ROTK for dummies (fist 2 chapters ONLY please!)

Cafe Society
1

OK, I’ve never been good at keeping track of so many characters, but really like what I remember from the LOTR movies -the first two that is.

Would a bigger fan be so kind as to provide to me a quick summary of the story thus far? Better yet, fill in the holes of mine:

-A Hobbit finds a ring in a cave one day, quite by chance.

-He figures out it can do some neat magic tricks, but thinks little else of it

-When he retires, he passes the ring along to his only relative, then he goes off to write his memoirs on a sunny resort somewhere.

-His relative, with the help of his old wizard friend, figures out the ring is actually the ring that rules a group of rings made for the varying figure heads of the differnt parts of the world. This ring, kept secret fo rmany years, rules all (and the keeper of the ring has power over everything).

-He sets off to destroy the ring at the only place it can be destroyed…the fiery mountain where it was made. (Surrounded by evil, blah blah blah…)

-Along the way, he picks up some friends: 3 other Hobbits, 1 Elf, 1 Man (who happens to be a long lost king?), another man, and a dwarf. This is the Fellowship of the Ring.

-They travel by foot, boat and various other means to the fiery mountain to destroy the ring, and keep the ring bearer safe along the way.

-The group is being tracked by soldiers from an army of creepy mud-people who are servants of a real bad dude what wants the ring (did he own it once before?).

-They are also being chased by these 4 hooded grim-reaper types on real noisy horses. These guys were once men, but their rings have corrupted them, and destroyed them to the point where they’re more spirit than man now. They’re after the 1 ring as well.

-These mud-soldiers (Orcs?) catch up to them and steal all the Hobbits, hoping one of them is the Ring Bearer.

-The wizard, friend of the ring bearer, goes off to seek the advice of his mentor. His mentor turns on him, and banishes him…he eventually escapes. (who is this guy? Is he the same as the head bad dude runnig the Orcs army, or are they just like evil twins or something?)

-The rest of the fellowship sets out to find and save the missing Hobbits.

-The long-lost King in the fellowship… I forget what he does in the second chapter…

-The schizophrenic creature that claims he owned the ring (it was found way back when in his cave by Bilbo) is also following the fellowship. He wants the ring back. One night he attacks the ring bearer and tries to steal the ring back. He’s captured, but later set free to act as a guide fo rthe 2 hobbits who are lost.

That’s about all I remember… Am I on track or way off? Anybody want to help me? I’d really like to enjoy the third film, so a better understanding of the first 2 should help.
Oh, one last thing, and I want to be absoultely clear on this… I have not seen the third movie or read the third book. I will not read any LOTR threads for fear of spoiling it for myself before I see it (on Friday). FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE DON’T GIVE ANYTHING AWAY!

PS: Sorry for butchering a literary classic with my summary!

2

Just go to this website, read the summaries of the first two books, and then read the first paragraph or so of the ROTK summary.

http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/homework.htm

3

You’re pretty much on track. A few details:

The “mentor” wizard is named Saruman. The real bad dude who wants the ring did own it before; his name is Sauron. They’re not related in any way–Saruman is supposed to be good, and fighting Sauron, but he’s become a traitor. They both want the ring; Saruman is playing both sides against the middle, so to speak.

There are two groups of mud-people (orcs). One is a race of super-orc created by Saruman–they’re the ones who kidnap the hobbits, and also the ones who attack the fort in the second movie. The other group are smaller and weaker; you see them in the mines of Moria and as Saruman’s assistants.

The long-lost king (Aragorn) leads the dwarf and elf in a search for the kidnapped hobbits. He reunites with the wizard (Gandalf) who they thought was dead; then they go off to see the king of Rohan and get him ready to meet Saruman’s army in battle.

There are actually 9 hooded grim-reaper types. They are the Nazgul, or Ringwraiths. They lose their horses in the river flood in the first movie, but come back on flying things (“fell beasts”) in the second.

4

I don’t have time to answer the OP (work and all), but the summary in that link is really bad. It’s hardly worth visiting that link for a chuckle, it’s definitely not worth visiting if you want to know what’s going on in the story.

5

Well that’s why “homework” is in the URL. Loved it by the way!

6

Oh jeez…I thought that link helped, RogueRacer.

Ok, so to check on a few things:

-Sauron is the real evil entity…does he have a physical body or is he more of a spirit? He had a body at the begining, but I thought he exploded. Did he become a ghost sort?

-Sarumon is the good-wizard-turned-bad, who happens to be Gandalf’s half-brother. He wants the ringfor himself, or is he working on behalf of Sauron?

-I’m hazy on Aragon and Glorfindel. They’re brothers? Do they know they’re related (if in fact they are).

