Reacting to THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003) | Movie Reaction (1/3) 

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Of all the lore, that I have heard hypothesised, Smeagol being the king who returns... ... ... ... is original.

""I love how they always have a far-away shot." This is called an 'establishing shot'. It is used in almost every film or television show to give you the city, starship, farm, or other location in which the next action takes place. Even 400 years ago, a play like Romeo and Juliet might have a spoken prologue to establish the setting: "Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."

What the movies unfortunately do not tell us is that Denethor (Boromir and Faramir's father and the reigning steward of Gondor) has a Palantír of his own, which explains why he is so corrupted. Note that having been an exceptionally strong Man of noble blood, he was corrupted less than Saruman (a Maia!), which is impressive, but he still got messed up, big time. Sauron was unable to bend Denethor's will to his own (wow!), but Denethor instead went mad with desperation and despair. As a result, in the books he is a complex, sympathetic figure who had many respectable qualities, while in the movies he is just a major dick and the worst dad ever.

1). Elves can pretty much go to Valinor whenever they want. In fact, the Valar in a sense COMPEL them to go back, and there often comes a time when an Elf can no longer resist, often because the purity of Middle-Earth has faded so much that the Elf in question can no longer live in it without fading away as well. It's just there are a number of reasons why Elves choose not to go. For one, some have never been there; Middle-Earth is their home and the place they have a connection to. They don't want to have to drop everything they have and have built up over the course of their long lifetimes to move somewhere else. For another, many Elves enjoy the power and prestige they have in Middle-Earth. In Middle-Earth, they are important, they are powerful, and they are feared and revered by the mortal races. But in Valinor, they're just regular Elves in a land of nothing but Elves, who might in fact be dwarfed in might and prestige by the natives there. And then there are some Elves, like Elrond, who remain out of the goodness of their hearts to help Middle-Earth with the time they have left so that the younger can flourish in it once the Elves are all gone. Though even Elrond has some personal motivations as well in that he wants a Middle-Earth free of Sauron's evil so that his daughter can live happily in it. 2). Arwen left with Elves from Rivendell to board the latest ship sailing for Valinor. She didn't go anywhere near Helm's Deep, which is why you didn't see her there. The Elves we saw at Helm's Deep were sent from Lothlorien (which is ruled over by the blond Elven queen Galadriel); their captain, Haldir, was seen there briefly in the first movie. 3). Yes, Saruman knew about the Ents. He just didn't imagine that they would actually take up arms against him. Not only are they a rare and dying race, they are notoriously slow to act, to the point where they are growing increasingly more lethargic. That's why they look so tree-like; the Ents have taken to standing still for so long that they are in a sense taking on the shape of the trees they shepherd. So yes, you're right; he didn't care about them or their forest, and he didn't view them as a threat. And in the film, he was right in a sense; the Ents decided they would not go to war. The only reason they ultimately did was because of Merry and Pippin's influence, which of course Saruman didn't count on. Underestimating Hobbits to one's detriment is a recurring thing in Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit). 4). John Rhys-Davies is Welsh. He's putting on a Scottish accent for his role as Gimli.

the process of going from Smeagol to Gollum took years & years. remember he had 500 years to complete the transformation. he spent most of it living on a starvation diet in the dark in caves & tunnels under the Misty Mountains.

The director originally wanted Saruman to scream when he got stabbed, but Christopher Lee, the actor told him he saw somebody get stabbed like that in the war and he went with his more realistic version.

Aragorn is the only one who wasn't stung at all by Saruman's words. He's like "Whatevs 🙄, I pretty much have to be the king now, even though I don't want power, and I'm going to do it because I know that I can."

John Rhys Davies is Welsh. But he has a long acting career, including voice acting. He can jump between accents as necessary for the part.

One thing to remember,the closer they get to the mountain the stronger the influence of the ring becomes. This becomes important to remember later as to why just tossing the ring in to the fires of mount doom is not so simple a task.

Smeagol was more susceptible to the Ring's will because he was already not what you'd call a Nice Hobbit. he liked to sneak around, listen at eaves & steal from his neighbors & relatives.

"There and Back Again" is the title of the book Bilbo wrote about his adventures that take place in The Hobbit. That's the one that involves a dragon. And a LOT more dwarves.

