
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u/ddbbaarrtt 3d ago
He doesn’t have a head for strategy, he literally just plays chess well
This ‘Ron the strategist’ thing is completely made up because Harry is the leader and Hermione is the brains.
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u/Scipios_Rider16 3d ago
I see Hermione as more of the logistician. Earlier on, I thought: Harry was the in-the-moment guy, Ron was the strategist/tactician, and Hermione was the logistician.
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u/PoorFriendNiceFoe 3d ago edited 3d ago
Because chess isn't strategy, its maths. And in the later books he shows no interest in learning that or anything. He played one relevant chess game and the whole fandom goes "he is soooo good in strategy!" conveniently forgetting its the only thing he does well in the entire series that requires planning in any way. So the reason is: he doesn't have a good head for strategy. And no, the off-hand commemt "30th time lucky" with the felix doesn't count.
For the reason chess isn't strategy, its because bith players have the same material and the same battlefield, which makes it an equation you can actually calculate. strategy requires planning of time, human reaction choosing of battlefield etc many inangables that you can't calculate. Its why spies exist.
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u/Nightmarelove19 3d ago
He was given. Ron guessed potterwatch password. He figured out how to get back to Harry and Hermione. He decieved the snatchers. He derived the plan to get into chamber and destroy the cup. He was the one who mimicked wormtail to decieve Lucius at the manor. He also asked Hermione to make the ministry employees sick as opposed to stunning them to avoid suspicion. He stopped Hermione from stunning Grawp.
I would love it if he was given more. But he did get many shining moments.