# Favourite chapters - The Return of the King



## Ithrynluin (Dec 12, 2004)

Which are they and why?

How does the Return of the King compare to the other two volumes for you?

Try to narrow it down to 3, or 5 at the most...


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## Maeglin (Dec 12, 2004)

"The Battle of the Pelennor Fields" tops the list for me. Denethor's triumphant entry to the battle, bringing light back into the world, and his heroic death, are probably (IMHO) the most powerful moments throughout the entire story. Add to that the heroics of Eowyn and Meriadoc, and you just might have the greatest and most dramatic battle scene ever written. An extremely powerful chapter, the only thing that beats it is "The Window on the West" and "The Forbidden Pool" from TTT.


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## Ithrynluin (Dec 16, 2004)

_The Siege of Gondor_ - An action packed chapter, full of tension not only between the enemies and the defenders of Minas Tirith, but also between Denethor and Gandalf, the two leading figures of the defense of Gondor, who funnily enough, stand in opposition. Getting a view of things from Pippin's perspective. The confrontation (or beginning of it) between Gandalf and the Witch-king.

_The Battle of the Pelennor Fields_ - Another turbulent chapter, perhaps _the_ most turbulent of all the chapters, filled with great deeds, death, tears and glory.

_The Black Gate Opens_ - Contains one of the best dialogues in the books, IMO. Namely, that between Gandalf and the Mouth of Sauron. Our hopes and fears go with those of the rest of the crowd and they are all centered on Gandalf on the one hand, who does the parleying, and on the two halflings on their painful journey.

_The Grey Havens_ - all in all, a very sad chapter that makes you realize it's all over, and in a way, makes you grieve for the loss of characters who have come to be even as dear friends through the course of reading the book. Love how the Three Rings are now finally unveiled on their bearers. Gandalf's final words are also quite touching ("Do not weep, for not all tears are an evil").


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## Aglarband (Dec 16, 2004)

Ithrynluin said:


> _The Black Gate Opens_ - Contains one of the best dialogues in the books, IMO. Namely, that between Gandalf and the Mouth of Sauron. Our hopes and fears go with those of the rest of the crowd and they are all centered on Gandalf on the one hand, who does the parleying, and on the two halflings on their painful journey.


And it is because of the way the book is written that we feel so much for the 2 halflings. If you saw the movies before you read the book you must not have felt it like I did. Considering you knew well before that Frodo was certainly alive and that there was twice as much risk in goign to the Gate as you thought there was. Having no idea what Sam and Frodo are doing up to this point in teh story is great, or even if the Mouth of Sauron is lying or not, considering Tolkien was a bit pesimistic.


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## Ithrynluin (Dec 16, 2004)

Aglarband said:


> Having no idea what Sam and Frodo are doing up to this point in teh story is great, or even if the Mouth of Sauron is lying or not, considering Tolkien was a bit pesimistic.



The moment the Mouth of Sauron shows the three signs is nothing short of a heart stopper. It's quite an easy occasion to despair and wallow in what appears to be a rather gloomy destiny for the dwellers of M-e.


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## Arvedui (Dec 17, 2004)

_The Grey Havens_ 
So much sorrow and parting. And still the final chapter tell us about hope beyond the limits of the world, and of healing, and of how life must go on among us ordinary people. And how Sam still had his own "Tol Eressëa" to return to in Bag End.


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## Manwe (Dec 18, 2004)

The Battle of Pelennor Feilds has to be the best chapter in all the books.
It begins with the heroic coming of the Rohirrim and then the many personal battles fought in it and the final victory with Aragorn.
It was truly the battle to decide the fate of men and the best battle in the 'War of the Ring' times.


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## treebeardgarden (Dec 19, 2004)

I have 3 favorite chapters. They are The last debate, Mount Doom and Homeward bound.
I will only detail why for one.
Mount Doom
At the end of this chapter after much struggle Frodo stands ready to destroy the ring. However the power of the ring is shown, even someone with the purity of mind & soul that is a hobbit he has lost his struggle to the power of the ring. What happens then does Sam save the day or are we to spend eternity in darkness? No along come Gollum and un-wittingly destroy's the ring. Showing that even those that appear beyond help can provide help for others however un-wittingly. It is a lesson a lot of people these days could do with remembering.


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## Niirewen (Dec 21, 2004)

I restricted myself to three chapters-- I chose The Battle of Pelennor Fields, The Steward and the King, and The Grey Havens. The Battle of Pelennor Fields because it is all-over an amazing chapter, not to mention it has the Eowyn-killing-the-Witch-King scene, which is one of my favorites in the book. The Steward and the King, because it is the chapter with Eowyn and Faramir, another one of my favorite parts (of course). And The Grey Havens, because although it is extremely sad, it is so beautifully done, and I can never read that chapter just once.


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## Turgon (Jan 26, 2005)

_The Battle of the Pelennor Fields_ - So much to love about this chapter, the highlight of it being Eowyn, Merry, and the Witchking. Although as with most books you get the sense that all be well in even the darkest moments - when I read this chapter I wasn't so sure. Truely a nerve-jangler.

_The Black Gate Opens_ - Can do nothing more than echoes Ithrynluin's sentiments here. The whole Mouth of Sauron scene is breathtaking - and I don't mean the good kind of breathtaking.