Saruman knew the ents lived there, that's why he tried to burn the forest as fast as possible. He thought the ents were too slow to anger or pretty much anything so he thought time was in his favor. Actually, if it wasn't for Merry and Pippin, he would probably have nailed it.

Orcs can be bellow the sun, they just hate it. That's why Sauron spread clouds and mist when his army was advancing, to cloud the sun as much as possible.

By the time this came out in theaters I was completely enthralled with the story...I remember recognizing Sméagol instantly by his eyes alone. The beacons being lit was absolutely epic.

@15:07 Gandalf actually isn't a man at all. The wizards (Gandalf, Saruman, Rhadaghast the Brown, and the 2 blue wizards) are an immortal type of being called a Maiar - a sort of demi-god. Sauron and the Balrog are also Maiar though fallen ones. The wizards are merely given the form/guise of old men as a way for them to interact with the people of Middle Earth.

I love your reactions to this Scottish film series!

the Palatiri came from Numenor with Elendil & Isildur, 7 of them. over time some were lost & others captured by Sauron. these days it takes a very strong will to see anything but Sauron himself in one. when Pippin picked it up he had a direct line to Sauron who saw a Hobbit & started interrogating him about the Ring.

I've watched a lot of reactions to Lord of the Rings movies and Dawn's comments are by far the most entertaining -- such as, "Go get him before the blonde gurl gets her claws inta him!"

18:12 Yes those are regular orcs that do not like sunlight. As Gandalf mentioned to Pippin, Sauron had been spreading dark clouds from Mordor to help shield his army. The special "Uruk Hai" orcs that do not mind sunlight were bred by Saruman the (formerly) White. Orcs were created out of tortured elves by Morgoth (an evil Valar who was Sauron's boss long ago) before the sun was created, and after the former means of lighting the world had been destroyed. Sunlight is a very alien and unnatural thing from the orc's point of view and as such they despise it, but they can venture out in it if its not too sunny a day. Uruk Hai on the other hand were specially bred to not mind the sun nor even pain.

Smeagol & Deagol (cousins BTW) were part of a colony of Hobbits called Fisher Folk who lived on the banks of the River Anduin, a huge Mississisppi-sized river that runs through Gondor. it's the river that runs through the ruined capitol city the Orcs stealth attack that Faramir's Rangers defend against.

Yeah, the city of Minas Tirith as it was described in the book was always fascinating and complex and beautiful. It was such pure joy to see it faithfully produced for the screen, as breathtaking as we'd all imagined.

Valinor is the world before the world. (often called the Undying Lands) Before Middle Earth. It is where the elves come from. The elves that are in Middle Earth were in a sense kicked out. There was a civil war between elves and some of them came to Middle Earth to reclaim some sacred jewels call the Silmarils that were taken by Morgoth, the Big Bad in the mythology. Sauron is a servant of Morgoth. After the war to reclaim the Silmarils the elves tried to hunt down Sauron but it was impossible to find him and he tricked the elves and men to gain more power. This is how he worked to trick the elves in creating the rings of power. I tend to think John Rhys Davies is using a Scottish accent but he is a Welsh actor trying to make them have their own accent. In The Hobbit a few popular Scottish actors are used as dwarves.

'There and back again.' Yes, Bilbo did that too. He journeyed to Ereborn (The Lonely Mountain) with the Dwarves to help them reclaim their home the Kingdom under the Mountain. Then, he returned to The Shire when the mission was over. Sam is telling Frodo that they too will return to The Shire after destroying The One Ring.

There and Back Again is the in-universe name of Bilbo’s story which is the book The Hobbit

As others have pointed out, the actor playing Gimli, John Rhys Davies, is Welsh, but he's putting on a Scottish accent. He also provides the voice of Treebeard the Ent, but gives him a Welsh accent.

