Saw it Wednesday morning. Images and lines are still echoing in my mind...
Shelob's lair... eagles in the mist... Bilbo's last line... the very moment Arwen ceases to be immortal... the Battle of Pelennor Field... "For Frodo!"... Almost everything about the Rohirrim (the charge, especially, with Eowyn and Merry and thousands of warriors raising their swords and screaming "DEATH!!!")... the Witch King... "That still only counts as one!" ...Gandalf telling Pippin this is not the end... the lighting of the beacons... "How about with a friend?"
*sniff*
Begins with Smeagol, back when he really was just Smeagol, when he and his friend Deagol went fishing. The change once they find the Ring is fascinating and horrible. It also foreshadows much of what's going on with Frodo, how his suspicions grow worse, how at the foot of Mount Doom he can no longer remember the taste of water, or the feel of grass on his feet.
Meanwhile Aragorn is forced to accept what has always frightened him--the prospect of becoming King. Myself, I feel a lot more reassured that Aragorn doesn't want such power--he's far less likely to abuse it. The contrast between Theoden, who--like Aragorn--feels unworthy (but is wrong) and Denethor, full of fierce, mistaken pride, is a powerful one.
And in each case their actions make all the difference. Theoden may muse about leaving Gondor to its fate, but when the beacons are lit he gathers an army and rides. He looks exhausted when he reaches Minas Tirith, but still it is the King who leads, who organizes the Riders against an Oliphant charge. Thus in the end, he can say, dying "I go to meet my forefathers, but now I need not be ashamed in their mighty company."
Denethor, on the other hand, feels pique on behalf of himself, not his people. When the armies of Mordor come, he says "Theoden has betrayed me" and actually orders his troops to abandon their posts! He stands aloof from all, resenting his only remaining son for being alive (compare that to Theoden's royal desire to Eowyn--"I would see you smile again") and so knows nothing but despair when the crunch comes.
Aragorn is like Theoden. In fact, I'd say he's even been learning how to be a King from the old man. He will do what must be done to win, no matter the cost to himself. Upon learning Arwen has refused to leave, lies sick as the shadow of Sauron falls over the world, he takes up the Sword That Was Broken and tries the Paths of the Dead. Given a choice, he would dare that danger alone. But Gimli and Legolas don't give him that choice.
The hobbits in particular prove their worth, of course. That's the way the story was fashioned. Be is Pippin who saves Faramir or Merry who helps Eowyn slay the Witch King, or Sam who picks up Frodo and carries him--theirs is the courage that makes the difference. When Aragorn is crowned, all four bow to him, but he will not have it. Rather it is he who leads all present--from Elrond and Gandalf to Eomer and Faramir and all the great of Gondor--into kneeling before them!
Wow.
Equally wow was when Frodo wakes and sees Gandalf, alive! No words are needed. They look at each other, smile, and then just laugh. Perfect!
So too was their return to the Shire. The same people going about their lives, looking askance at the strange garb the four are wearing. Nobody asks about Frodo's missing finger. But...Sam now has the courage to get up and speak with Rosie (remember he was terrified of doing so in FOTR). The very next shot is their wedding.
The world has changed. Even as the Elves leave and the dominion of Men begins, many others fade. Yet although that is sad ("Not all tears are evil," Gandalf says), it is also hope. For do we not live in that very age? And as long as these tales touch us, are we not still worthy of the Light?
Which reminds me of a little bit. An exchange in Elvish between Aragorn and Elrond. It helps to know that until he was 18 Aragorn did not know his true name or heritage, that his mother called him "Estel" which is "Hope." Years later, these two repeat the last words Aragorn's mother ever spoke: "I have given Hope to the world of men, but kept none for myself."
Hope, most treasured and wonderous of things, besides which even the Ring is but evil trash, is also the most expensive. "O let my name be in the Book of Love; if it be there I care Not of the other great book above. Strike it out! Or write it in anew. But let my name be in the Book of Love!"<i></i>
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