_The Scouring of the Shire_ - Not the happiest of homecomings for our hobbit heroes, but a great chapter nonetheless, and something of a shock when I first read it. When all is said, I think PJ really missed the boat with this one, the ending of RoTK seemed really baggy without it.


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## Meselyn (Jan 26, 2005)

_The Battle or the Pelennor Fields_- The second greatest battle in the series. It pits the world of men against the forces of mordor.

_The Black Gates Open_- The greatest battle scene in the series. It's the last major battle in LOTR. It's the last of the army of men vs. the last of the mordor orcs.

_Mount Doom_- The major amount of climax ROTK, and LOTR has been building is finally released. Which ends in Frodo vs. Gollum. The ring is then distroyed allong with Gollum.


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## Morgul Agent (Feb 4, 2005)

Minas Tirith - Just because I love Denethor vs. Gandalf, and the city through Pipppin's eyes.

The Siege of Gondor / Battle of Pelennor Fields - Best battle in the series, by far. Especially with the Riders of Rohan charging in there.

Mount Doom - the climax of the trilogy!

The Scouring of the Shire - Come on people, only one other mention for this chapter? I can understand why it's not in the film (although, in a perfect world, it would have been!), but in the book it rocks. The 4 boys from the Shire coming home, and kicking some serious butt! Hilariously incompetent Hobbit Shirrifs. And the final fate of Saruman, with some more of his amazing dialogue.


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## HLGStrider (Feb 7, 2005)

After some thought, I chose the House of Healing. To me it is in this chapter that Aragorn truly comes into his own, so to speak. 

It is interesting to see him deal with the three in their seperate ways, being Lordly with Faramir, gentle with Eowyn, and friendly with Merry.

The humor in this chapter is warm. The symbolism (hands of the king) is amazing. The characters are real. I love it.

I tend to center my reading around Aragorn, so this is sort of predictable. In this chapter he is at his best. It is also where Eowyn and Faramir begin to heal and they are characters I care for greatly.


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## Ingwë (Feb 10, 2005)

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields - this is the most interesting chapter of all. 
Minas Tirith - Tolkien told us so many things about Minas Tirith and we can imagine it very good. 
The Field of Cormallen - also very interesting and this chapter makes crazy.


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## Hammersmith (Feb 10, 2005)

I was boring and went with the scouring. Perhaps it isn't that good a chapter, but it has the interesting phenomenon of good becoming more powerful than evil, and the hobbits coming home as masters of the situation to sweep away Saruman's desperate last holding. The tables turn, and set as it is amidst peaceful chapters, the victory seems at least as glorious as the Pelennor Fields.


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## Maggot (Feb 10, 2005)

I went for the Grey Havens as it is extremely emotional and sad and it eventually tells you what happens to dear Bilbo.


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## Halasían (Apr 17, 2021)

Favourite chapters - The Return of the King​


Ithrynluin said:


> Which are they and why?
> 
> How does the Return of the King compare to the other two volumes for you?


I picked two per book. It was hard, especially with Book V as so much happens!

BookV:
*Passing of the Grey Company - *Because it introduces the Dunedain Rangers, the Sons of Elrond, the Standard, Aragorn's use of the Palantir and his battle of minds with Sauron, the interaction between Eowyn and Aragorn, the Paths of the Dead, and the summoning of the dead to the Stone of Erech. All these things held my interest and they all add a key part of the story (which was totally eff'd up by PJ but I won't get into that here)
*The Battle of Pelennor Fields - *This was a tough choice as the surrounding chapters were really full of story meat. But I liked the Pelennor as it's descriptions and the madness of Eomer and the arrival of Aragorn and his army of the Grey Company, some men of the south and the freed slaves on the ships turned the tide of battle. And there is a brief mention of the Varaigs of Khand

Book VI:
*The Steward and the King - *It just had a good feel to it when I read it. The love between Faramir and Eowyn blossoms and when Faramir announces the kingship of Aragorn... yeah!
*The Scouring of the Shire - *I liked this bit of eplogue to the War of the Ring. One could get the feel of the changed Frodo, and it gave a chance for the hobbits to kick some butt.

Return of the King is _the_ book to me... everything brought to us before comes to a head in this volumn, and in so many ways you don't want the story to be over!


And I cant let this go without mentioning the Appendices!


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## SarumanofManyColours (May 23, 2021)

Like a lot of others I would also have to say _The Battle of the Pelennor Fields_ and _The Scouring of the Shire_.
Pelennor Fields. The Witch King, Eowyn. And it carries on from Theoden's great battle cry. Just an epic chapter overall.
I liked the Scouring mainly because it really nailed the message that even though the greater evil (Sauron) was defeated, there still was danger left in the world and that evil isn't something that goes away instantly and it's not just one singular thing. On top of that, there was a lot of dark implications with Grima being a cannibal, which I liked. And even without his powers Saruman still manages to be such a threatening figure that you can't help but continue to be drawn to him.


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## Shadow (May 24, 2021)

The Tower of Cirith Ungol is one of my favourite chapters from the books due to Sam’s bravery. The Scouring of the Shire is pure entertainment and poignant. The Grey Havens is beautiful in its simplicity, and there couldn’t be a better ending.


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