14:09 Sam was referring to Bilbo's big adventure long before this, as told in _The Hobbit._ Happy Nearly-Christmas! 🎄 You're 100% right Dawn, this was filmed in Scotland. They had to move the country down south though, I think for the weather, then change the name to Nyoozeelund because of, I dunno, so Gollum could catch salmon on Sunday or something. Now that you've experienced this masterpiece, check out the Hillywood Show's version of "Let It Go." It's a tribute to Sam, although they call it a LotR parody. I get teary every time I watch it ☺

About the elves, valinor, and passing across the sea... Easy ones first: Valinor probably isn't overpopulated. Elves don't tend to reproduce a ton, and certainly not very quickly. They've had a long time, but give that we started with double-digit numbers and the landmass is about the same size as Middle-Earth, it's probably still got lots of room. Plus, y'know, gods who could make more land if they wanted to (probably). The elves are the only ones who know how to sail to Valinor anymore (that's a whole other thing) so only they can do it. It's *exceedingly* rare for anyone to come from Valinor to Middle-Earth. Passing over the sea in multiple directions is theoretically possible...but to this day the only one Elf (Thingol) ever did it, and even that was a long time ago. So while people might argue about the little stuff, it's pretty much one-way only (and only with the permission of the Elves). By the time we see them in the LotR, the Elves have all earned their right to travel (or return, in some cases) to Valinor. How they lost it and got it back is a WHOLE thing, but if I try to summarize the Oath of Feanor and its consequences for the Noldor (a subgroup of Elves) I'll never stop typing. They were slowly lingering, basically dragging their feet because they knew they couldn't come back. Sauron arriving has quickened things because, well, now there's a real threat and a good reason to run. I hope that helps, and thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Sméagol was a type of Hobbit. Not an elf. And these movies were all filmed in New Zealand. Not Scotland. Or England. And again: Ents are NOT trees.

the city's name is Minas Tirith, Tower of Guarding. originally it was called Minas Anor, Tower of the Sun & its twin was Minas Ithil, Tower of the Moon until the Nazgul took over & it was renamed Minas Morgul, Tower of Dark Sorcery. pronounced MEE-nas TEE-rith.

Sméagol/Gollum is a Stoor (A close relative/branch of Hobbits) of the River-folk. Tolkien has an entire relationship tree of all the creatures and people of middle earth in his books.

Valinor is the place where immortals live - Some of the Elves came back from there to Middle Earth, but they did something very bad when they did that and for a long time were not allowed back. Everyone who isn't human (except the Wizards) gets pointy ears in the films. Gimli: the actor is Welsh but putting on a Scots accent. He's also tall.- Watch Raiders Of The Lost Ark and see if you recognise him No, Denethor doesn't think he's the king - he's the Steward, and the stewards have been ruling in place of the kings since the last king was killed. Like the Stewards ruled Scotland after Robert the Bruce died, except that the stewards of Gondor never became kings. The bit with Legolas not getting drink was added for laughs by the film makers - in The Hobbit (at least the book) Bilbo gets some Elves very drunk. Oh, and you have to completely ignore Amazon's Rings of Power series. It's badly written fanfic that will only confuse you.

2:30 it's a common fantasy trope to have Dwarves speak with a scottish accent even though the actor for Gimli is Welsh. If you hang around for the Hobbit movies, then you can hear a real Welsh accent.

Great to see how much you're enjoying these movies. You're correct when you suggest the author was a genius! His writings is pretty much the basis for all the fantasy genre that comes after!

Bilbo had an adventure with Gandalf and a bunch of dwarves years ago where he met Gollum and found the Ring. He wrote a book about it called There And Back again. That's what Sam was referencing when he said "Just like Mr. Bilbo"

16:53 people often overlook this decision by Faramir in the movie. He knew he didn't have enough men to hold a proper battle line against the orcs. If he held a line they would've broken through in like 2 minutes. Instead, he tried to mix his men in amongst the orc ranks to give them the best chance of holding on a bit longer. Idk how it went in the books but in the movie it shows he's a very capable commander.

For some reason, Dwarves in movies do have Scottish accent... and Orcs have English accent/cockney... that one actually makes sense :D

As far as character complexity is concerned, Smeagol/Gollum has to be one of my all-time favorite literary/cinematic characters. :)

Uruk hai are the ones that Saurumon bred, those are orcs. In the scene "meats back on the menu boys" that was a fight between Uruk hai and orcs.

I know, you want these to have been filmed in Scotland. Fair enough. I'm American, but my grandfather, my mom's dad's family was from the Orkney Islands. So, back in the seventies, when he was still alive, and he knew I was a fan of Tolkien's books, he used to jokingly tell me that since his family had Orkney blood then I was part Orc. :)

As for Saruman, as Treebeard said, "A Wizard should know better!", but Saruman underestimated the Ents, and thought he could get away with doing anything he wanted.

