Guangyi Liu

SPOILERS AHEAD, IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE MOVIE OR READ THE BOOK I HIGHLY ADVISE YOU TO NOT READ THIS MATERIAL: Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King is a true cinematic masterpiece. There are quite a few scenes which hold lots of emotional value, like the armies of rohan charging and the death of the witch king. Also, there is a fair share of humor, with the interactions between Gimli and Legolas. However, what truly makes Return of The King the cinematic masterpiece that it is are the next few scenes I will talk about. The first is on mount doom, where frodo is unable to continue. It is also here that Samwise drops the famous line "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" This made me love Sam, because he shows himself to be the true hero of the story. The emotional tension that happened during that scene, where they were so close yet so far from their goal. This scene made me tear up like nothing up to yet. The next scene is when Aragorn is made King of Gondor. When he said the famous line "My friends, you bow to no one" and everyone kneeled before the four hobbits, I realized how symbolic everything in the show was. The smallest of things stood taller than all beings in middle earth. Frodo's reaction to all of this was what ended up making me cry once again. All of this leads up to the hobbits returning to the shire. If they had just returned to the shire and said "happily ever after", i would be more than satisfied. This does not happen. Instead, Frodo is hurt, both physically and emotionally, from holding the ring for so long, and he has to go to the Undying lands in order to heal. Sam's reaction to learning that Frodo has to go is probably the most heartbreaking. This ending was one of the best endings I have ever seen, and will probably ever see. It's a bittersweet ending that pulls on the heartstrings. If you read through all of this without seeing the films, I am truly sorry that you will never get to experience this to the full extent.