Well what about the second peacekeeper? I think he doesn’t know about the second peacekeeper.
“I don’t think he’s heard of Nuclear Winter, Pip.”
We’ve had one nuclear winter, yes, but what about the second nuclear winter?
I like the idea that it’s the first thing that happens in chapter 1. Pippin uses the nuke before having been given any narrative reason to want to use it. Because he’s just that kind of chaotic energy.
“We’ve had one yes, but what about second strike?”
Chapter 2: Mordor launched automatic retaliatory nukes at the rest of middle earth, all life in middle earth goes extinct.
Except dwarves, they have good bunkers.
Yeah but what about the Balrog? They’d have that to contend with.
And maybe… in fact I’d bet that creatures like Smaug could survive a nuclear blast even relatively nearby and probably even radioactive fallout, and just in case, they’d also know where every single cave in Middle Earth is, could quickly find cover before being exposed too much.