-Aragon is the long lost king of Gondor, right? Well, the heir to the throne I guess. Do the other people in the story know of his blood line? He was raised by Elves. Are we supposed to know the back story of how he got to be raised by the tree-dwelling folk?

-I assume by the title of the third film that Aragon returns to claim the throne of Gondor and fight against Sauron & Saurmon… that’s about all I know of the third part (and all I want to know until Friday).

If so, who’s governing Gondor now? How does Gondor become in need of a king? I guess somebody gets killed, or has that already happened? I’m missing this part.

The summary that Qadgop the Mercotan posted mentions some stuff regarding this that I don’t seem to remember in the second film.

In fact that link describes some stuff that’s slightly different from the movie (Frodo drowning the ring-wraiths for example, in the film that Elf-chick did it while Frodo was dying from his stab wound). Are those just changes made for the movie?

7

That link was a joke. Forget everything you read there. You pretty much had it right the first time, and jsc1953 filled in most of the gaps – except, no one has mentioned the Rohirrim: Theoden, Eowyn, Eomer and the gang. This official movie link might help refresh your memory.

http://lordoftherings.net/index_synopsis_ttt.html

One thing to note about Eowyn: She really wants to be a warrior, but her uncle the king wants her to stay out of the battle.

There were many, many changes between the book and the movies, but to go over them all now would probably confuse you. Try reading the book after you see ROTK.

For the MOVIES only:

Sauron’s only physical presence is a big flaming eyeball on top of the dark tower. Given enough time, he will take form again. Then hoo-boy, look out!

Saruman and Gandalf are both wizards. The term “half-brother” is meaningless in their case.

Saruman wants the ring for himself. He thinks he can deceive Sauron, who is using him. But Saruman’s schemes came to nothing at the end of TTT.

Aragorn is the heir to the High Kings of the West. Gondor was part of their realm. Some of the characters know about him, some will find out in ROTK.

Glorfindel doesn’t exist.

You don’t really need to know anything about Aragorn being raised by elves, except that’s how he knows Arwen, whom he loves, and Elrond, her father, who’s not to keen on Arwen giving up her “immortality” to marry a man.

Gondor is governed by a stewards, who rules in place of the king.

8

Ok, I think I’ve go tit…though I must say the similarity of the actors physicasl appearance (Aragon & Boromir, Eowyn & Galadriel, and a few others), plus the names being similar (Sauron & Sauroman) is what got me confused in the first place.

I’m not good at keeping track of Bob & Jim in normal movies, this has thrown me for a loop!

Plus, people go by nicknames all the time too. “OK so that’s Aragon, why do they keep calling him Stryder?”

But overall, I’m clearer on who’s who I think…

9

My recommendation would be to get the unabridged books on tape (or CD) after you see the movies. I’ve don’t care for Tolkien’s style and find him difficult to read, but surprisingly the books are easy to listen to.

You have the first film pretty much down pat, are hazy on the second film. Boromir (the other man) dies at the end of Film 1.

In film two there are three plots.

Frodo/Sam/Gollum and the Ring - quick summary…trudge trudge trudge whine. And Gollum is going to betray them to get the ring for himself.

Pippin and Merry (the other two Hobbits) - get found by Ents (the tree people) and take out Saurman (the other wizard guy) - well the tree people do.

Aragorn (the main man)/Gimli (the dwarf)/Legolas (the elf) and a returned from the dead Gandalf (the good wizard) meet up with the horse guys. They flee from Saurman’s army, lock themself in a fortress and have a big battle. No one important to the plot of the movie dies, despite incredible odds. The princess of the horse people, Eowyn (well, not really, but in the Dummies version its a good enough description), falls for Aragorn (who loves someone else) and wants to be a warrior.

Other thing to know - cause it will be important to the movie. Boromir (who kicks at the end of film one) is the heir to the steward of Gondor (you haven’t met him yet). He has a brother, Faromir (you did meet him - in the trudge trudge whine plot). There is all sorts of sibling rivalry (although a lot of love as well).

10

I don’t see the resemblance between Aragorn and Boromir. One’s lean and dark-haired, the other’s stocky and blond. Boromir, who joined the Fellowship in the first movie and Faramir, who captured Frodo in the second, resemble each other for a reason. They’re both sons of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor.

For most of his life Aragorn didn’t reveal his true name to just anyone, so people made up names for him. Strider is how he was introduced to the Hobbits, and they continue to call him that out of habit. Hobbits like nicknames, so Samwise is called Sam, Meriadoc is called Merry and Peregrin is called Pippin or Pip.

The good wizard is called Gandalf in the “common” tongue but Mithrandir by Elves, who speak ancient languages of their own. Neither is his true name.

11

I have a bit more time now.

