Hello everyone!
Against all odds - mostly because I wasn't entirely sure I'd be able to make this possible, given I was so sick at one point I felt like I was coughing up vital organs along with my sanity - we've finally reached the end of the road.
At least, for the time being.
Like I mentioned in Tuesday's post, I'll still be having a look at The War of the Rohirrim, just to see whether or not it's worth the watch, and possibly it'll find its way onto the blog post at some point or other.
However, that's going to have to wait, because lo and behold, tonight's post is the very last "regular" of this calendar year.
Advent begins this weekend, and if you've been following my blog for some years, you know what that means.
For now, let's take the road less-travelled, as they say, and make sure we end things right, in The Return of the King.
But as you know, in Fellowship, we started the journey to try and destroy the One Ring, then in Two Towers we continued plodding on despite the fact our company was splintered into different pieces.
Now, in Return of the King, events are ramping up.
Pippin and Gandalf have reached Gondor and come before the seat of Denethor, but in a wild difference from the movies, our erstwhile Steward has already lit the beacons to summon Rohan to his aid, because he has some sense left in that ole noggin of his and he knows he's going to need all the help he can get.
That's also why he doesn't immediately tell the wizard and Hobbit to hit the road, and in fact we see a lot more into the workings of Gondor as a whole within the pages of the book than we were allowed to for the sake of a movie that, at four hours long, is a feat not many can repeat today.
Denethor shows himself to be a capable and shrewd leader, and as Pippin becomes a soldier of the city, we also follow his adventures in getting to know the culture of Men and all that it entails. We also get to see the arrival of other reinforcements from Gondor's fiefs to the south, a scene that unfortunately never made it to the movie screen, but is chock full of emotion, from fear to applause.
This is also where we're first introduced to the Prince of Dol Amroth, Denethor's brother-in-law, who plays an important part later on in the story, so pay attention and remember the guy.
With all the pieces set, Gondor then begins to wait, since Faramir is at this time still abroad in Ithilien and Osgiliath; once he comes in from the outlands, he explains the position, what happened with Frodo and Sam, and Gandalf and Denethor (after some back-and-forth) decide it's useless to worry about what ifs, but rather think about the current defense.
So Faramir is sent out again to Osgiliath, just not in a desperate, lunatic charge, but with actual reinforcements that can be spared, although eventually word reaches the city that the bridges are taken and he's retreating. Gandalf hurries out to the battlefield, knowing he'll be of more use there, and is on the ground to defend them all against the darkness, but it isn't until one final desperate rally that the City itself releases some backup.
Because see, in the book, Denethor really isn't a total ass - just an arrogant one - and he has cavalry ready to protect the rearguard of the retreat, and Imrahil is at its lead. Unfortunately, however, Faramir is brought in wounded, stricken by an arrow, and as Minas Tirith is besieged, Denethor's mind slowly crumbles.
Now would be the ideal time for Rohan's arrival, and in fact in the book, we get a FANTASTIC scene of Gandalf facing off against the Witch-King when a rooster sings for morning in a courtyard somewhere, and then the horns of Rohan answer him in return.
I'm getting chills just writing this.
We then rewind to see what happened since Gandalf hurried off with Pippin, which is to say we see ANOTHER thing left out from the movies, which is Aragorn's people ride out of the North with the twin sons of Elrond (yes, Arwen has brothers) to join the fight. Their leader then knows he has to make haste, so he chooses the Paths of the Dead, and unlike the movies we later get to hear what this entailed, which is a whole lot of marching in darkness and dread and hurrying over desolate fields to get to a certain meteor stone where Aragorn claims fealty from the dead army.
But Théoden, in the meantime, rides to Dunharrow for the muster of Rohan, thinks he leaves his niece and Merry behind (but really, they're still there, and later save him) and accepts the help of Wild Woses to take the old roads which've been forgotten since the slow decay of Gondor so that he can go around most of his enemies and reach Minas Tirith, encircled as it is by foes.
