The Return of the King — Sketch Card Reveal
Part 8: The Black Gate Opens – The Grey Havens
Hold your ground! Hold your ground.
Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends, and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.
An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!
Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an elf.
What about side by side with a friend?
Aye, I could do that.
Do you remember the Shire, Mister Frodo? It'll be spring soon, and the Orchards will be in blossom.
And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket and they'll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields.
And eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?
No, Sam, I can't recall the taste of food."
Nor the sound of water. Or the touch of grass. I'm naked in the dark. There's nothing… no veil… between me and the wheel of fire! I can see him with my waking eyes!
Then let us be rid of it, once and for all! Come on, Mister Frodo. I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you! Come on!
Aragorn… Elessar…
For Frodo.
Look, Mister Frodo. A doorway! We're almost there.
Clever Hobbits, to climb so high!
Mustn't go that way! Mustn't hurt the precious!
You swore! You swore on the precious!
Sméagol promised!
Sméagol lied.
Frodo!
Eagles! The Eagles are coming!
Frodo!
I'm here, Sam.
Destroy it!
Go on. Now! Throw it in the fire!
What are you waiting for? Just let it go!
The Ring is mine!
No. No!
No!
Precious! Precious! Precious! Precious!
Give me your hand!
Take my hand!
No! Don't you let go!
"Don't let go. Reach!
Frodo! Frodo!
It's gone. It's done.
Yes, Mister Frodo. It's over now.
I can see the Shire… the Brandywine River… Bag End… Gandalf's fireworks… the lights in the Party Tree.
Rosie Cotton dancing. She had ribbons in her hair. If ever I was to marry someone, it would've been her.
It would've been her.
I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things.
Gandalf?
Frodo!
Gimli!
Aragorn.
Now come the days of the king. May they be blessed.
This day does not belong to one man but to all. Let us together rebuild this world… that we may share in the days of peace.
Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta. (Out of the Great Sea to Middle-Earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world.)
Hannon le. (Thank you.)
My friends! You bow to no one.
And thus it was, the Fourth Age of Middle-Earth began, and the Fellowship of the Ring, though eternally bound by friendship and love, was ended.
Thirteen months to the day, since Gandalf sent us on our long journey, we found ourselves looking upon a familiar site. We were home.
Good night, Rosie.
Good night, lads.
How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back?
There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep… that have taken hold.
"Mister Frodo? What is it?
It's been four years to the day since Weathertop, Sam. It's never really healed.
'There and Back again, a Hobbit's Tale by Bilbo Baggins'… and 'The Lord of the Rings by Frodo Baggins.' You finished it!
Not quite. There's room for a little more.
Bilbo once told me, his part in this tale would end. That each of must come and go in the telling. Bilbo's story was now over. There would be no more journeys for him… save one.
Tell me again, lad, where are we going?
To the harbor, Uncle. The elves have accorded you a special honor. A place on the last ship to leave Middle-Earth.
Frodo, any chance of seeing that old Ring of mine again? Hmm? The one I gave you?
I'm sorry, Uncle… I'm afraid I lost it.
Oh, pity. I should like to have held it, one last time.
Oh! Here is a sight that I have never seen before.
The power of the three rings is ended. The time has come for the Dominion of Men.
I Aear can vên na mar. (The sea calls us home.)
I think I'm quite ready for another adventure!
Farewell… my brave hobbits. My work is now finished.
Here at last, on the shores of the sea, comes the end of our Fellowship
I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.
It is time, Frodo.
What does he mean?
We set out to save the Shire, Sam. And it has been saved. But not for me.
The last pages are for you, Sam.
My dear Sam, you cannot always be torn in two. You will have to be one and whole for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do. Your part in this story will go on.
Well, I'm back.
[THE END]
