Looking foward to It...i Hope you do the tier best to worst thing with lotr like you did with Harry Potter...hobbit Is good and completes lotr but prepare yourself for overuse of cgi and a lot of confusing scenes and some really epic ones and lovable chatacters.. but no matter how many times i view the Hobbit i cant make much sence of It esp the Battle of the Five Armies...i Hope you can help me get it like you helped me understand Harry Potter After years 😅 Sorry long comment.
“I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you” is the most moving scene for me. Such a shame that Sean Astin didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for his performance.
Astin mentioned in his book a bitchy comment Ian McKellen made in his hearing about how he (Astin) "Didn't do very much" in terms of acting in the films. I've never much liked McKellen, who always seems a bit smug, but that kind of tipped it over for me. Christ, what an arsehole.
@@Jeowyn Well, not to diminish his performance here, Sean Astin has never shown himself to be a particularly versatile dramatic actor. Basically, the one thing he does well is 'earnestness' (e.g., 'Rudy') But, happily, earnestness is exactly what is required in the portrayal of faithful Sam Gamgee, and he delivered it wonderfully.
@@Jeowyn McKellen is an actor with a lot of experience and admittedly is one of the great but Astin managed such a steep learning curve like hardly anyone else compared to his teenage years. McKellen thinks a lot of himself and continued to whine about how Richard Harris called him "brillant but passionless", that level of diva he is, allowing his fans to continuously call the late Harris a "homophobe" for his professional opinion. In the end, there are no bad actors in these movies so everyone should chill.
@@Jeowyn Hmm yeah. I don't think anyone could deny Sean Astin was a great samwise. But perhaps that's just who Astin is in real life and as such he didn't have to transform into the role as much as he already fit in the skin of the character. Astin certainly does tend to play the earnest good hearted character in his work. Mackellan as a old school Shakespearean stage actor, and a bit of an old queen himself may have seen it fit to throw some shade. Not very nice, but could have been strictly accurate.
ignoring the fact that he might have thought she was dead...the big reaction he gave was just for finding her there at all. He thought his sister was safe at home and then find her laid out on the battlefield.
I totally agree. There was only one over-reaction here and it was not Eomer's. She was not supposed to even be there, then she was seriously inured when struck by the mace, and then she stabbed an undead lord. She could have easily been dead, not knowing how long she laid there.
You said it yourself...you couldn't go back to normal life after that. Frodo was in a great deal of pain from being stabbed by the Witch King and he was depressed he couldn't destroy the ring voluntarily (but no-one could). Arwen requested Frodo take her spot and sail to Valinor (Elf heaven) and as a ring bearer, he was permitted. All answers are out there:) Great reactions!
He wasn't depressed because he couldn't destroy the ring. The ring (or absence of it) was *always* torturing him and the pain was made worse on the anniversaries of his woundings. Although it's not depicted in the movies, about 17 years elapsed between the time that Bilbo left the ring to Frodo and when Frodo set off to destroy it, so the ring had plenty of time to root itself in Frodo's psyche.
Not just elf heaven, though the details are a bit complicated and don't matter outside of theoretical theology. The point is that they were literally taken directly to heaven while still alive, which is KIND OF A BIG DEAL for a Catholic writer like Tolkien.
@@ethanlivemere1162 that‘s not true since J.R.R. Tolkien mentioned multiple times that he saw no intentions in doing metaphors to WW1. There is no connection to WW1 whatsoever.
The Witch King was so foul and disgusting that to even kill him poisoned Eowyn. Aragorn was the only one capable of healing her, as that gift was said to belong to the heir of Isildur, the true king.
It’s a callback also to the fact that when Gil-galad and Elendil killed Sauron in the beginning (book not movie), Sauron’s power killed them in their attempt. The Witch-King possessed a shadow of that kind of power, but only enough to put Eowyn and Merry into comas.
Eomer was so distraught to find her seemingly lifeless body a) because he didn't even know she was on the battlefield at all so the shock, and b) because she seemed dead.
In addition to the "You bow to no one ..." touching moment at the end, I am always touched by Gandalf bringing three eagles to the rescue. One for Frodo ... one for Sam ... and one for Golum, without of course knowing what happened.
"You bow to no one" When Aragorn couldn't be more perfect, he comes and says this. Omg that scene always makes me cry, I recently saw it in the cinema twice (I'm waiting for the third one) and it's a thousand times better. Thanks for reacting to the trilogy, I loved every reaction and I already want to see your reaction to Smaug!!
In the books both Eowyn and Merry suffer from killing the Witch King. It's like he was poisonous, very similar to Frodo's stab wound, though not as lingering. They both also need time to recover and Merry doesn't go to the final battle at all!
Ringwraiths have a dark magical aura around them that harms you when you hit them. Also, Frodo is going to the undying lands where he can finally live in peace after all the mental and physical pain he got from his quest.
Fun fact: since all three of these were filmed at once, some stuff was filmed out of order, like Gollum’s first scene wasn’t in fellowship or two towers but actually this film. Andy Serkis’s first day on set in the motion capture suit was Gollum ambushing Sam and Frodo at the entrance of Mount Doom. The whole cast and crew were so confused seeing a man in tights and covered in dots hopping all over the place and using this weird voice but Peter Jackson was basically like “hold on, let him cook” and it obviously paid off
I'm from Russia. And all the cinemas in my country decided to show all the parts of the Lord of the Rings. And what was the surprise when all the tickets were sold out and all the halls were filled. And most people have watched it more than once. It's so great that this masterpiece does not lose its popularity, but on the contrary is gaining momentum. Thank you again for your reaction.❣ I'm looking forward to the exciting adventures of Bilbo Baggins!
In the books, Shelob stings Frodo in the neck. The movies probably did it this way because seeing that huge-ass spider stabbing him in the neck would have been MORE unbelievable that he didn't die. Also, we're technically never shown if Frodo was wearing Mithril at that exact moment (I know, why wouldn't he? But TECHNICALLY...). There's also the fact that Mithril is not IMPOSSIBLE to pierce. Just very hard. The scene with Eomer screaming when he found Eowyn, I mean... he found his sister lying unconscious on the batteflied. She was reeeeeeally not supposed to be there. Theoden and Eomer always wanted to protect her, so he really thought she was dead. Remember that he didn't see what we saw, he's not part of the audience.
I love the idea that no matter who it may have been Frodo, Sam or anyone - they would have not been able to throw the ring the fire voluntarily because the ring's corruption power magnifies as he was getting closer to the Mordor. Makes sense that in the heart of all evil the ring was just too powerful for someone to destroy willingly. I think Frodo gets a lot of flack for being weak but he fought the ring as much as he could - you could see the physical and mental damage it had on him. Funnily and poetically, the creature that was instrumental in destroying the ring was an evil sod that was shown mercy and spared out of pity. Prof. Tolkien was the OG goat.
Yeah, I've always liked this. My other favorite ring fact is that Bilbo was actually the only person in its history ever to willingly cast the ring aside.
@@veryanonymous3630 Aside from Sam, who, in the book, and while he was looking on Mordor itself, was able to reject the temptations of the Ring...because his greatest desires were simple, small, and close to his heart, and the bloated grandeur it suggested was obviously ridiculous.
@@veryanonymous3630 that, and Sam, who in the books had the ring try to corrupt him, but he brushed these visions of him leading armies against Sauron (corrupted thoughts from the ring) aside to save frodo.
Even Sauron, if for some crazy reason he had wanted to, wouldn't have been able to destroy the Ring there. Gandalf knew that. But, being an angel, he was quite literally hoping for a miracle. And he got one, through Bilbo's mercy. If Frodo had had time, and Gollum hadn't been there, he probably would have thrown himself into the fire with the Ring. But he might not have had the time to steel himself for that because the Nazgul were on the way. It's a bit subtle, but a lot of Eldrond's disdain for men because of Isildur not destroying the Ring - which is wildly unfair because NO ONE could have - is actually him projecting his guilt because he couldn't destroy it either.
In the books, Aragorn is the only character to actually be able to dominate Saurons mind when talking with him through the Palantir. It freaks Sauron out and making him panic and send his armies against Aragorn.
That seems unlikely. Sauron had plenty of reasons to be concerned about Aragorn but to be honest, the primary one was not the Palantir but that he might have the ring.
Aragorn did not dominate Sauron, but resisted him and managed to turn the Palantir away from him, which was enough to make Sauron wonder whether he had just seen the current possessor of his Ring challenging him, and to decide not to take any chances and just empty Mordor to crush him.
