LotR3-RotK-Seq19

[alatar]

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

You never will get where you’re going
If you never get up on your feet
Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing
A fast walking man is hard to beat

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If you want to change your direction
If your time of life is at hand
Well don’t be the rule be the exception
A good way to start is to stand

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If I want to change the reflection
I see in the mirror each morn
You mean that it's just my election
To vote for a chance to be reborn. - Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, 1970, Rankin/Bass


We see the Tower of Cirith Ungol in the distance, then take a helicopter-shot right up and into the window near where Frodo lies. Orcs in the background rummage through his belongings. Seemingly they’re not finding much of interest or use - clothing, a scabbard, a Betamax copy of “Forever Young”… One treasure is found - the mithril shirt. One orc tries to pinch it while another tries to steal from the thief. While the two argue, Frodo regains consciousness and finds that the One Ring is gone.

He seems to despair.

The orcs begin to fight, which their kind always do in the presence of mithril, and it turns ugly. Dropping down through a hole, the rat orc starts a fight in the next level down. Like dominoes, another orc falls over an edge and his crash starts yet another fight. If only an Eagle could have dropped a mithril coat atop the highest tower of Barad-dûr, the Free Folk would have had at least 50% less enemies with which to fight.

The fighting is funny as we watch orcs attack and kill other orcs using various improvised weapons.

Meanwhile, Sam makes his way to the Tower. He stops, listening, and I’m sure that the sounds of battle have him thinking of the plight of Mr. Frodo. He passes through the three-headed Watchers without struggle, which is interesting. Sam races through both courtyard and tower, not seeing a living soul (you know what I mean), and possibly becoming more anxious for it. He finally spots a living orc, and Sting sees it as well. Sam pumps himself up, and his shadow scares four orcs into retreat. When they see it’s only a hobbit, they attack, but Sam disposes of each with a dedication. Luckily Sam did not fight on the Pelennor Fields, or he might have run out of persons to dedicate the orcs to.

“<stab> And that’s for Folco…and you, you look like you’re for Ilberic! <chop>”

One orc gets away with the mithril shirt. Winner!

An orc approaches a struggling Frodo. It draws its blade, thinking to stab Frodo as a concession prize, but before its blade can bite hobbit flesh, Sting shoots through its chest, reminiscent of an Alien chest burster. Anyway, Sam uses a one-liner, proving that he now is an action hero. Frodo’s overjoyed to see his companion, and apologizes for dumping his faithful friend earlier.

By the by, the wound on Frodo’s left upper chest - was it there when we first see Frodo in Cirith Ungol?

Frodo begins ranting that it’s ‘game over’ as the Ring was taken, but Sam proves him wrong. Sam pulls the Ring from his pocketses - note that it wasn’t around his neck - and immediately the Ring calls to Frodo. After a weird moment where Sam hesitates, he returns the Ring to Frodo, who, upon placing it around his neck, immediately feels its weight, unlike Sam who’d been carrying it up all of those steps. Anyway, Sam takes the loss without comment and gets back to basics. He realizes that Frodo needs some new clothes, and in a moment we see what he’d found. Crossing a bridge, the two little orcs look out over the plain of Gorgoroth, seeing that it is strewn with enemy fires. Frodo is daunted by the task, as it seems that they will never get through unnoticed, no matter how well they are dressed. The Eye searchlight makes its appearance, I think that it’s just silly - not that I have a better idea in how to show the All Seeing Eye’s vigilance, but this is just too dumbed down.

They begin the journey one step forward at a time. Did I miss how they get passed the Watchers, or was that in the theatrical version and not here?

Back in Minas Tirith, Gandalf states that Frodo has passed beyond his sight. Good to see that the old Wizard is recovering some of his abilities. Aragorn knows that Sauron has not recovered the Ring, but Gandalf states that it is only a matter of time before he does so. He also says that Frodo is doomed to die as 10,000 orcs stand between him and Mount Doom.

Gandalf became a pessimist when?

Luckily Aragorn has a plan. Attack Mordor as a diversion so that Frodo has the time to complete the quest. Gimli makes a joke, laughing off the peril. Note that he disrespectfully sits in the Steward’s seat. Gandalf pooh-poohs the plan, knowing that it just won’t work. Aragorn, however, knows just what to do to get the maia to take the bait.

He looks into the palantir and taunts Lord Sauron with the Sword of Elendil and the blood of Isildur. Sauron counters with a vision of Arwen and the breaking of the Evenstar pendant. Is Sauron saying that he knows of Aragorn’s love, and will attack Arwen? Or that he will seek means to kill her? Or that she is dying/dead already?

Guess that we’ll find out later.

As the scene ends, we see Aragorn, followed by Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Pippin and Merry ( ) heading East, riding across the mostly-cleared-of-the-scars-and-debris-of-war Pelennor Fields, off to battle the Dark Lord.