Mount Doom at the end

I never noticed the three eagles at the end, but thats a wonderful sentiment that after all that they still had hope that all three could be saved. Everyone else saw a twisted creature when they met Gollum, but Frodo and Gandalf held some hope that he didnt have to remain that way forever. it was bittersweet seeing Gollum go the way he did. His suffering ended, the ring was destroyed, but he never got redemption...unless. You could count that Gollum helped them get there for a large portion, even if he betrayed them? But ultimately he chose the ring above all, even his own life.

Why wasn't Mt. Doom guarded? Because at that point Sauron believed that Aragon was the new Ringlord, coming to invade Mordor with a pathetic little army. Aragon had actually used the Palatine to tell Sauron exactly that.

Sauron had always been sure his enemies would use the One Ring against him, the never thought they'd destroy it. And he certainly never thought that Aragon and Gandalf would set out on a suicide mission, just to take his attention away from Mt. Doom.

Even a medium to low security gate or door requiring a key would have been enough to stop the two Hobbits. I suppose I could explain it that Sauron doesn't expect anyone to ever destroy the ring. The guarding I can explain with Sauron ordering all Orc forces to the Morannon, which was very foolish when leaving 2 Orcs at the crack of Doom would have been fine.

Nice point about the third eagle, I never imagined that one could have been for Gollum, but that's darn cool to think about it like that. Gandalf knew full well that Gollum had a part to play before the end and would definitely consider taking him back to safety. Frodo tosses the ring into the crack of doom, Sam and Gollum leave with Frodo together after Doom erupts.