It doesn't make it as clear in the movies, but the orcs are actual, real factions in the world, and there are various orc tribes of different births, and they all hate each other, so when they're forced to cooperate it often results in bickering. There are Saruman's orcs, then there are multiple orc tribes within Mordor, and there are still others. That's why something as shiny as the mithril vest caused the two different orc tribes in that tower to start butchering each other. One thing that's interesting is that, as much magic and deep power and mystery as there is in the LotR world, pretty much every earthly entity is still limited by some very mundane factors. Sauron doesn't have endless orcs and resources that just gush forth out of some evil pit of malice; he's been breeding them and stealing land for food and resources for ages so he could build a sufficient army, and he set other foreign nations against each other to acquire vassals from other parts of the world to come fight for him (the Eastern men with the Oliphaunts and the men on the ships are different races of men from elsewhere who were promised riches and plunder if they helped destroy Gondor.) The Naz'Gul are actual historical figures as you know. Etc. The reason the orcs take Osgiliath (the ruined city on the water) at the beginning of the film is because it's one of the few places where large armies can easily cross the great river Anduin which separates the lands of Gondor from the lands of Mordor. So, even though Sauron is this ancient presence of evil and malice, he still has to deal with army logistics, army upkeep, war exhaustion, morale, etcetera. And he himself is a real character who isn't always certain of his own victory. -In fact, before the final fight in the third act of the film, Aragorn in the books reveals himself to Sauron in the palantir so that Sauron would become afraid and uneasy at knowing that the heir of Isildur was still alive and had defeated him at Gondor.- (forgot this is also in the extended edition) This also compounded his worries because he knew the Ring was out there and he was concerned that whoever found it would claim it and become the new Dark Lord. This is one reason that Gandalf didn't even dare touch the Ring; being of a similar race to Sauron, he would have been nearly or equally as powerful (if not more so) and the Ring would've twisted his good intentions until he became just as warped and malicious as Sauron was himself. It also isn't as clear in the movies, but the entire point of the secret mission to destroy the Ring was to hide their intent from Sauron. As obsessed with power as he was, it hadn't even crossed Sauron's mind that anybody would ever try to destroy it. He just figured they'd claim it for themselves and then overthrow him (which would've been a loss for him but still would've resulted in another, equally evil Dark Lord being created). When Frodo reaches the Crack of Doom and claims ownership over the ring, Sauron immediately understands what a fool he had been and understands that he's literally inches from being wiped off the face of the Earth. That was also the whole point of showing up at the Black Gates: cause a big ruckus and distract the eye to give Frodo and Sam a clearer path to Mount Doom. *Just realized they do explain this in the third part lel Edit: Also, the reason Sam was so intimidating to the orcs in the tower is because he was bearing the ring, and it made him project this sinister and overbearing aura.
That "mouth of sauron" scene at the gate with the mithril wasn't in the theatrical version and it always gets me how massively it changed the perspective to them thinking they could have been fighting for nothing if Frodo is dead. Thank goodness for Aragorn.
Same with Saruman, I highly expected a Saruman-Gandalf scene when I saw this in the cinema because I did not read the book so I knew nothing about Pippin-Sauron moment with the Palantir and the Mouth-Aragorn.
Bernard Hill crushes every scene as Theoden. I didn’t think you could top the Boromir death scene for emotion and he did it. “I know your face” was what he said when he came out of Saraman’s spell and again when he sees Eowen on the battlefield. Even when he calls her name because his eyesight goes just before he dies. So moving. And that speech before the Charge of the Rohirim was epic. He even learnt to ride with his left hand so he could rattle the spears with his sword. Legend!
Well, he is left-handed. He had to hold the sword with his right (non-dominant) hand and he was worried about that. But yes, absolutely one of the top actors in this trilogy and almost nobody recognizes him as such!
Tolkien was in ww1 and saw the horrors of it. That’s what he was doing with the frodo arc here saying life could never be normal again and he must set out somewhere else
Indeed, Jackson did seem to understand that Tolkien, like other writers of his generation, was 'writing what he knew' and inevitably portraying what it was like for these veterans to come back to their quiet villages, never quite seeing it the same way they did before.
Being one of the ring bearers, Sam was allowed to sail and njoin frodo after after a long life; raising a huge family and being one of the shire's greatest leaders
No, not 'heaven'. Jackson's Gandalf misleads Pippin on this point. Bilbo and Frodo, spiritually wounded by bearing the Ring, are as a reward granted the grace to pass to the Undying Lands for healing before dying in their time and passing beyond the bounds of the created universe… and unlike Gandalf's film line, the fate of mortal souls after death is _not_ known, not even to the Eldar or Valar (nor Gandalf, a high angel ('maia')) but must be taken on faith. This is a critical theme in Tolkien's work (and Amazon must not diminish it in their dramatization of the rise and fall of Númenor). Arwen's choice of mortality is more poignant for this reason. If Aman were 'heaven', she could remain immortal, return to the West, and reunite with Aragorn in that afterlife. But she does not have that choice. When Aragorn is on his deathbed, Arwen tells him, “If this [death] is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One [God] to Men, it is bitter to receive.” So it seems," he said. "But let us not be overthrown at the final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and the Ring. In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory.”
Also important to point out that Aman is no longer a part of the Earth. The continent was removed when the world was reformed during the Second Age. So they are quite literally leaving the realm of Arda (Earth) and going to the Elves and Valar in the Undying Lands (Aman). The only place where Frodo can ever truly be at peace. Powerful stuff.
That part when Eomer finds Eowyn really hits me on a deep level, because if you really think about that scene where it is a chaotic battle where a lot of your fellow soliders die, among them you find your sister which is your only living kin. That scene in itself just hits me so hard for some reason.
The Nazghul terrified me at 15 and they still do at 35: When Eowyn said, ''I will kill you if you touch him'', that showed everything he meant for her. facing the Witch King is the dream she told Aragorn at Edoras; she was terrified.
It's a good thing Viggo is a good horseman. That rearing up that Brego did at the end of the battle speech wasn't choreographed. This is where it shows Sam as the true hero. Without him, Frodo would have repeated Isildur's cycle.
I believe in reality Aragorn's horse was like "there's this lady horse I'm into and i will kill everyone in my way" 😂😂😂 but yeah magical disappearing horses
He screams because he doesn't know that her sister was in the battle. He thought that she go back to the kingdom because that's what she supposed to do. So when he saw her like that, that's too shocking for him. You know, family love.
The act of killing the Witch King exposed Eowyn and Merry to an intense form of attack from the Witch King called the Black Breath, it was like an aura the Nazgul produced and was usually fatal. In fact in the books Merry, like Eowyn, hadn't recovered enough to be at the final battle at the Black Gate and stayed behind at Minas Tirith.
There is this 'rumor' that Gandalf brought 3 eagles, hoping Smeagol could be saved too 😭 Makes sense, since he spent a lot of time with Nienna, Vala of grief and mercy and pity and hope ♥️
"It was Pity that stayed Bilbo's hand." Pity is not a condescension here.. It is the act of love, reaching a hand to those who are in a worse situation than you, even if they are not the greatest of people.
This only happens in the movies, in the book Gandalf knew that there was no possibility of Smeagol surviving (and its 100% logical if you think). An eagle carried him, another carried Frodo, and Sam with the last one. Also Tolkien said that there was no possibility of Smeagol surviving in one of his letters.
@@manel4361 exactly, I've not read that letter but I'm presuming it's because after the ring was destroyed he would have aged immensely and just died almost instantly (presuming he didn't die with the ring).
@@thomaslogan4074 maybe, but In letter 246 Tolkien explains that Gollum's story could only end in 2 ways. Either he did exactly what he did, or, if the mercy that Frodo showed for him had ended up redeeming him, he would have tried to steal the Ring and finally throw himself into the fire in order to save Frodo from its influence. And Gandalf knew it, he was the wisest of all beings of Middle Earth
Keep in mind, Frodo last saw Gandalf falling into a dark deep pit fighting a balrog. So him seeing him when he woke up must’ve felt like a smack in the gut full of pure joy
I still get goosebumps at "You bow to no one." In every LOTR reaction video I've seen, I always look forward to the reaction to that moment. Yours did not disappoint!
You gotta read all of Tolkien’s books after this to also understand all the depth, detail and context. This is the order I go with. The Silmarillion 💎 Beren and Luthien 👰🏻♀️ The Children of Hurin 👩❤️👨 The Fall of Gondolin ⚔️ The Hobbit 🐉 Fellowship of the Ring 💍 Two Towers 🏰 The Return of the King 👑
@FatalPies I had to take notes the first time through. Finished it in an airplane at 30,000 feet. That was an existential post-book look out the window. 😂
At the end there, the elves and Gandalf were finally able to go to the Undying Lands. (Kinda their version of Heaven in a way.) And because Bilbo and Frodo both carried and resisted the ring, they were allowed to cross over to the Undying Lands as well. In the books, because Sam also carried the ring for a short time, when he grows older, he's allowed to cross over as well. It's not shown in the films, but is mentioned in the books
As well as Gimli due to his close friendship to Legolas is granted by the Valar the gift of going to the Undying Lands with Legolas on the very last ship of all that crosses over to the Undying lands since Sam had gone prior to them.
“to Sam’s final and complete satisfaction and pure joy, a minstrel of Gondor stood forth, and knelt, and begged leave to sing. And behold! he said: ‘Lo! lords and knights and men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Dúnedain of the North, and Elf and Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire, and all free folk of the West, now listen to my lay. For I will sing to you of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom.’ And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for sheer delight, and he stood up and cried: ‘O great glory and splendour! And all my wishes have come true!’ And then he wept. And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness.”
Eomer did not know Eowyn was in the battle. He went to war happily because he knew she would get no harm, safe at home, protecting his people. Now he sees her, prone in the remains of the battlefield (probably wondering if he could have stopped her, he did try), with his uncle and father figure dead. between worry, guilt, and despair, it makes sense that he did not immediately check for a pulse. also Karl Urban's acting in that scene is amazing.
And oh man, when you watch the extended behind the scenes, it gives you even so much more appreciation for what everyone did, and what Tolkien wrote/created.
Bilbo and Frodo were both rewarded to go to the Undying Lands with the Elves because they had been ring-bearers. Samwise was also given the same reward in the books. Gandalf was also a ring-bearer and received the same reward.