Bilbo didn't do exactly what Frodo and Sam are trying to do, but he did complete a most dangerous quest involving a Dragon, a creature of might beyond words (not a pathetic little Fellbeast like the Nazgûl ride), and managed to come back home alive. Bilbo survived because he was crafty and sneaky, and so are Frodo and Sam. That's why Gandalf keeps recruiting Hobbits for impossible quests. Watch _The Hobbit_ for Bilbo's story, but don't expect it to be another _The Lord of the Rings_ or else you'd be disappointed.

Rhys-Davies was putting on a Scottish accent. You are correct on this point. 'There and Back Again' is the name of Bilbo's book. The Uruk-hai were Saruman's specially-developed troops. There are other breeds of orcs in Mordor. Sauron covered the sky with enough darkness to accomodate them.

While Gimli was played by Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies, Pippin was played by the very Scottish Billy Boyd.

A meta reason the lighting of the beacons gives me extra goosebumps on rewatches these days is the fact that it was the theme played at the Oscars that year when RotK won all 11 Oscars it was nominated for. In-movie, it's pretty scenery and humanity coming together and unity to do the Right Thing; meta textually, it's a victory lap for the filmmakers and the fans

7:00

Golum as king "bring us our slippers precious" and "we have made a decree precious all meatses will be served raw and wriggling"

"There and Back Again" is the subtitle of Bilbo's adventure, the children's book The Hobbit. You'll want to watch Peter Jackson's adaptation later. It's basically the prequel. It's doesn't reach the heights of LOTR but it's somewhat under-rated as well.

I’m always finding her lord of the rings reactions less than an hour after they drop 😅💯

"How did Bilbo do that? He didn't do that..." "The Hobbit" is a prequel written before The Lord of the Rings. It is the chronicle of the adventure of Bilbo Baggins as he travels with a baker's dozen dwarves to reclaim their ancestral home from a dragon... none of which takes place in Mordor... Bilbo entitled his account of his adventures, "There and Back Again". That is the entirety of the metaphor.

"There and Back Again" is the name Bilbo gave to the adventures he went through in the Hobbit. Meaning he went out on an adventure and made it back home. That's what Sam meant, is they will make it back home after the adventure, not that Bilbo did the exact same thing that they did

"Going there and back again" was the title of the book that Bilbo wrote of his adventures.

I assume you're fooling around, but I can confirm that the whole series really was filmed in New Zealand, nice as Scotland is. I've done two LoTR tours, one around Queenstown in the South Island and another on my second trip around Wellington in the North Island. It's truly a magnificent place, and of course it's where Peter Jackson lives. Coincidentally enough, I just ordered a proper Elven cloak from the company that made them for the movies. I saw them on my first visit nearly 20 years ago but couldn't bring myself to spend so much money. Now the price is a lot lower, my finances are in excellent shape, and my will to resist, well, maybe it's that One Ring I have in my bureau drawer that talked me into it...

“All that is gold does not glitter; Not all those who wander are lost. The old that is strong does not wither; Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes, a fire shall be woken; A light from the shadows shall spring. Renewed shall be blade that was broken; The crownless again shall be king.”

It’s amusing that Dawn keeps commenting on Gimli’s ”Scottish” accent, but never mentions Billy Boyd’s (Pippin) who really is audibly Scottish.

John Rhys Davies puts on a Scottish accent for Gimli and a Welsh one for Treebeard. Hope that helps :)

LOL - I love how Saruman is impaled on a wooden stake in homage to Christopher Lee’s 9 Dracula films.

There was actually footage shot or Arwen fighting at Helm's Deep, but it was cut from the film. Smeagal was a river hobbit, one of the earliest clans. The Hobbits of the Shire had a massive fear and aversion to water which is why Sam could not swim.

John Rhys-Davis, a 1.85m Welshman, is playing a dwarf with a Scottish accent in an American movie filmed in New Zealand that's set in the past of a fictional England.

Rumor has it they began a kickstarter to build Minas Tirath in real-life. They need a billion dollars, but raised just about a million.

Saruman knows the trees are alive, He has spoken to Treebeard himself before. He just got corrupted by ambition and thus stopped caring

The “River Folk” Sméagol and Deagol are ancestors of Hobbits, and he looks the way he does because the ring allowed him to live over 500 years.