Events then transpire pretty much the same as in the movies, the Rohirrim break the siege, engage the enemy, falter once their King falls, and think to falter AGAIN but, lo and behold, in ANOTHER monumental scene opening, Aragorn sails up the Anduín and unveils a standard Arwen made for him, the standard of the Kings of Gondor, thus proclaiming himself Elendil's heir: a black banner with a tree in bloom, seven stars above it, and a crown beyond those.
Together with Éomer, they then deal with the rest of Sauron's army, while in the city, unfortunately, Denethor decides to burn himself alive, but Gandalf and Pippin at least manage to rescue Faramir from his clutches.
Then, as the wounded are all put in the Houses of Healing, Aragorn has to go in and do some magic Elvish healing of his own to bring them back from the brink after suffering from a malady they call the Black Breath, aka the influence of the Black Riders and Sauron's shadows from Mordor.
After this, the commanders gather to be instructed, and Gandalf reveals the entire plan, to which it's decided they'll march on Sauron to give Frodo the best chance he has. And indeed, even after initially thinking that the Hobbits have to be dead, courtesy of the Mouth of Sauron who comes out to parlay, they put up a brave stand, which would have gone BADLY if not for one teeny, tiny fact.
Sam does, in fact, rescue Frodo from Cirith Ungol (and honestly, reading about these Orcs going at each other is both macabre and funny LOL, I can't explain it unless you read yourself) and they trudge into Mordor. At one point they get mistaken for deserters and are made to march with the rest of the Orcs, but they manage to escape them and continue on. Frodo slowly begins to realize there may not be a return journey for him, but with Sam's help they finally reach Mount Doom.
And there, at the end, Frodo fails, Gollum takes his finger and the Ring, and topples into the lava below.
So, just as Aragorn & Co are about to be destroyed, Sauron's reign is ended with the destruction of the Ring, and when Frodo and Sam next come to themselves, they're in Ithilien; Gandalf takes them to meet the King, and they're praised as the heroes they are, and I swear if, after thousands of pages of this struggle you're not at least sniffling a little when Sam bursts into tears as all his wishes come true, then you have a heart of stone.
The Company then rests in Minas Tirith after Aragorn's crowning, knowing they're still waiting for something - Gandalf reveals to Aragorn what that is, when he shows him up the mountains to a hidden area where a sapling of the White Tree is found (along with a lesson, meant for Men), and after that the Elves arrive, bringing Arwen to finally marry Aragorn after their long years of waiting.
This marks the time for everyone to go home, and our Hobbits return to the lands they know and love - only to find them on the verge of destruction because Saruman beat them to it, leaving Isengard, and starting on polluting the Shire both physically and mentally.
Two battles are fought - because Merry and Pippin know a thing or two about war now - and in the end even Saruman is killed, but the Hobbits thankfully manage to get back on their feet with no less sense than before, and rebuilding the Shire begins.
Sam uses the gift Galadriel gave him, way back when, soil from her own garden, to make his land beautiful and bountiful both, but even though he marries Rosie and is happy as can be, he notices Frodo is quietly fading.
And in fact, in autumn, Frodo and Sam make one last journey together, joining a large riding of Elves who are leaving these shores, as well as Gandalf and Bilbo, and the Ring-bearers pass away into the West while Sam returns home to his own family.
With that, the tale of The Lord of the Rings comes to an end, but in Appendices you later learn that Legolas and Gimli both also went West, and a small footnote mentions that Sam, too, disappeared in the direction of the Havens once his life was drawing to an end.
So it can be deduces that he probably got to see his beloved Master one last time, at least.
Tolkien manages to weave a brilliant, emotional and heart-wrenching story with the words he writes on the page, and he's rightfully afforded the high esteem we hold him in today. He started what other authors, such as Martin and Jordan later continued and refined, and for that he should always be praised.
The Lord of the Rings is a work of art, and even if you read it often, there are still and always will be little gems to discover along the way. Trust me on this, as someone who reads it yearly, it's never enough.
I hope you enjoyed our little sojourn to Middle-Earth, and I also hope you'll join me in our Christmas extravaganza, starting next week.
See you there!
xx
*image not mine
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