Gandalf wasn't rewarded with going to the undying lands! THAT was his HOME he was going back home after completing his task given to him by MANWE the VALAR that he served in the Undying Lands, he was a MAIAR (an angel of the VALAR the gods just below the one true god ERU ILUVATAR)...his true name is OLORIN, and he is a servant of MANWE! Gandalf was sent from the Undying Lands to Middle Earth with the job of leading, and inspiring the peoples of Middle Earth in destroying the ring, and Sauron. Sauron began his existance as a Maiar the same as Gandalf, but was corrupted into becoming evil. So Gandalf was the same level of being. He got to go back HOME to the Undying Lands once his job was done. He was given Narya the elven ring of fire by Cirdan the shipwright to help him in his task in fighting Sauron. READ TOLKIEN'S BOOKS BEFORE GIVING OUT DISINFORMATION PLEASE.
At the time the film was released, many critics and viewers complained about the 'multiple endings', apparently wanting everything after the destruction of the Ring to be quickly summarized or omitted; you are one of the few who seems to have genuinely appreciated the long denouement. Of course, in the book, there was a whole other episode (and short battle) to go through in the Shire. I don't think audiences could have borne that.
0:29 The Nazgûl and all the weapons they wield are imbued with a thing called the Black Breath. It's Mordor's equivalent of the Dark Side Of The Force. Frodo got a dose of it from being stabbed by the Witch King's Morgul blade dagger in FOTR. Faramir was afflicted when he went out to Osgiliath at Denethor's order. Both Eowyn and Merry were poisoned by it when they stabbed the Witch King. It needs Elvish graces (like with Elrond) or Numinorean virtues (like with Aragorn) to heal the person afflicted.
I love that you are looking at these films with fresh eyes. My favorite scene in the extended cut is when E'omer finds his sister on the battle field. She and s hobbit the "unfit" for battle are heros if the battle.
Frodo and BIlbo were both ringbearers and suffered spiritual wounds from it. Frodo also suffered physical wounds that never healed properly. They were granted special permission to sail to the Undying Lands with the elves where they could be healed and spend their remaining days in peace. Sam was also a ringbearer for a short time, so after his wife died many years later, he was also granted passage to the Undying Lands.
As for the spider defying the mithril shirt I believe that when you look at it, it would seem the blow came below the shirt in the lower abdomen. I am sure they were aware of this and deliberately had Shelob getting down quite low before striking.
In the books Aragorn already has the sword Anduril in the Fellowship of the Ring. The movies made Aragorn to be afraid and hesitant about his role as the heir and future King. But in the books he graciously accepts his role and future as the next king of Gondor and later reclaims the Northern kingdom of Arnor as well. He loves Arwen but Elrond tells Aragorn that he will only give him his blessing to marry her when he fulfills his destiny and becomes the new king of Gondor and Arnor.
Eowyn was suffering from "The Black Breath". An illness caused by close proximity to a Nazgûl. Only Aethalas (Kingsfoil) can reverse it and most in Gondor have forgotten its use. There is a saying in Gondor: The hands of the King are the hands of a healer.
There are videos, where they tell what happens to the characters after the Lord of the Rings, and also where they tell about the Scouring of the Shire. I suggest you watching those, they explain a lot.
There's a lot of lore to be missed on book wise as there's just so much to touch on . One of them being the Black Breath that comes from the nazgul . It's a type of spell they wield(ish), effect they carry . Merry screamed cause it effected him and Eowyn the worst. As someone said in the comments Aragorn being an heir of isildur , the Numernoreans had alot of healing works back then thousands of years ago. Some magic types as well when it comes to healing . Since especially the Numernoreans had a good relationship with elves too. Hence Aragorn and Arwen and everything with Rivendell. Elrond actually took care of him when he was a child . Their Dunedain camp was ambushed by orcs and his father died to them in that ambush . If I'm not mistaken his mother brought him to Rivendell. He was a baby when his dad got killed. So much stuff to learn from all the books Tolkien made . the Hobbit , Lord of the rings, Silmarilion, so much history . An extra tidbit , witch king wasn't wrong on the no man can kill theory . Near the beginning of the third age Elrond and and a bunch of other elves like Glorfindel and men from the North fought against him ( long story . After Sauron died the nazgul separated and the witch king was planning to take hold in the north . Known as the Kingdom of Angmar . Hence The witch king of Angmar etc ) that story of the Dunedain that Eowyn and Aragorn were talking about , he was the one responsible for taking over most of Arnor and basically turning them against them . He had a huge army. Long story short Elrond and Glorfindel before running off made an oath that most likely no man will ever kill him . The Barrow downs a haunted place filled with dead rangers that were buried , he rose the dead there and they eventually attacked people . Their weapons had a spell on them the old Dunedain style Numernorean weapons . Which was never explained in the movies that Merrys dagger was from those places . Hence why he was able to break the witch kings type of spell and weaken him before Eowyn finished him off . Kind of lol . I'm not sure if it was confirmed if he died after that since they got resurrected so many times . The sad thing is , being how amazing the ringwraiths, the 9 kings that got turned to evil thousands of years ago by Sauron by controlling them with the 9 rings he gave him , besides that , it was one of Tolkiens greatest mysteries. He never real wrote on them after that. No names of who the king's were . Where they came from . All we know is the witch king , and an Easterling king named Khamul was one of them and their may have been a description of another one , but no other info on them . Wished Tolkien would've touched more on them . I guess hopefully the show that's being made Amazon ( its in the second age, where the rings were made and how Sauron got powerful and becomes what he is . It's gonna be epic next year ). Like I said so much lore based on one topic lol
One way to understand the last travel's escene with the elves is the Spiritualy way; so the 'travel' becomes "trascendence" after a great Earth mision. The great gift for Souls. I'd enjoy your reaction. What a movie! 😂
Fun fact: In the books, the boat that Frodo took at the end of the movie actually came back for Sam, because he was a Ring-Bearer too, however briefly. P.S. The place the boat takes Frodo, Bilbo, and Gandalf to is called the Undying Lands, a place where Ring-Bearers go. It is a land so pure not even death can touch it. Highly recommend watching Rings of Power!
As others have written, they are sailing west to the undying lands. This last boat contains all of the ring bearers (+Celeborn, Galadriel's husband). Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel have the 3 Elven rings and Frodo and Bilbo both carried the One Ring. Fun fact: In the books, once Sam's wife passes away far in the future, he is allowed to sail west and join Frodo. He too, for a very brief period, carried the One Ring. Also, I believe Legolas built a boat for him and Gimli to sail west after Aragorn dies. He is probably the only dwarf ever allowed in the Undying Lands, thanks to his friendship with Legolas and probably Galadriel speaking in his favor.
@@P_L1134 Where is this stated? The appendices in RoTK simply says, “and it may be that she, being mighty among the Eldar, obtained this grace for him. More cannot be said of this matter.”
@@fong03 it's not stated really but with that and when you knew she give to Gimli some of her locks of hair when some of the powerful people in the world ask she say "no" you knew that she undoubtedly ensured the passage of Gimli
funny detail, the Sauron entities didn't know how close the ring was to the mountain until Frodo put on the ring. you can almost see the panic as it turns and calls back the Nazgul. his arrogance was his undoing
The book reveals that Aragorn was granted the ability to choose the time of his death by the Valar, as a reward for his great deeds during the War of the Ring. By the time of his death, Aragorn had lived 210 years.
Shelob stung Frodo in the neck, that's why the mithril west didn't protect him. Such great movies and marvellous books. Thank you for you for watching with us!
Been enjoying the reaction videos from the start. You have a very nice, deep voice to do film commentary! Soothing to watch in the evening/ night time. Great job, mate!
"What was the fuss about (since Eowyn didn't die)?" well... true, she didn't die, but I think that when Eomer saw his sister lying on the battlefield, not moving, the first thought that probably crossed his mind was that she was killed.
I know this has been done ages ago, and you're probably not reading these comments anymore. Just wanted to tell you I was at the midnight release of Return of the King when it came out. Our cinema had a screening of all the movies leading up to the midnight release and I watched each and everyone. It was brutal and one of the best experiences of my life. Obviously I went back to watch Return of the King again after that because I surely missed a lot on the initial watching after being in theatre for all that time. I re-watch the Hobbit and LOTR series at least once a year. I read the books too, and loved it as it gives so much more info, but LOTR is a hard read and only managed it once.
Leaving the theater after watching this movie in 2003 as a child just left me so confused and sad… I wanted to see more, and now even watching it as an adult it still brings a tear to my eye how f**king good this trilogy is. There won’t be any other franchise like it again and nor could they make a masterpiece like this ever again.
At the end they’re going away to the Undying Lands. It’s basically where Elves (who are immortal) go along with some others. Also ring bearers go there . It’s explained more in the books I don’t fully remember all the story behind it but I gave you the basic explanation
In the book Eowyn looked dead right after she killed the Witch-king, she did not talk to Theoden. Aragorn lived to 210 years. Bilbo and Frodo went to Elvenhome in the West, we don't know what they got there, but probably some healing from the power of the Ring that they could not get in Middle-earth, and some peace before death. Maybe the Valar ("gods") gave them a long life too, but the immortality they can not give.
When I got the DVDs [standard release] I watched 2 and 3 back-to-back - I didn't realise how long they were, and had a numb bum long before the end, but I didn't want to pause even long enough to grab a cushion. The suffering was well worth it! "You bow to no one" never fails to get me, no matter how often I see it. The West was always the Immortal Land [which is why people were said to "go west" when they died]; I think that Bilbo was the first non-elf to be accorded the privilege.
I read these books 51 years ago and couldn't put them down. Glad you really enjoyed the movies, they remained true to the books and are a joy to watch.