Regarding my previous post and the mentioned link posted by QtM:

I’m pretty sure that QtM was being funny. However, it seemed as though the OP (NGNL) was actually looking for serious answers. The link may have been funny to someone who knows the books well, but it would just add to the confusion for someone who is trying to learn the characters.

For the record, I didn’t even think the link was funny. I don’t mean that in a holier-than-thou-Tolkien-purest sort of way. I mean that in a it-wasn’t-remotely-clever sort of way. As always, YMMV.

Regarding the OP

You actually summed up the first book pretty well for purposes of the movie. TWDuke and jsc1953 did a very good job of filling in the blanks. There are probably a few other details to keep in mind. These may or may not have been shown clearly in the movie.

  • Frodo and Sam have a special relationship. This is not in any way a sexual relationship. They aren’t going to kiss! Think friends that would do anything for each other, but Sam is in a subservient role. In the Shire, Sam worked for “Mr. Frodo.” The best comparison that I can think of is Bruce Wayne/Batman and Alfred. Just remember that Sam would have no problem giving his life for Frodo and would be completely devastated if anything happened to him.

  • Saruman (this is the correct spelling, btw) is the evil white wizard. This is the character played by Christopher Lee if that helps. He was once the head of the order of wizards, but he fell to desire for power. He made a deal with Sauron (shown as the eye or the big guy in armor in the intro). He was going to take out Rohan (the horse people) and help capture the ring bearer. He failed on both accounts in the second movie. For purposes of the movies, he is finished when the ents (the tree people) destroy his fortress.

  • As TWDuke mentioned, Eowyn is having a personal crisis. She is the daughter of lords and warriors. She is a shield maiden (warrioress?) in her own right. She was taking care of Theoden, the king of Rohan. Once Gandalf cured Theoden (by excising Saruman), she was really left without a purpose. Theoden, wants to protect her and keep her safe. She doesn’t want that. She doesn’t want to be left behind with the women and children. In Aragorn, she sees a lord of men. She sees someone worthy of her love. She also sees a way of escaping a life of caring for old men and then women and children.

I’ll probably get flamed for this, but I thought the actress playing Eowyn was probably mis-cast. I did think that she played the part well, but just didn’t look like Eowyn should to me. Eowyn should appear lithe, proud, powerful, and maybe a little panicked. Imagine a wild creature that has been kept in captivity for too long. The woman playing Eowyn had a little bit too much of a motherly look to fit that image in The Two Towers. I’m hoping it was just the costumes. There’s still plenty of time for them to change my mind on this in The Return of the King.

  • The two hobbits, Merry and Pippin, that ended up with the ents are growing up in the story. They are shown in the beginning pulling pranks with the fireworks. Pippin’s curiousity wakes the goblins in Moria and attracts the attention of the Balrog. As the story progresses, they grow up through these hardships. They realize that they can make a difference.

There is a lot more. Faramir (the guy who captured Sam and Frodo for a while) is another interesting character. You should see him developed more when you see the next movie.

12

**
-Glorfindel (an elf) never appeared in the movie. In the books he was the elf who turned back the Ringwraiths at the ford (which Arwen did in the movie). It’s not important. Aragorn has no living siblings, and both his parents are dead, not that it matters to the story, but anyway.

-A few people know Aragorn’s full story, including Elrond and all the Elves, and Gandalf. He keeps it a secret from most people he meets casually (for several reasons). Movie viewers are not expected to know his backstory except to conclude that he is a badass of some sort with strong Leadership Qualities (although some of it is revealed in the Extended Edition of TTT).

This information is more or less accurate.

-Gondor is ruled by the Stewards of Gondor and have been for many generations. The last King of Gondor was called Eanur and it’s not important. From that time forward, the Stewards ruled the kingdom, but never wore the crown of Gondor.

The current – and 26th – Steward of Gondor is called Denethor II; Boromir (stocky dude who bit it at the end of the first film) and Faramir (guy with the secret hideout who waylaid Frodo and Sam in the second film) are his two sons.

That’s because TTT: The Movie ends about 4 chapters sooner than TTT:the Book.

13

In the EE Two Towers You do get a couple minutes in flashback of Denethor with Boromir and Faramir just after they took back Osgiliath. It’s just about all love and no rivalry. Denethor scorns any contributions Faramir made and Boromir objects, saying, “But Pop, he does his best, and he loves you.” This doesn’t impress Denethor and he sends Boromir off to a meeting Elrond has called “Because I know you won’t fail me like he would.”

Adds a lot to Faramir’s temptation and rejection of the Ring.

DD

14

Well, the OP didn’t want spoilers.

Guess I shoulda included the :wink:
Sorry if I caused confusion.

I still like the part about the evil Queen Beruthiel and her good sister Galadriel, though.