Strangely enough, there's a lot of deleted scenes and cut footage of Arwen at Helms Deep fighting alongside Aragorn, in fact, most of the scenes where Aragorn is yelling or running, he's technically yelling or running towards Arwen, but she got cut so Aragorn is yelling at the blonde Elf who got killed, and Aragorn runs to help Gimli. But apparently it didn't make sense that Arwen would link up with those Wood Elves and fight in Helms Deep for some reason, so she got cut out of that battle.

Arwen was intended to be at Helms Deep at one point during production and they filmed some scenes with Liv Tyler there, but decided to cut these. They filmed her helping Legolas pull Aragorn and Gimili up on the rope but then removed her from these shots.

The actor playing Gimli is Welsh. He does a lot of accents. He chose Scottish for Gimli. He also does the voice for Treebeard.

Smeagol is more like a hobbit, same size, big feet, similar ears, etc.

That ball you talked about was a Palantir and that means: That What Can See Far. There were seven of those. They were in Ortanch, the tower in Isengard, in Annuminas, Amon Sul and on the Towerhills to the north and in Minas Tirith, Minas Ithil and Osgiliath to the south.

Smegol is played by the actor who does the gollum motion capture

in the books Arwen doesn't actually do a whole lot but waffle over the mortality thing & worry over Aragorn. also Elrond & a platoon of archers do not go to Helms Deep, that's purely a Jackson thing. so she couldn't have tagged along with them.

Goblins, Orcs and Uruk-hai are just different breeds of the same species (like how Chihuahua, Dobermans and St. Bernard are different breeds of the same species). The names mostly are used based on the size. Goblins are small, Orcs are middle size and Uruks big.

Bilbo went "There and Back Again" in his story from the Hobbit. It wasn't to destroy the ring.

Back in the days I waited until the third movie came out to watch them all together. I rented the first 2 and wathed them back to back, then I went to the cinema to watch the third. None of my friends was nerd enough to join me and since it was Valentine's Day, I was the only one in the theatre but luckily they projected the movie anyway. It was awesome!

Smeagol was originally a Hobbit. He, and Deagol were wearing no shoes. And Like elves, they have pointy ears, but elves have much longer hair

When Sauron's master, Morgoth, first went to Middle-Earth, the Valar invited all of the elves to go to Valinor to keep them safe from him. Some thought it was a trick by Morgoth and stayed, others followed but decided to settle on the shore and not make the final trip across the sea, and the remaining third went to Valinor. There was a clan of elves (including Galadriel) that left Valinor to go back to Middle-Earth to reclaim some gems Morgoth stole and the Doom of Mandos was put upon them that they could not return. After Morgoth was defeated, the Doom of Mandos was lifted but Galadriel rejected the pardon. As such, Galadriel might have been the only elf that had to earn the right to return to Valinor, which she did by fighting in the war against Sauron, or she just had to gain the humility to accept the pardon. All other elves still had an open invitation. Travel to Valinor in the Third Age (during the movies) was definitely a one-way trip. There's a lot of history there, but we'll leave it at that. Valinor was also called "The Undying Lands", but mortals would still die. The benefit was that it would heal them of hurt and disease, but they'd still die of old age. Frodo's wounds from getting stabbed by the Nazgul and from Shelob could never truly heal in Middle-Earth and continued to bother him. In Valinor he would be healed completely.

Howard Shore is the composer of the score. He received 2 oscars for Best Score for the Fellowship of the Ring and this movie

3:48 All the Hobbits you've seen up til this point has had pointy ears :)

The reason they do the far away shots especially on the structures like Minas Tirith and many other cites is that they are actually models. So the city is actually constructed. So you can get a lot of great details.