In case no one has mentioned it, no one other than Merri knew that Eowyn had gone to battle. She was supposed to have stayed behind to lead and look after Rohan if her uncle (Theodin) and her brother (Eomir) didn’t return from battle.
wow. first of all thank you. I love watching people get excited over things I am also passionate about and even as an 18 year old, I have been watching these movies since I was 3. they hold so much comfort and raw emotion for me that I honestly can't put into words. I never not cry watching these and I cried even just watching your reaction. I have so much to say honestly but to keep this brief I will answer your question as to who my favorite character is. honestly, I don't know if I have one, but one character that I gain more and more respect for every time I watch or read the books is Theoden, for many reasons, but mainly for the fact that I believe he is the best example of true humility and redemption. He is a beacon of hope when so much is lacking of it. I also relate to him a lot personally, and the peace that he gains only after putting aside pride and helping others honorably does he know he can rest. I hope that makes sense.
The elves in The Lord of The Rings all have an innate desire to go to "The Undying Lands" far to the west across the ocean. It's an earthly paradise untouched by evil, where luminous primordial spirits that helped shape the world live. Almost all elvenkind make the journey, Arwen stayed behind to be with Aragorn, and gave up "her place" on the ship to Frodo. The only ones allowed to go were the elves, ringbearers, and the wizards, who are angelic beings given mortal form to help fight against Sauron. Frodo went because he still has mental scarring from the Rings evil influence, and he still feels pain from the wound the Morgul Blade caused.
CORRECT, except That Sam, and Gimli were also gifted the priviledge of going to the undying lands as well. Sam for being a ring bearer though for a very short time, and Gimli in recognition of his intensely close friendship with Legolas.
Really, really enjoyed watching your intelligent and heart-felt reactions to LOTR. Hope you get a chance to read the books one of these days; it's worthwhile.
To address the ship at the end, yeah it's the afterlife for elves, and it's very significant that frodo and bilbo are allowed to go with, because they were ringbearers. As for how it works, imagine the boat flies in a PERFECTLY straight line, defying the curvature of the earth, and out into space.
They left for the undying lands at the end because they were ring bearers and they go to a land to heal and basically live forever. If you read the books Sam goes there too when he gets old and Rosie, his wife passes on because he was a ring bearer for a short time.
The orcs went nuts in the tower because there are two different races. Remember in earlier movies the smaller orcs growing larger war orcs out of the ground. So one race said the other tried to knife him. Then the chain reaction from a bunch of loose screws itching for a fight (pretty much all orcs).
The Jackson films are AMAZING, but they do leave out one detail which explains why the elves are sailing west. The three rings of power the elves have are connected to the One Ring and get their power from it, so when it's destroyed, the elves lose their power too. Their kingdoms, which have been preserved by the rings (like Rivendell and Lothlorien) begin to fade away, and the elves leave Middle Earth behind since there's no place for them there anymore.
I know its been a while, but I don't see any comment in regards to it, so I'll share my interpretation, anyone with more knowledge please feel free to reply. But the big Orc on Orc fight at the beginning, which is a place called Cirith Ungol, was mainly due to their being several different types of Orc stationed there. Sauron had just recently began to fill his ranks with Uruks, which were effectively his knock-off of Saruman's Uruk-hai. The regular Orcs hated the Uruks because they acted superior to them, and the Uruks hated the Orcs because they considered them to be undisciplined and stupid. The fight is started with an arguement between an Uruk and Orc over the Mithril, and then all the Uruks and Orcs start fighting each other as the news of the fight spreads through the fort.
"To make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." (T.S. Eliot) Every situation in our lives brings us to a new place in the journey. You can never return to the same old place, because every time, you're a different person having a new experience. Going "into the West," is an allusion to the Celtic lands of the forever-young, the Afterlife, called the Summerland. In essence, it's a journey from life into Paradise - literally, "Heaven" for the Elves.
The hobbits return to the Shire changed people. And you're right, things don't go back to "normal" for them. Frodo is emotionally and physically damaged from his time bearing the Ring and can't be the person he was before all this started, so he travels to the Undying Lands where he can finally heal and be at peace. Sam marries his love Rosie and ends up serving seven terms as Mayor of Michel Delving. He has thirteen children with Rosie. After she dies of old age, Sam puts his affairs in order, hands over the Red Book to his daughter Elanor (who was actually played by Sean Astin's daughter in the film!), and follows Frodo over the Seas to the Undying Lands, for Sam, too, had been a Ringbearer, even if only for a short while. Merry follows in his father's footsteps as Master of Buckland, and Pippin became the Thain of the Shire, both very important roles. Pippin's son Faramir married Sam's daughter Goldilocks. In their later years, Merry and Pippin handed over their offices and returned to Rohan and Gondor together, living out their final years in Minas Tirith. After Aragorn eventually dies of old age himself, Merry and Pippin are laid to rest beside him in honor. After Aragorn's death, Arwen leaves Minas Tirith and goes to Lothlorien, which by this point is mostly empty and its magic fading with the departure of Galadriel and most of the elves; there she dies of a broken heart and is buried at Cerin Amroth, where Aragorn and Arwen first promised themselves to each other. Faramir retains the position of Steward of Gondor, though it is returned to its historical powers and responsibilities (being the king's chief advisor as opposed to being the king in all but name). He is also appointed Prince of Ithilien (Ithilien is where he encountered Frodo and Sam) and marries Eowyn. Legolas leads a company of Elves south from his home in Mirkwood to settle in Ithilien, while Gimli brings some dwarves to the Glittering Caves of Helm's Deep. After the death of Aragorn, Legolas builds a ship and together with Gimli sails the river Anduin down to the Sea and across to the Undying Lands, the last of the Fellowship.
At the end, it doesn't come clearly in the movie but Bilbo and Frodo have been given the honor of being literally, physically taken directly to heaven to be healed after their trials. Sam is given the same honor at the end of his life, but for now he has a family and is able to be healed by time and family.
No one would willingly destroy the Ring, no one. It was not meant to be like that. This is why the movies ( that I love) don't do justice to Frodo, what he achieved by taking the Ring all the way trough Middle earth, wounded several times, was epic. He did what he was supposed to do, but in the end there was absolutely no one that would destroy it .
I always strongly disagree with people who argue that the theatrical cuts of the movies are either superior than the extended cuts or better for first time viewers. The one place I do agree though is the Eowyn being found on the fields and healed by Aragorn scene. The movie does not do enough to explain what is going on and if you haven't read the books, I think you'd be quite confused.
Hope you enjoy the premiere! HOBBIT IS NEXT, should be on Patreon tomorrow and RUclips next week! 😃
Looking foward to It...i Hope you do the tier best to worst thing with lotr like you did with Harry Potter...hobbit Is good and completes lotr but prepare yourself for overuse of cgi and a lot of confusing scenes and some really epic ones and lovable chatacters.. but no matter how many times i view the Hobbit i cant make much sence of It esp the Battle of the Five Armies...i Hope you can help me get it like you helped me understand Harry Potter After years 😅 Sorry long comment.
I subbed! I'm really excited!
omg yus the hobbit
Buff
Aragorn: "For Frodo!"
Random Gondor soldier: "Who the f. is Frodo?"
“I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you” is the most moving scene for me. Such a shame that Sean Astin didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for his performance.
Astin mentioned in his book a bitchy comment Ian McKellen made in his hearing about how he (Astin) "Didn't do very much" in terms of acting in the films. I've never much liked McKellen, who always seems a bit smug, but that kind of tipped it over for me. Christ, what an arsehole.
@@Jeowyn Well, not to diminish his performance here, Sean Astin has never shown himself to be a particularly versatile dramatic actor. Basically, the one thing he does well is 'earnestness' (e.g., 'Rudy') But, happily, earnestness is exactly what is required in the portrayal of faithful Sam Gamgee, and he delivered it wonderfully.
@@Jeowyn McKellen is an actor with a lot of experience and admittedly is one of the great but Astin managed such a steep learning curve like hardly anyone else compared to his teenage years. McKellen thinks a lot of himself and continued to whine about how Richard Harris called him "brillant but passionless", that level of diva he is, allowing his fans to continuously call the late Harris a "homophobe" for his professional opinion. In the end, there are no bad actors in these movies so everyone should chill.
For me the most moving scene is with Gimli and Legolas: "And what about side by side with a friend?"
@@Jeowyn Hmm yeah. I don't think anyone could deny Sean Astin was a great samwise. But perhaps that's just who Astin is in real life and as such he didn't have to transform into the role as much as he already fit in the skin of the character. Astin certainly does tend to play the earnest good hearted character in his work.
Mackellan as a old school Shakespearean stage actor, and a bit of an old queen himself may have seen it fit to throw some shade. Not very nice, but could have been strictly accurate.
ignoring the fact that he might have thought she was dead...the big reaction he gave was just for finding her there at all. He thought his sister was safe at home and then find her laid out on the battlefield.
Oh yh forgot she wasnt meant to be there!
I totally agree. There was only one over-reaction here and it was not Eomer's. She was not supposed to even be there, then she was seriously inured when struck by the mace, and then she stabbed an undead lord. She could have easily been dead, not knowing how long she laid there.
When I was younger I thought they were in a relationship and also thought she was trying to get with Aragorn at the same time...
@@michaelshafer5192 perfect... the details of the lore for this film is crazy, and i love every bit of it. (Thank you Tolkien!)
Not the siste but they are cousins
You said it yourself...you couldn't go back to normal life after that. Frodo was in a great deal of pain from being stabbed by the Witch King and he was depressed he couldn't destroy the ring voluntarily (but no-one could). Arwen requested Frodo take her spot and sail to Valinor (Elf heaven) and as a ring bearer, he was permitted. All answers are out there:) Great reactions!
