The last movie in the Lotr series is Return of the King, and today I’m going to tell you the highlights of the film (spoilers included) and share a few thoughts.
We get a couple different perspectives in this film:
- Frodo, who is unknowingly being led towards a monstrous spider by a scheming and vengeful Gollum.
- Sam, tracking Frodo because he doesn’t trust Gollum.
- Pippin, who goes with Gandalf to fight (and bond) in Gondor.
- Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, preparing for battles in Rohan.
This movie was a little longer and more complicated than the other ones, so this post is going to be different than my previous ones. I broke the movie up into 13 short chapters.
Let’s start!!
Gollum’s Trick
At the beginning of Return of the King, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum are traveling together. But Gollum, who is leading them toward their death as a revenge for the ring, senses Sam’s unease and anger towards him. He doesn’t want anyone to mess up his plan for vengeance.
So Gollum throws out the last of their food and blames it on Sam. Frodo, believing Gollum, lashes out angrily at Sam. Sam knows that the strain of the One Ring is breaking Frodo. He offers to help, to carry it for a bit, to “ease the load.”
That’s when Frodo, who suspects that Sam just wants the Ring for himself, abandons Sam. He says that Sam should just go home, while Gollum takes Frodo to destroy the Ring (or so he thinks).
Gandalf’s New Friend
Meanwhile, another hobbit is making a foolish mistake. Pippin, curious about a dangerous orb brought back from Saruman’s Towers, takes it and looks into it. He goes into a seizure and almost dies.
Gandalf extracts Pippin from the orb and yells at him for a little bit for being such an idiot, and it’s decided that Gandalf will take Pippin to Gondor as a helper.
Obviously, Pippin is sad to leave, especially because Merry will not be going with him. The two of them say a fearful, heart-wrenching goodbye before Gandalf rides off to Gondor, sweeping Pippin away as well.
In Gondor, Pippin must help fight Gondor’s battles, deal with a sulky, very stupid steward, send a message to Rohan, and learn what real bravery is. Gandalf slowly begins to bond with the little hobbit as Pippin grows on him.
Who wouldn’t?
Aragorn’s Zombies Attack
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli enlist the help of the dead soldiers in the mountains. These soldiers are bound to Aragorn by an oath, and are deadly (see what I did there?) allies who can help tip the scales in Aragorn’s favor.
When faced with a fleet of orc ships, Aragorn sends his new warriors to destroy them. The zombie-soldiers do their job well.
Aragorn keeps his promise and sets the dead spirits free once the orcs are killed. The three friends head back to Rohan to prepare for battle.
Sam Saves Frodo…Sort Of
Back in Mordor, Gollum leads Frodo through a cobwebbed tunnel. Frodo, for some reason, still trusts the little monster, and is rewarded for it by being attacked by a colossal spider.
A long chase ensues. At the end of it, however, the spider gets Frodo and wraps him up in the sticky, thready silk.
Gollum has disappeared, shoved by Frodo into a chasm and is presumably dead. But Sam…
Sam manages to find and kill the spider before it can suck Frodo’s blood out, but then he realizes that Frodo has already been injected with the poison. He has to be dead.
He’s hidden in the rocks, heartbroken, about to leave for Mordor to finish the task of destroying the ring.
Then orcs come and take Frodo captive, since they know that the poison will wear off eventually. Sam follows Frodo’s captors towards Mordor to attempt a rescue mission.
Pippin Sets the Steward On Fire
Gondor’s steward, Denethor, is an idiot, and Gandalf and Pippin are having trouble with him.
They are also dealing with the Ringwraith’s constant attacks, because Denethor is too much of a coward to do so himself. Pippin nearly dies on numerous occasions. However, the little hobbit is quickly learning how to hold his own in battle, even if it’s only for a few seconds.
Then Faramir, Denethor’s son, is badly injured. Denethor, who never got over the death of his other son, Boromir, claims that Faramir is also dead.
Pippin knows better. He’d become close friends with Faramir, who’d shared his armor and advice. Pip tries to tell everyone that Faramir is alive. But no one pays attention to such a small, seemingly unimportant child.
Long story short: Denethor tries to burn his son alive as a sacrifice, Pippin saves Faramir by telling Gandalf what’s going on and rolling Faramir out of the bonfire, and Denethor, who was also burning himself, realizes too late that his son is NOT dead. The steward is already on fire though. He runs out of the halls and jumps off the roof.
Gandalf quietly congratulates Pippin, who’s slightly in shock.
The Little Rebels
Pippin’s cousin Merry is going strong in Rohan.
He befriends Eowyn, who understands what it’s like to be looked down on, and gives him advice on his sword and armor. The two of them, against everyone’s orders, prepare for battle.
Merry misses Pippin, but that doesn’t stop him from contributing to the war.
“A Diversion”
Rohan’s leader holds a pre-battle meeting, where strategy is discussed. Aragorn points out that there’s no way for Frodo and Sam to get to Mordor with Sauron’s armies in the way, and that Rohan and Gondor should fight at the gates to draw those armies away from Mordor.
Legolas, being a brilliant strategist and sayer of the obvious, says, “a diversion.”
It’s decided. They will cause a diversion.
They go to the gates, where an orc that has serious dental issues comes for a ‘negotiation’. Eventually, Aragorn just beheads the guy and battle begins.
Who Needs Fingers?
Remember how Sam was trying to save Frodo from that entire legion of orcs that took him captive?