Here to answer all the questions from the intro, sorry if someone's already done this but I didn't bother scrolling through: 1) About Valinor- The Elves were awoken in Valinor when the world was young, and have the deepest connection to Valinor of any of the races. There are a few in Middle-Earth, like Galadriel, who are old enough to remember Valinor with their own eyes. When they are angry, or when someone can see into the unseen world like Frodo with the Ring, they appear more angelic and as if they are burning with light. A very biblical description, but they have seen the light of creation itself, older than the sun. The elves are the only ones allowed to travel openly to Valinor, although some of them are banned from doing so because of an ancient event called the "Kinslaying" when elves murdered each other for their ships to travel to Middle Earth. (cue the #Feanordidnothingwrong crowd). However, when all races die their souls travel to the Halls of Mandos in Valinor. What happens to them afterwards is unknown, only one man has ever returned from the Halls of Mandos (Beren, the ancestor of Aragorn he was singing about in the first film) and he wouldn't speak of it. The spirits of elves wait in the Halls until they are returned to their bodies and allowed to live once more in Valinor. Elves immortality goes beyond their death, they are tied to the fate of the world. I imagine Valinor would be crowded, but Elves don't seem to reproduce very often in spite of their long lives. There is no easy crossing between Valinor and Middle-Earth, when the world was remade Valinor was removed from the same plane of existence and Middle-Earth was made round like a normal planet. The path to Valinor is by taking a ship specially crafted by the Elves to follow "The Straight Road". The Straight road is never fully explained but I've always imagined it as like the Rainbow Bridge from Norse Mythology, taking them to a different world. 2) About Arwen and the Elves at Helms Deep- You were correct the first time, Arwen was leaving with some of the elves of Rivendell and heading towards the ships to leave Middle Earth forever. The Elves at Helm's Deep were from Lothlorien, where we met Galadriel. Them showing up at the battle was not in the books, but was Peter Jackson's choice. In the books it talks about the various attacks happening all across Middle-Earth, and the elves and dwarves (and even hobbits at one point) all fight battles elsewhere. There was no time to explain that in these already long films, but without that context it really looks like the elves are just saying "Peace, you suckers deal with it." and leaving forever. Peter Jackson put the elves in this battle to show that they still were playing their part in the defense of the world, although I still think he could have handled them a little better rather than having them all massacred in the Deeping Wall. 3) Saruman and the trees- Yes he knew. The Ents were thinning out without the entwives, and many ents would sleep and never return to conscious, just remain as trees. That is why Fangorn looks so wild, the living trees in the forest had no shepherds to maintain it anymore. Saruman had little reason to think the Ents would get involved, they don't usually do much about mortal wars. If it wasn't for Pippin and Merry, the Treebeard would not have visited the far edge of his forest to see the damage Saruman had caused. 4) Other people answered about the actor being Welsh, but he is definitely putting on a growl to his accent that sounds a good bit scottish. I don't think its just you. Been loving the reactions, can't wait for part 2!

In the books Gandalf and company let Sarumon go now that he is powerless and gives information...he then festers in his defeat and blames the Hobbits going back to the Shire and burning it to the ground. Called the Scouring of The Shire, I was both relieved and upset it was changed in the films. Relived because the Hobbits didn't deserve such treatment and upset because it was a massive character moment for Frodo when they caught up with Sarumon.

Bilbo had his own adventure, he called it “There and Back Again”, where he encountered a dragon and came home with Sting and the mithril mail. The story is told in the book “The Hobbit” (and the films - sort of).

'This happened to me on Egg Wars in Minecraft.' I'm dying! xD

14:05 "There and back again, a hobbit's tale, by bilbo baggins". (Not mordor, but erebor. Sam was quoting the title of bilbo's book.)

Valinor is pretty much in a different place entirely to Middle Earth at this point in it's history. The Elves, and a very select few others, are allow to take ship via the 'straight path' to reach it when they weary of the mortal lands. Some elves have returned again, but mostly it's a one way trip and no visiting from either side. The elves never helped at Helm's Deep in the books and it makes little sense for them to have done at all, but Arwen was actually supposed to be there too but someone leaked it and fans responded with Arwen The Warrior Princess (Zena) jabs about it. They apparently hurt Liv Tyler and Jackson decided to ditch the idea at that point. It's great that she wasn't there, but maybe Jackson wouldn't have killed them all off if she had been. Yeah Saruman met Treebeard and was respectful enough to him when he first moved into Isengard. He knew exactly what he was doing. Gimili's accent definitely seems Scottish to me, but even if not I would guess your opinion as a Scot yourself would be worth more than anyone who isn't one anyway. He's not the only dwarf they gave that accent to in the movies and series for whatever reason so it's not a one time thing either.