He wasn't depressed because he couldn't destroy the ring. The ring (or absence of it) was *always* torturing him and the pain was made worse on the anniversaries of his woundings. Although it's not depicted in the movies, about 17 years elapsed between the time that Bilbo left the ring to Frodo and when Frodo set off to destroy it, so the ring had plenty of time to root itself in Frodo's psyche.
It was pretty much a metaphor for veterans returning from war
Not just elf heaven, though the details are a bit complicated and don't matter outside of theoretical theology. The point is that they were literally taken directly to heaven while still alive, which is KIND OF A BIG DEAL for a Catholic writer like Tolkien.
@@ethanlivemere1162 that‘s not true since J.R.R. Tolkien mentioned multiple times that he saw no intentions in doing metaphors to WW1. There is no connection to WW1 whatsoever.
@@ethanlivemere1162 Tolkien didn't write metaphors. He didn't like allegory
The Witch King was so foul and disgusting that to even kill him poisoned Eowyn. Aragorn was the only one capable of healing her, as that gift was said to belong to the heir of Isildur, the true king.
It also poisoned Merry as can be even seen in the movie when he stabs him.
@@TheDesastery yes
It’s a callback also to the fact that when Gil-galad and Elendil killed Sauron in the beginning (book not movie), Sauron’s power killed them in their attempt. The Witch-King possessed a shadow of that kind of power, but only enough to put Eowyn and Merry into comas.
The hands of the king are the hands of a healer
Eomer was so distraught to find her seemingly lifeless body a) because he didn't even know she was on the battlefield at all so the shock, and b) because she seemed dead.
"You bow to no one"..... makes me cry every time 😭😭😭
In addition to the "You bow to no one ..." touching moment at the end, I am always touched by Gandalf bringing three eagles to the rescue. One for Frodo ... one for Sam ... and one for Golum, without of course knowing what happened.
omg....🥺
I always figured it was because if they weren't passed out they would've been riding the eagles instead of carrying them lol
"You bow to no one" When Aragorn couldn't be more perfect, he comes and says this. Omg that scene always makes me cry, I recently saw it in the cinema twice (I'm waiting for the third one) and it's a thousand times better.
Thanks for reacting to the trilogy, I loved every reaction and I already want to see your reaction to Smaug!!
Seb: Frodo hasnt seen Gandalf in ages
Last time in Moria: Frodo saw Gandalf falling to his death with the Balrog
Karl Urban did a great job with his “NOOOO!” Such emotion.
Certainly better than the Vader howl lol
But yeah, Karl Urban is amazing in everything he does
I think it's the only "Big No" I've ever seen in a movie that didn't look remarkably silly (that includes Frodo's "NOOOOOO" when Gandalf died...)
@@Jeowyn Aww I loved Frodo's no. :( But yah I feel Eomer's no was so full of real grief.
@@Jeowyn have you seen Crash? You've reminded me of the father daughter moment "nooo"
@Elijah C Lochner Yep. He yells "Gandalf" first, but after "Fly, you fools", it's "Nooooooooooooo!"
In the books both Eowyn and Merry suffer from killing the Witch King. It's like he was poisonous, very similar to Frodo's stab wound, though not as lingering. They both also need time to recover and Merry doesn't go to the final battle at all!
They were suffering from the black breath witch infects and can kill anyone who comes in contact with and nozgul
The Black Breath was a power that was in the Nazgûl. Faramir also was exposed to it when being chased out of Osgiliath
I'm glad they changed it, it's good to see all the remaining members of the fellowship charging head first in the final battle.
Ringwraiths have a dark magical aura around them that harms you when you hit them. Also, Frodo is going to the undying lands where he can finally live in peace after all the mental and physical pain he got from his quest.
Fun fact: since all three of these were filmed at once, some stuff was filmed out of order, like Gollum’s first scene wasn’t in fellowship or two towers but actually this film. Andy Serkis’s first day on set in the motion capture suit was Gollum ambushing Sam and Frodo at the entrance of Mount Doom. The whole cast and crew were so confused seeing a man in tights and covered in dots hopping all over the place and using this weird voice but Peter Jackson was basically like “hold on, let him cook” and it obviously paid off
Fun fact, Gimli ends up going with Legolas to the Undying Lands after Aragorn dies. Only dwarf to ever do so.
Sam also went there after his wife passed away because he was a ring barer after shelob stung frodo
@@aliz3rinveil260 I think by general principle Elfs decided to let Fellowship enter their Elf Heaven.
@@hssy2jrocker not exactly, it is not to the elfs to decide about that matter, the case of Gimli was left to the Eldars if i recall?
If you don’t at least tear up by the end you're not human. I'm glad to have been on this journey with you!
I'm from Russia. And all the cinemas in my country decided to show all the parts of the Lord of the Rings. And what was the surprise when all the tickets were sold out and all the halls were filled. And most people have watched it more than once. It's so great that this masterpiece does not lose its popularity, but on the contrary is gaining momentum. Thank you again for your reaction.❣ I'm looking forward to the exciting adventures of Bilbo Baggins!
In the books, Shelob stings Frodo in the neck. The movies probably did it this way because seeing that huge-ass spider stabbing him in the neck would have been MORE unbelievable that he didn't die. Also, we're technically never shown if Frodo was wearing Mithril at that exact moment (I know, why wouldn't he? But TECHNICALLY...). There's also the fact that Mithril is not IMPOSSIBLE to pierce. Just very hard. The scene with Eomer screaming when he found Eowyn, I mean... he found his sister lying unconscious on the batteflied. She was reeeeeeally not supposed to be there. Theoden and Eomer always wanted to protect her, so he really thought she was dead. Remember that he didn't see what we saw, he's not part of the audience.
I love the idea that no matter who it may have been Frodo, Sam or anyone - they would have not been able to throw the ring the fire voluntarily because the ring's corruption power magnifies as he was getting closer to the Mordor. Makes sense that in the heart of all evil the ring was just too powerful for someone to destroy willingly. I think Frodo gets a lot of flack for being weak but he fought the ring as much as he could - you could see the physical and mental damage it had on him. Funnily and poetically, the creature that was instrumental in destroying the ring was an evil sod that was shown mercy and spared out of pity. Prof. Tolkien was the OG goat.
Yeah, I've always liked this. My other favorite ring fact is that Bilbo was actually the only person in its history ever to willingly cast the ring aside.
@@veryanonymous3630 Aside from Sam, who, in the book, and while he was looking on Mordor itself, was able to reject the temptations of the Ring...because his greatest desires were simple, small, and close to his heart, and the bloated grandeur it suggested was obviously ridiculous.
@@veryanonymous3630 that, and Sam, who in the books had the ring try to corrupt him, but he brushed these visions of him leading armies against Sauron (corrupted thoughts from the ring) aside to save frodo.
@FatalPies Tom bombadil would never have gotten the ring anywhere near mount doom.
Even Sauron, if for some crazy reason he had wanted to, wouldn't have been able to destroy the Ring there. Gandalf knew that. But, being an angel, he was quite literally hoping for a miracle. And he got one, through Bilbo's mercy.
If Frodo had had time, and Gollum hadn't been there, he probably would have thrown himself into the fire with the Ring. But he might not have had the time to steel himself for that because the Nazgul were on the way.
It's a bit subtle, but a lot of Eldrond's disdain for men because of Isildur not destroying the Ring - which is wildly unfair because NO ONE could have - is actually him projecting his guilt because he couldn't destroy it either.
In the books, Aragorn is the only character to actually be able to dominate Saurons mind when talking with him through the Palantir. It freaks Sauron out and making him panic and send his armies against Aragorn.
That seems unlikely. Sauron had plenty of reasons to be concerned about Aragorn but to be honest, the primary one was not the Palantir but that he might have the ring.
@@veryanonymous3630 He also thought Aragorn had the one Ring. Just to be clear.
Aragorn did not dominate Sauron, but resisted him and managed to turn the Palantir away from him, which was enough to make Sauron wonder whether he had just seen the current possessor of his Ring challenging him, and to decide not to take any chances and just empty Mordor to crush him.
@@arnaudbouret5562 I think you put it much better than my scatter shot comment.
it is also said that denetor was also able to resist sauron will, however this dumbass used the palentir extremly often for decades, ruining his mind
It doesn't make it as clear in the movies, but the orcs are actual, real factions in the world, and there are various orc tribes of different births, and they all hate each other, so when they're forced to cooperate it often results in bickering. There are Saruman's orcs, then there are multiple orc tribes within Mordor, and there are still others. That's why something as shiny as the mithril vest caused the two different orc tribes in that tower to start butchering each other.
One thing that's interesting is that, as much magic and deep power and mystery as there is in the LotR world, pretty much every earthly entity is still limited by some very mundane factors. Sauron doesn't have endless orcs and resources that just gush forth out of some evil pit of malice; he's been breeding them and stealing land for food and resources for ages so he could build a sufficient army, and he set other foreign nations against each other to acquire vassals from other parts of the world to come fight for him (the Eastern men with the Oliphaunts and the men on the ships are different races of men from elsewhere who were promised riches and plunder if they helped destroy Gondor.) The Naz'Gul are actual historical figures as you know. Etc.
The reason the orcs take Osgiliath (the ruined city on the water) at the beginning of the film is because it's one of the few places where large armies can easily cross the great river Anduin which separates the lands of Gondor from the lands of Mordor.