Well, he did it. Sam was able to sneak and kill his way past the guards and rescue Frodo, who was now awake again, if a little achy. They dressed in armor they found in Frodo’s prison, joined a band of orcs, and made their way to the forges of Mordor…thanks to the diversion that led all orcs towards the battle and away from Mordor.
They got to the volcano. Frodo took the ring and walked out to drop it into the lava.
Then he hesitated.
Sam screamed at him to throw it, cast it into the fires below, but Frodo was frozen. He drew the chain that held the ring back to his chest. He didn’t want to lose the One Ring, the power that came with it.
Then, out of nowhere, Gollum launches himself at Frodo and somehow gets hold of the ring. He cackles as he vanishes.
Of course he uses his new power to take revenge on Frodo. They fight over the ring, Frodo at a disadvantage, since Gollum is invisible and also not freshly poisoned by a giant spider.
At one point, Gollum bites Frodo’s finger so hard that it looks like it comes off. Frodo wrenches in pain. But, after the struggle, he knows the Ring has to be destroyed, and he falls off the cliff–with Gollum still clinging to him.
Gollum, and the Ring, are dropped into the forges and destroyed.
But Frodo is hanging onto the ledge with his one good hand. Sam, being an endlessly faithful friend, rushes to help him up.
Legolas, Elephant Slayer
This really isn’t THAT important to the movie, but I want to appreciate Legolas and his battle skills.
During the ‘diversion’, a bunch of orcs riding on massive elephants come to trample the troops. Aragorn takes one look at them, then turns around and yells “LEGOLAS!”
Legolas isn’t even fazed by the challenge.
The next few minutes go something like this: Legolas shoots the elephant. Climbs up it’s leg. Unsaddles it and kills about a hundred orcs. Shoots it again. Then shoots it again. Then, in a smooth, practiced move, as the creature falls, slides down it’s trunk and lands neatly on his feet.
Gimli, watching his friend take down such a beast, scowls. “That still only counts as one!” he says, referring to him and Legolas’ competition for who can kill the most enemies.
Legolas just shrugs. He doesn’t have a speck of dirt or drop of sweat on him.
Sauron Loses to A Girl
As Legolas is killing half the army, and Frodo and Sam are about to be flooded by lava, Eowyn and Merry ride into battle together. They’re fighting alongside the men and trying to beat one of the other elephants when they see a black monster with a shadowy figure on it’s back, landing near Eowyn’s dad.
Eowyn’s dad puts up a good fight, but he’s old and is eventually brought down. Eowyn, wild with rage, charges the monster and its’ rider, who is Sauron himself.
She slices off his monster’s head and dodges all his blows. But she’s wavering, tiring. Sauron doesn’t realize that she’s a girl. He tells her, “no man can kill me.”
And then, so that he has to die with the fact that he was killed by a girl, Eowyn rips off her helmet and declares, “I am no man,” before driving her sword into Sauron’s dark shadow of a head and destroying him.
Without their leader, the orcs and elephants are quickly subdued. Soon all that’s left is a bloody field of fallen soldiers, filled with the cries and howls of the friends they left behind.
Eagles!
To make things even more complicated, the volcano that Frodo and Sam destroyed the ring in is exploding.
They make it to a ledge that is, for the time being, safe from the magma that’s sliding down the mountain, before collapsing and fainting away.
Thankfully, Gandalf sent some friends to help.
Three huge eagles swoop over the burning mountain and gently lift them into their talons. They fly towards the friends anxiously awaiting two very special hobbits’ arrival.
A Coronation and Hometown Heroes
Frodo wakes up in a Rivendell bed, almost fully healed. He’s shook with joy, and fright, and disbelief.
He survived?
Better than that, actually. All his friends survived.
Gandalf is the first to see him, smiling proudly.
Then he’s pounced on by Pippin and Merry, who are laughing and hugging him and jumping, falling over onto the bed in their excitement.
Then Gimli comes in. “Gimli!” Frodo exclaims.
Legolas is next. Frodo looks at him, politely wide-mouthed, like oh cool, you’re alive too. good job.
Then Aragorn. Frodo grins, shouting out, “Aragorn!”
As his friends embrace/tackle him, Sam quietly watches from behind.
Aragorn is crowned as King of Middle Earth. His coronation is very emotional, but everyone is happy and relieved.
Even Arwen comes, and I guess Aragorn’s really glad to see her, because he kisses her. It’s a miracle she still likes him.
The hobbits get special attention, thanked for their bravery and strength. They are bowed to (Frodo and Sam have the appropriate solemn face expressions, but Merry and Pippin just stand there grinning. Fools of a Took).
Then they go home. Back to the Shire.
Frodo and his Uncle Sail Away with the Elves
Things are definitely back to normal.
Their return to the Shire is not met with cheers and a party, hailing the heroes who saved Middle Earth. Instead, the four hobbits are grudgingly greeted with nods and brief waves.
A few months later, Sam gets married and there’s a wedding and everyone’s happy. But not for long.
When they take Bilbo to the elves to sail off into the lands beyond, Frodo explains to his friends that he’s going to be going with his uncle. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be fully healed from the ring. He needs to leave.
His friends are sad to see him go, but they seem to understand. After a tearful farewell, they go their separate ways, and the movie ends with Sam returning to his wife and child. He is weary from his adventures, but content.
The End.
This was one of the longest posts I’ve written! But I hope you liked my narrative, and I 100% recommend that you watch it for yourself. Until next time, happy reading.
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