@14:08 That was a reference to what Bilbo named the story he wrote that he titled There and Back Again but we know as The Hobbit.

Your intro is really cute, "happy almost, almost Christmas", my heart

I’m not sure if it has been commented on but, when Gandalf rescued Frodo and Sam he brought 3 eagles. It was his hope that Sméagol had also be alive and freed from the power of the ring. Or so I’m told anyway.

The fact that you knew the elf place they go to is valinor but thought Gollum was going to be a king is insane lol

There was actually footage shot of Arwen fighting at Helms Deep, but it was ultimately scrapped

"...before the blond gets her hooks into him." Ha Dawn! And, from Wiki: "John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh 🤨 actor best known for portraying Sallah in the Indiana Jones franchise and Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy."

Aragorn's son is actually the son of the guy that played the main Warg Rider in the Two Towers.

Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, is the "White City" that Boromir and Aragorn spoke of between each other in the first movie. Aragorn promised Boromir that he would not let the White City fall (nor *their* people fail).

Sam said " there and back again like Mr. Bilbo ", because that's what Bilbo called his tale, THERE AND BACK AGAIN. Sam didn't mean Mordor at all.

I remember seeing a viral video of a little girl talking funny stuff. To many and many others, it sounded like a thick Scottish accent. But there were others in the comments making fun of Americans for thinking that it was Scottish, instead of Welsh. I'm not familiar with Welsh, but it sounded exactly like a Scottish accent to me.

The Riddle of Strider by Bilbo Baggins All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.

The elves can sail to Valinor whenever they choose to do so; way earlier in history, Valinor was in fact "just" another continent separated from Middle-earth by an ocean where the Valar (Angel-like beings) choosed to live. That's the reason it is called the undying lands, not because no one can die there (in the Silmarilion, there is a civil war amongst the elves called the "kinslaying") but because the Valar, who cannot be killed, live there. The elves did first came "to life" (Tolkien let's them "wake up") in Middle-earth during a time in which the Valar stayed in Valinor and Morgoth (a kind of fallen angle, to whom Sauron was only a servant) essentially ruled Middle-earth. When the Valar leaned of the coming of the elves, they fought Morgoth, won and tried to get all the elves to Valinor, but some did not want to come and chose to stay in Middle-earth, some of the elves who ventured to Valinor did later go back to Middle-earth (Galadriel for example). Only way later did the Valar move Valinor out of reach for normal ships by bending the former flat earth round and made it that only the elves can still reach it by sailing "the straight way" (how this exactly works is never explained).

All Elves can sail to Valinor when they tire of Middle Earth. Generally they're the only ones who can. Men have another fate for after they die but not even the Valar are allowed to know what it is save that it's outside the greater world of Arda Middle Earth is part of. Valinor used to be a fixed place on a flat world that anybody in theory could reach by ship but stuff happened & Arda became a ball & the only way to get to Valinor was with permission of the Valar making it a lot more heaven-like; a special path was opened for Elven ships to get there. With its disconnection from the now globe-shaped Arda Valinor could grow as needed. There are cases of Elves returning to Middle Earth, for instance Galadriel did for complicated reasons with complicated repercussions. but generally speaking going to Valinor is a one-way trip, no backsies. the number of Elves is not so great as you'd guess, they only have children early in life so their numbers don't grow rapidly.

1.) Some elves are banished and must accomplish something before returning to Valinor alive but most can just sail their whenever they choose by the time of Lord of the Rings and are in fact compelled to do so. (Galadriel had to pass a test that we saw in the first movie). If they die their spirts go there to the halls of Mandos were they can eventually be resurrected. 2.) they filmed Arwen going to helms deep but that wasn't in the book so they cut it. Arwen is back in Rivendell. The elves in Helms deep are from Lorien not Rivendell. 3.) Saruman knew about the Ents but forgot/ didn't care. 4.) no idea about the accents.

The Uruk-Hai were a particular type of orc bred by Saruman to be able to withstand daylight. Once Eomer and his buddies found them outside Fangorn, which is where Merry and Pippin got loose, that was the end of them.

"The writer of this music is a genius." That would be Wagner, then, with his Magic Fire Music from Das Rheingold.

Fun Lord of the Rings facts: 1) It was filmed in Scotland 2) Gimli is Scottish 3) Gollum is the titular King in The Return of the King