So, even though Sauron is this ancient presence of evil and malice, he still has to deal with army logistics, army upkeep, war exhaustion, morale, etcetera. And he himself is a real character who isn't always certain of his own victory. -In fact, before the final fight in the third act of the film, Aragorn in the books reveals himself to Sauron in the palantir so that Sauron would become afraid and uneasy at knowing that the heir of Isildur was still alive and had defeated him at Gondor.- (forgot this is also in the extended edition) This also compounded his worries because he knew the Ring was out there and he was concerned that whoever found it would claim it and become the new Dark Lord. This is one reason that Gandalf didn't even dare touch the Ring; being of a similar race to Sauron, he would have been nearly or equally as powerful (if not more so) and the Ring would've twisted his good intentions until he became just as warped and malicious as Sauron was himself.
It also isn't as clear in the movies, but the entire point of the secret mission to destroy the Ring was to hide their intent from Sauron. As obsessed with power as he was, it hadn't even crossed Sauron's mind that anybody would ever try to destroy it. He just figured they'd claim it for themselves and then overthrow him (which would've been a loss for him but still would've resulted in another, equally evil Dark Lord being created). When Frodo reaches the Crack of Doom and claims ownership over the ring, Sauron immediately understands what a fool he had been and understands that he's literally inches from being wiped off the face of the Earth. That was also the whole point of showing up at the Black Gates: cause a big ruckus and distract the eye to give Frodo and Sam a clearer path to Mount Doom. *Just realized they do explain this in the third part lel
Edit: Also, the reason Sam was so intimidating to the orcs in the tower is because he was bearing the ring, and it made him project this sinister and overbearing aura.
That "mouth of sauron" scene at the gate with the mithril wasn't in the theatrical version and it always gets me how massively it changed the perspective to them thinking they could have been fighting for nothing if Frodo is dead. Thank goodness for Aragorn.
Same with Saruman, I highly expected a Saruman-Gandalf scene when I saw this in the cinema because I did not read the book so I knew nothing about Pippin-Sauron moment with the Palantir and the Mouth-Aragorn.
I'm sorry but is that a profile picture of you with Benedict freaking CUMBERBATCH??
@@jodie3950 hahahaa it is indeed!! It was at a Sherlock convention back in 2016. Lovely man!
@@JeM130177 ughhhhh so luckyyyyy
wait a damn minute, all this time i've watched the extended edition? NIIICE
Gandalf's eye acting is so perfect! ♥️
Bernard Hill crushes every scene as Theoden. I didn’t think you could top the Boromir death scene for emotion and he did it. “I know your face” was what he said when he came out of Saraman’s spell and again when he sees Eowen on the battlefield. Even when he calls her name because his eyesight goes just before he dies. So moving.
And that speech before the Charge of the Rohirim was epic. He even learnt to ride with his left hand so he could rattle the spears with his sword.
Legend!
Well, he is left-handed. He had to hold the sword with his right (non-dominant) hand and he was worried about that. But yes, absolutely one of the top actors in this trilogy and almost nobody recognizes him as such!
Tolkien was in ww1 and saw the horrors of it. That’s what he was doing with the frodo arc here saying life could never be normal again and he must set out somewhere else
Indeed, Jackson did seem to understand that Tolkien, like other writers of his generation, was 'writing what he knew' and inevitably portraying what it was like for these veterans to come back to their quiet villages, never quite seeing it the same way they did before.
They're sailing to the "undying lands" which is the western continent of Aman. Essentially Tolkien's "heaven".
Valinor
Being one of the ring bearers, Sam was allowed to sail and njoin frodo after after a long life; raising a huge family and being one of the shire's greatest leaders
No, not 'heaven'. Jackson's Gandalf misleads Pippin on this point. Bilbo and Frodo, spiritually wounded by bearing the Ring, are as a reward granted the grace to pass to the Undying Lands for healing before dying in their time and passing beyond the bounds of the created universe… and unlike Gandalf's film line, the fate of mortal souls after death is _not_ known, not even to the Eldar or Valar (nor Gandalf, a high angel ('maia')) but must be taken on faith. This is a critical theme in Tolkien's work (and Amazon must not diminish it in their dramatization of the rise and fall of Númenor).
Arwen's choice of mortality is more poignant for this reason. If Aman were 'heaven', she could remain immortal, return to the West, and reunite with Aragorn in that afterlife. But she does not have that choice. When Aragorn is on his deathbed, Arwen tells him, “If this [death] is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One [God] to Men, it is bitter to receive.”
So it seems," he said. "But let us not be overthrown at the final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and the Ring. In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory.”
Also important to point out that Aman is no longer a part of the Earth. The continent was removed when the world was reformed during the Second Age. So they are quite literally leaving the realm of Arda (Earth) and going to the Elves and Valar in the Undying Lands (Aman). The only place where Frodo can ever truly be at peace. Powerful stuff.
Aman is Sa sanskrit for Peace
The last line of film is also the final line of the book: Sam saying "Well. I'm home."
That part when Eomer finds Eowyn really hits me on a deep level, because if you really think about that scene where it is a chaotic battle where a lot of your fellow soliders die, among them you find your sister which is your only living kin. That scene in itself just hits me so hard for some reason.
Just cried through this entire video I've seen this film literally 100 times AND YET
The Nazghul terrified me at 15 and they still do at 35: When Eowyn said, ''I will kill you if you touch him'', that showed everything he meant for her. facing the Witch King is the dream she told Aragorn at Edoras; she was terrified.
Theoden was her uncle, but he raised her as his daughter. He was her father pretty much
@@Schwazoom I know
It's a good thing Viggo is a good horseman. That rearing up that Brego did at the end of the battle speech wasn't choreographed. This is where it shows Sam as the true hero. Without him, Frodo would have repeated Isildur's cycle.
*ONE OF THE GREATEST TRILOGIES TO EVER GRACE A MOVIE SCREEN*
I love this movie so much, but about the time of "For Frodo", all I can think is "Where the hell did everyone's horses go??!"
I believe in reality Aragorn's horse was like "there's this lady horse I'm into and i will kill everyone in my way" 😂😂😂 but yeah magical disappearing horses
Mordor is no place for a pony, even one as brave as bill
@@Jerome616 😂
"You're using coconuts!"
@Bryce Gladwin One does not simply rides into Mordor
4:54 Frodo is refering to the ring, not armor. The ring can change it's weight when it wants to be found.
He screams because he doesn't know that her sister was in the battle. He thought that she go back to the kingdom because that's what she supposed to do. So when he saw her like that, that's too shocking for him. You know, family love.
The act of killing the Witch King exposed Eowyn and Merry to an intense form of attack from the Witch King called the Black Breath, it was like an aura the Nazgul produced and was usually fatal. In fact in the books Merry, like Eowyn, hadn't recovered enough to be at the final battle at the Black Gate and stayed behind at Minas Tirith.
There is this 'rumor' that Gandalf brought 3 eagles, hoping Smeagol could be saved too 😭
Makes sense, since he spent a lot of time with Nienna, Vala of grief and mercy and pity and hope ♥️
"It was Pity that stayed Bilbo's hand."
Pity is not a condescension here.. It is the act of love, reaching a hand to those who are in a worse situation than you, even if they are not the greatest of people.
This only happens in the movies, in the book Gandalf knew that there was no possibility of Smeagol surviving (and its 100% logical if you think). An eagle carried him, another carried Frodo, and Sam with the last one. Also Tolkien said that there was no possibility of Smeagol surviving in one of his letters.
@@manel4361 exactly, I've not read that letter but I'm presuming it's because after the ring was destroyed he would have aged immensely and just died almost instantly (presuming he didn't die with the ring).
@@thomaslogan4074 maybe, but In letter 246 Tolkien explains that Gollum's story could only end in 2 ways. Either he did exactly what he did, or, if the mercy that Frodo showed for him had ended up redeeming him, he would have tried to steal the Ring and finally throw himself into the fire in order to save Frodo from its influence. And Gandalf knew it, he was the wisest of all beings of Middle Earth
@@manel4361 ah ok, makes sense
Keep in mind, Frodo last saw Gandalf falling into a dark deep pit fighting a balrog. So him seeing him when he woke up must’ve felt like a smack in the gut full of pure joy
That moment at 14:03 where Frodo's like "F$%#, Im dead!"
I still get goosebumps at "You bow to no one." In every LOTR reaction video I've seen, I always look forward to the reaction to that moment. Yours did not disappoint!
You gotta read all of Tolkien’s books after this to also understand all the depth, detail and context. This is the order I go with.
The Silmarillion 💎
Beren and Luthien 👰🏻♀️
The Children of Hurin 👩❤️👨
The Fall of Gondolin ⚔️
The Hobbit 🐉
Fellowship of the Ring 💍
Two Towers 🏰
The Return of the King 👑
@FatalPies
I had to take notes the first time through. Finished it in an airplane at 30,000 feet. That was an existential post-book look out the window. 😂
No man can go without tears when "You bow to no one" hits.
Every time!
At the end there, the elves and Gandalf were finally able to go to the Undying Lands. (Kinda their version of Heaven in a way.) And because Bilbo and Frodo both carried and resisted the ring, they were allowed to cross over to the Undying Lands as well.
In the books, because Sam also carried the ring for a short time, when he grows older, he's allowed to cross over as well. It's not shown in the films, but is mentioned in the books
As well as Gimli due to his close friendship to Legolas is granted by the Valar the gift of going to the Undying Lands with Legolas on the very last ship of all that crosses over to the Undying lands since Sam had gone prior to them.
“to Sam’s final and complete satisfaction and pure joy, a minstrel of Gondor stood forth, and knelt, and begged leave to sing. And behold! he said:
‘Lo! lords and knights and men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Dúnedain of the North, and Elf and Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire, and all free folk of the West, now listen to my lay. For I will sing to you of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom.’
And when Sam heard that he laughed aloud for sheer delight, and he stood up and cried: ‘O great glory and splendour! And all my wishes have come true!’ And then he wept.
And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness.”
Eomer did not know Eowyn was in the battle. He went to war happily because he knew she would get no harm, safe at home, protecting his people. Now he sees her, prone in the remains of the battlefield (probably wondering if he could have stopped her, he did try), with his uncle and father figure dead. between worry, guilt, and despair, it makes sense that he did not immediately check for a pulse.
also Karl Urban's acting in that scene is amazing.
And oh man, when you watch the extended behind the scenes, it gives you even so much more appreciation for what everyone did, and what Tolkien wrote/created.
Bilbo and Frodo were both rewarded to go to the Undying Lands with the Elves because they had been ring-bearers. Samwise was also given the same reward in the books. Gandalf was also a ring-bearer and received the same reward.
Gandalf wasn't rewarded with going to the undying lands! THAT was his HOME he was going back home after completing his task given to him by MANWE the VALAR that he served in the Undying Lands, he was a MAIAR (an angel of the VALAR the gods just below the one true god ERU ILUVATAR)...his true name is OLORIN, and he is a servant of MANWE! Gandalf was sent from the Undying Lands to Middle Earth with the job of leading, and inspiring the peoples of Middle Earth in destroying the ring, and Sauron. Sauron began his existance as a Maiar the same as Gandalf, but was corrupted into becoming evil. So Gandalf was the same level of being. He got to go back HOME to the Undying Lands once his job was done. He was given Narya the elven ring of fire by Cirdan the shipwright to help him in his task in fighting Sauron. READ TOLKIEN'S BOOKS BEFORE GIVING OUT DISINFORMATION PLEASE.
My favorite character was Shadowfax, lord of all horses. For he knew the meaning of haste.
Big time. Stood up to the witch king on the fell beast. Didn't budge. Good horse 🐎
It was said Shadowfax went to live with Treebeard.
At the time the film was released, many critics and viewers complained about the 'multiple endings', apparently wanting everything after the destruction of the Ring to be quickly summarized or omitted; you are one of the few who seems to have genuinely appreciated the long denouement. Of course, in the book, there was a whole other episode (and short battle) to go through in the Shire. I don't think audiences could have borne that.
I'm a 29 year old man and this movie never fails to make me cry
0:29
The Nazgûl and all the weapons they wield are imbued with a thing called the Black Breath. It's Mordor's equivalent of the Dark Side Of The Force. Frodo got a dose of it from being stabbed by the Witch King's Morgul blade dagger in FOTR. Faramir was afflicted when he went out to Osgiliath at Denethor's order. Both Eowyn and Merry were poisoned by it when they stabbed the Witch King. It needs Elvish graces (like with Elrond) or Numinorean virtues (like with Aragorn) to heal the person afflicted.
I love that you are looking at these films with fresh eyes. My favorite scene in the extended cut is when E'omer finds his sister on the battle field. She and s hobbit the "unfit" for battle are heros if the battle.
Frodo and BIlbo were both ringbearers and suffered spiritual wounds from it. Frodo also suffered physical wounds that never healed properly. They were granted special permission to sail to the Undying Lands with the elves where they could be healed and spend their remaining days in peace. Sam was also a ringbearer for a short time, so after his wife died many years later, he was also granted passage to the Undying Lands.
As for the spider defying the mithril shirt I believe that when you look at it, it would seem the blow came below the shirt in the lower abdomen. I am sure they were aware of this and deliberately had Shelob getting down quite low before striking.
Just sobbed along with everyone else watching you get to live this for the first time. Still the most moving movies I have ever seen. So much respect.
In the books Aragorn already has the sword Anduril in the Fellowship of the Ring. The movies made Aragorn to be afraid and hesitant about his role as the heir and future King. But in the books he graciously accepts his role and future as the next king of Gondor and later reclaims the Northern kingdom of Arnor as well. He loves Arwen but Elrond tells Aragorn that he will only give him his blessing to marry her when he fulfills his destiny and becomes the new king of Gondor and Arnor.
It's stated in one of Tolkiens letters that in the Crack of Doom. Where the Ring is at it's strongest, nobody could intentionally destroy it.
Eowyn was suffering from "The Black Breath". An illness caused by close proximity to a Nazgûl. Only Aethalas (Kingsfoil) can reverse it and most in Gondor have forgotten its use. There is a saying in Gondor: The hands of the King are the hands of a healer.
There are videos, where they tell what happens to the characters after the Lord of the Rings, and also where they tell about the Scouring of the Shire. I suggest you watching those, they explain a lot.
There's a lot of lore to be missed on book wise as there's just so much to touch on . One of them being the Black Breath that comes from the nazgul . It's a type of spell they wield(ish), effect they carry . Merry screamed cause it effected him and Eowyn the worst. As someone said in the comments Aragorn being an heir of isildur , the Numernoreans had alot of healing works back then thousands of years ago. Some magic types as well when it comes to healing . Since especially the Numernoreans had a good relationship with elves too. Hence Aragorn and Arwen and everything with Rivendell. Elrond actually took care of him when he was a child . Their Dunedain camp was ambushed by orcs and his father died to them in that ambush . If I'm not mistaken his mother brought him to Rivendell. He was a baby when his dad got killed. So much stuff to learn from all the books Tolkien made . the Hobbit , Lord of the rings, Silmarilion, so much history . An extra tidbit , witch king wasn't wrong on the no man can kill theory . Near the beginning of the third age Elrond and and a bunch of other elves like Glorfindel and men from the North fought against him ( long story . After Sauron died the nazgul separated and the witch king was planning to take hold in the north . Known as the Kingdom of Angmar . Hence The witch king of Angmar etc ) that story of the Dunedain that Eowyn and Aragorn were talking about , he was the one responsible for taking over most of Arnor and basically turning them against them . He had a huge army. Long story short Elrond and Glorfindel before running off made an oath that most likely no man will ever kill him . The Barrow downs a haunted place filled with dead rangers that were buried , he rose the dead there and they eventually attacked people . Their weapons had a spell on them the old Dunedain style Numernorean weapons . Which was never explained in the movies that Merrys dagger was from those places . Hence why he was able to break the witch kings type of spell and weaken him before Eowyn finished him off . Kind of lol . I'm not sure if it was confirmed if he died after that since they got resurrected so many times . The sad thing is , being how amazing the ringwraiths, the 9 kings that got turned to evil thousands of years ago by Sauron by controlling them with the 9 rings he gave him , besides that , it was one of Tolkiens greatest mysteries. He never real wrote on them after that. No names of who the king's were . Where they came from . All we know is the witch king , and an Easterling king named Khamul was one of them and their may have been a description of another one , but no other info on them . Wished Tolkien would've touched more on them . I guess hopefully the show that's being made Amazon ( its in the second age, where the rings were made and how Sauron got powerful and becomes what he is . It's gonna be epic next year ). Like I said so much lore based on one topic lol
One way to understand the last travel's escene with the elves is the Spiritualy way; so the 'travel' becomes "trascendence" after a great Earth mision. The great gift for Souls. I'd enjoy your reaction. What a movie! 😂
Fun fact: In the books, the boat that Frodo took at the end of the movie actually came back for Sam, because he was a Ring-Bearer too, however briefly.
P.S. The place the boat takes Frodo, Bilbo, and Gandalf to is called the Undying Lands, a place where Ring-Bearers go. It is a land so pure not even death can touch it.
Highly recommend watching Rings of Power!
As others have written, they are sailing west to the undying lands. This last boat contains all of the ring bearers (+Celeborn, Galadriel's husband). Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel have the 3 Elven rings and Frodo and Bilbo both carried the One Ring.
Fun fact: In the books, once Sam's wife passes away far in the future, he is allowed to sail west and join Frodo. He too, for a very brief period, carried the One Ring. Also, I believe Legolas built a boat for him and Gimli to sail west after Aragorn dies. He is probably the only dwarf ever allowed in the Undying Lands, thanks to his friendship with Legolas and probably Galadriel speaking in his favor.
Not probably: Galadriel speaking in his favor really
@@P_L1134 Where is this stated? The appendices in RoTK simply says, “and it may be that she, being mighty among the Eldar, obtained this grace for him. More cannot be said of this matter.”
@@fong03 it's not stated really but with that and when you knew she give to Gimli some of her locks of hair when some of the powerful people in the world ask she say "no" you knew that she undoubtedly ensured the passage of Gimli
funny detail, the Sauron entities didn't know how close the ring was to the mountain until Frodo put on the ring. you can almost see the panic as it turns and calls back the Nazgul. his arrogance was his undoing
The book reveals that Aragorn was granted the ability to choose the time of his death by the Valar, as a reward for his great deeds during the War of the Ring. By the time of his death, Aragorn had lived 210 years.
Dude, the “you bow to no one” line always gets me as well! I don’t think you are human if you don’t tear up during that part.
7:29: A Lot of the extras in that scene were Volunteers from the New Zealand army
I’m not being dramatic when I saw I’ve seen all of these movies at least 10 times and the ending always, always makes me cry uncontrollably.
Shelob stung Frodo in the neck, that's why the mithril west didn't protect him. Such great movies and marvellous books.
Thank you for you for watching with us!
Been enjoying the reaction videos from the start. You have a very nice, deep voice to do film commentary! Soothing to watch in the evening/ night time. Great job, mate!
"What was the fuss about (since Eowyn didn't die)?" well... true, she didn't die, but I think that when Eomer saw his sister lying on the battlefield, not moving, the first thought that probably crossed his mind was that she was killed.
I know this has been done ages ago, and you're probably not reading these comments anymore. Just wanted to tell you I was at the midnight release of Return of the King when it came out. Our cinema had a screening of all the movies leading up to the midnight release and I watched each and everyone. It was brutal and one of the best experiences of my life. Obviously I went back to watch Return of the King again after that because I surely missed a lot on the initial watching after being in theatre for all that time. I re-watch the Hobbit and LOTR series at least once a year. I read the books too, and loved it as it gives so much more info, but LOTR is a hard read and only managed it once.
Leaving the theater after watching this movie in 2003 as a child just left me so confused and sad… I wanted to see more, and now even watching it as an adult it still brings a tear to my eye how f**king good this trilogy is. There won’t be any other franchise like it again and nor could they make a masterpiece like this ever again.
At the end they’re going away to the Undying Lands. It’s basically where Elves (who are immortal) go along with some others. Also ring bearers go there . It’s explained more in the books I don’t fully remember all the story behind it but I gave you the basic explanation
In the book Eowyn looked dead right after she killed the Witch-king, she did not talk to Theoden. Aragorn lived to 210 years. Bilbo and Frodo went to Elvenhome in the West, we don't know what they got there, but probably some healing from the power of the Ring that they could not get in Middle-earth, and some peace before death. Maybe the Valar ("gods") gave them a long life too, but the immortality they can not give.
When I got the DVDs [standard release] I watched 2 and 3 back-to-back - I didn't realise how long they were, and had a numb bum long before the end, but I didn't want to pause even long enough to grab a cushion. The suffering was well worth it!
"You bow to no one" never fails to get me, no matter how often I see it.
The West was always the Immortal Land [which is why people were said to "go west" when they died]; I think that Bilbo was the first non-elf to be accorded the privilege.
I read these books 51 years ago and couldn't put them down. Glad you really enjoyed the movies, they remained true to the books and are a joy to watch.
Peregrin Tuc: I caused every party death in this adventure, almost doomed middle earth three times and they bow to me? Ok then!
In case no one has mentioned it, no one other than Merri knew that Eowyn had gone to battle. She was supposed to have stayed behind to lead and look after Rohan if her uncle (Theodin) and her brother (Eomir) didn’t return from battle.
wow. first of all thank you. I love watching people get excited over things I am also passionate about and even as an 18 year old, I have been watching these movies since I was 3. they hold so much comfort and raw emotion for me that I honestly can't put into words. I never not cry watching these and I cried even just watching your reaction. I have so much to say honestly but to keep this brief I will answer your question as to who my favorite character is. honestly, I don't know if I have one, but one character that I gain more and more respect for every time I watch or read the books is Theoden, for many reasons, but mainly for the fact that I believe he is the best example of true humility and redemption. He is a beacon of hope when so much is lacking of it. I also relate to him a lot personally, and the peace that he gains only after putting aside pride and helping others honorably does he know he can rest. I hope that makes sense.
It's actually really impressive how much of the mythology you absorbed on your first time watching the trilogy!
16:44: I feel if Bilbo heard that, the part of him that was ensnared by the ring would come to life again.
You seeing this for the first time: “How come that mithril didn’t stop the spider”
Me having seen this 153x: 👁👁………
I swear i never fucking thought of it
The elves in The Lord of The Rings all have an innate desire to go to "The Undying Lands" far to the west across the ocean. It's an earthly paradise untouched by evil, where luminous primordial spirits that helped shape the world live. Almost all elvenkind make the journey, Arwen stayed behind to be with Aragorn, and gave up "her place" on the ship to Frodo. The only ones allowed to go were the elves, ringbearers, and the wizards, who are angelic beings given mortal form to help fight against Sauron.
Frodo went because he still has mental scarring from the Rings evil influence, and he still feels pain from the wound the Morgul Blade caused.
CORRECT, except That Sam, and Gimli were also gifted the priviledge of going to the undying lands as well. Sam for being a ring bearer though for a very short time, and Gimli in recognition of his intensely close friendship with Legolas.
Really, really enjoyed watching your intelligent and heart-felt reactions to LOTR. Hope you get a chance to read the books one of these days; it's worthwhile.
I'm just in love with this dude...one of the best reactors out there
To address the ship at the end, yeah it's the afterlife for elves, and it's very significant that frodo and bilbo are allowed to go with, because they were ringbearers. As for how it works, imagine the boat flies in a PERFECTLY straight line, defying the curvature of the earth, and out into space.
Not out into space, it crosses into another existance. Like another dimension.
@@brianmatthews1736 yeah not literally, just figuratively
They left for the undying lands at the end because they were ring bearers and they go to a land to heal and basically live forever. If you read the books Sam goes there too when he gets old and Rosie, his wife passes on because he was a ring bearer for a short time.
Love the scene where sam oicks uo frodo and its written perfectly in the book "Sam's will was set, and only death would break it"
The orcs went nuts in the tower because there are two different races. Remember in earlier movies the smaller orcs growing larger war orcs out of the ground. So one race said the other tried to knife him. Then the chain reaction from a bunch of loose screws itching for a fight (pretty much all orcs).
The Jackson films are AMAZING, but they do leave out one detail which explains why the elves are sailing west. The three rings of power the elves have are connected to the One Ring and get their power from it, so when it's destroyed, the elves lose their power too. Their kingdoms, which have been preserved by the rings (like Rivendell and Lothlorien) begin to fade away, and the elves leave Middle Earth behind since there's no place for them there anymore.
The parallel with Sauron losing the ring by it being cut with his finger and then, in the end, Frodo losing the ring by his finger being bitten off
I know its been a while, but I don't see any comment in regards to it, so I'll share my interpretation, anyone with more knowledge please feel free to reply.
But the big Orc on Orc fight at the beginning, which is a place called Cirith Ungol, was mainly due to their being several different types of Orc stationed there. Sauron had just recently began to fill his ranks with Uruks, which were effectively his knock-off of Saruman's Uruk-hai. The regular Orcs hated the Uruks because they acted superior to them, and the Uruks hated the Orcs because they considered them to be undisciplined and stupid. The fight is started with an arguement between an Uruk and Orc over the Mithril, and then all the Uruks and Orcs start fighting each other as the news of the fight spreads through the fort.
"To make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." (T.S. Eliot)
Every situation in our lives brings us to a new place in the journey. You can never return to the same old place, because every time, you're a different person having a new experience.
Going "into the West," is an allusion to the Celtic lands of the forever-young, the Afterlife, called the Summerland. In essence, it's a journey from life into Paradise - literally, "Heaven" for the Elves.
The hobbits return to the Shire changed people. And you're right, things don't go back to "normal" for them. Frodo is emotionally and physically damaged from his time bearing the Ring and can't be the person he was before all this started, so he travels to the Undying Lands where he can finally heal and be at peace.
Sam marries his love Rosie and ends up serving seven terms as Mayor of Michel Delving. He has thirteen children with Rosie. After she dies of old age, Sam puts his affairs in order, hands over the Red Book to his daughter Elanor (who was actually played by Sean Astin's daughter in the film!), and follows Frodo over the Seas to the Undying Lands, for Sam, too, had been a Ringbearer, even if only for a short while.
Merry follows in his father's footsteps as Master of Buckland, and Pippin became the Thain of the Shire, both very important roles. Pippin's son Faramir married Sam's daughter Goldilocks. In their later years, Merry and Pippin handed over their offices and returned to Rohan and Gondor together, living out their final years in Minas Tirith. After Aragorn eventually dies of old age himself, Merry and Pippin are laid to rest beside him in honor.
After Aragorn's death, Arwen leaves Minas Tirith and goes to Lothlorien, which by this point is mostly empty and its magic fading with the departure of Galadriel and most of the elves; there she dies of a broken heart and is buried at Cerin Amroth, where Aragorn and Arwen first promised themselves to each other.
Faramir retains the position of Steward of Gondor, though it is returned to its historical powers and responsibilities (being the king's chief advisor as opposed to being the king in all but name). He is also appointed Prince of Ithilien (Ithilien is where he encountered Frodo and Sam) and marries Eowyn.
Legolas leads a company of Elves south from his home in Mirkwood to settle in Ithilien, while Gimli brings some dwarves to the Glittering Caves of Helm's Deep. After the death of Aragorn, Legolas builds a ship and together with Gimli sails the river Anduin down to the Sea and across to the Undying Lands, the last of the Fellowship.
Thanks for the memories of what it was like to watch this for the first time.
At the end, it doesn't come clearly in the movie but Bilbo and Frodo have been given the honor of being literally, physically taken directly to heaven to be healed after their trials. Sam is given the same honor at the end of his life, but for now he has a family and is able to be healed by time and family.
When Frodo is at the Crack of Doom....there was no possible way for him to actually throw it into the fire...no on could.
No one would willingly destroy the Ring, no one. It was not meant to be like that. This is why the movies ( that I love) don't do justice to Frodo, what he achieved by taking the Ring all the way trough Middle earth, wounded several times, was epic. He did what he was supposed to do, but in the end there was absolutely no one that would destroy it .
I always strongly disagree with people who argue that the theatrical cuts of the movies are either superior than the extended cuts or better for first time viewers. The one place I do agree though is the Eowyn being found on the fields and healed by Aragorn scene. The movie does not do enough to explain what is going on and if you haven't read the books, I think you'd be quite confused.