#he would never forgive himself. and there's something so profoundly divine and sacred in saying 'i know and you're still worth fighting for

[dirtyoldmanhole]

now that the slowburn fic's fully set in stone scene & tone wise, i'm letting myself read more fics about gunter b/c i didn't want to accidentally gank any ideas or headcanons from other people's stories.

and the interesting thing is, people focus on their favorite flavors of the character, right? a lot of it does overlap, but let's say, somebody digs the medieval romantic fantasy side, somebody else does a deliciously porny dead dove take highlighting the age gap with all the power on his side, somebody does a more traditional FE take on the worldbuilding, then there's another ossan lover out there who did a tasty yukimura/corrin/gunter ot3 smutfic which is a galaxy brain take, hell yeah more the merrier

etc etc. beauty of fanfiction/fandom, right? various flavors of cake.

and it's kind of fun contemplating what's the distinct flavor with my fic.

y'all will probably come to different conclusions, and i hope you do, that's the fun thing about sharing works. but one of the biggest things that bugged me about revelation is the whiplash of gunter betraying you in the sense of ... it was executed well, but how does this fucked up dude tick, man. poked it a little in this post immediately after i played revelation, how possessed gunter + "original" gunter honestly is the same man.

you can't moralize or stuff your fingers in your ears pretending that old mister baddie anankos did everything wrong. corrin kind of does this in revelations and i'm all, hold up dumbass, he is way more f a s c i n a t i n g if you don't do that.

what if you have that and the romance, the weird amount of mutual trust? what if you have him corrupting the shit out of corrin with genuine resentment plus a dollop of sexual malice, and her also kinda darkly being into it as he is?

(there is an essay in me about how corrin, with the sheer lack of control over everything and her being viewed as this tender innocent fragile prize, would find that knowing, mutual under-the-table corruption profoundly erotic. as deeply skewed as it is, she feels like she gets more agency out of that than any ""protection"".)

there's so many scenes in this fic that are fucked up. there's a lot that are tender too, mind, but this is a fic where i hope, that you plainly see quote unquote possessed gunter as himself from literal start to finish. (because he was always himself).

the plot twist is you the reader -- see him as that betrayer, from start to finish. i have always loved my self-aware villains who knew perfectly well they were walking down the road to hell, whistling all the way.

that!!! i wanna see that gunter.

[apenitentialprayer]

I think I’m just going to keep posting the editorials for the Catholic newsletter here. This one is about Acts of Reparation (and the First Friday and Saturday devotions)

As I mentioned last week, one of the goals of the Newman Center this year is to foster a sense of community and responsibility among our Catholic members. Last time we spoke a bit about prayer, and our duties as Christians to pray for one another. I’m going to shift gears slightly now, and talk about charity. The particular form of charity I am talking about is nonetheless close to intercessory prayer in that it is a type of prayer. And that means we need to talk about it a little more than we do about other types of charity. The type of charity I am talking about is the act of making reparation to God. This can be a very controversial form of charity; the more materially inclined among us may deride it as pointless because we do not see the effects of our work. The more ethically lazy amongst us may see this as an alternative to more physical and interpersonal forms of charity, even though this should be a supplement to and not a replacement for more commonly recognized forms of charity work. Some will wonder what the point of trying to make reparations to God is in the first place, if it is true (and it is true) that we can never repay God for the infinite mercies that He shows us. I guess we should first define what “reparations” are. Under the normal sense of the word, to act of making reparations to someone is the act of paying them back for an injury done against them. Following that understanding, most Christians reading this will be quick to point out that it is impossible to fully repay the debt that we incurred when Christ liberated us from Original Sin on the Cross. They are correct; the act of redemption was completely unmerited on our parts, and an act of God’s infinite love. So what is this reparation that we are speaking of? These prayers of reparation that I am mentioning are not so much attempts to “repay” God for what He has done for us, but rather signs of acknowledgement of His boundless gift of grace and an attempt to grow ever closer to Him in love. An act of reparation is an explicit expression of our sorrow at having contributed to Christ’s death, and an offering of ourselves entirely to Him in gratitude for His redemptive sacrifice, made for our sake. They are acts by which we remind ourselves to tell God that He is good and deserving of our love So how is this an act of charity? Well, oftentimes we perform acts of reparation in atonement for our own sins, but we can also do it for the sake of others. I’ll give you an example; in the past week, I have seen at least three instances of blasphemy against God. The first was a youtuber’s comment which stated that he’s more thoroughly convinced of the divinity of his own bodily waste than the divinity of Christ. At least, he says, he can look into the toilet and see that his own bodily waste is a real thing. The second was an article on a pagan website that encouraged the appropriation of Catholic rosaries in order to pray to “Mary the Mother Goddess;” it recommended removing the crucifixes from Catholic rosaries and replacing them with medallions, while switching the usual rosary prayers with paganized forms. Finally, last night I came across a blog post made by a Satanist that contained an image of a demon performing a lewd sexual act on the Crucified Christ. I could have reacted to these instances in a myriad of ways. In fact, I did go through a “stages of grief” type process. I was shocked upon seeing each of these things, and that shock quickly gave way to a visceral disgust and a violent anger. To witness the degradation of the Person of Christ, and to see someone encouraging the desecration of sacred items, was deeply troubling. Beyond deeply troubling, really. But then I remembered what I had written last week; we are under orders to pray for our enemies. So here’s the thing about acts of reparation. When we look out and see forces in our world that express a hatred towards our God, who actively mock our God, who try their very hardest to degrade the very essence of our God, acts of reparation give us a way to respond to these forces. We react not by striking outward in anger, but by turning inward to purify ourselves further. We respond to expressions of hatred towards Gods by expressing our own love for Him. Rather than sinking to their level, we rise, essentially telling God “I know that people have greatly insulted You, but I want You to know that there are people who love You very much.” And while we express this love to God, we beg the forgiveness of those who are blaspheming, the same way that Christ asked for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying Him (Luke 23:34). So, I have just mentioned the purpose of the acts of reparation, but I haven’t actually mentioned any methods so far. I am going to talk about three of them here. The first is a daily prayer that was revealed by the Angel of Peace to three Portuguese visionaries one hundred and one years ago. This is a prayer that we can say daily, or whenever we see an instance of blasphemy in our everyday lives. The wording is: “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in the tabernacles throughout the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.” You’ll notice that there are three aspects of this prayer. First, there is an explicit expression of love for God. Second, this act of reparation is made not to be used as a replacement for, but in conjunction with the Holy Sacrifice of Jesus. Thirdly, we’re not just apologizing for the blasphemies that have been performed, but we are praying on behalf of the blasphemers themselves. This is thus an act of charity to God (remember, our love is the only thing that we can truly say that we “give” to God) and also an act of charity for the rest of the world. Our initial repugnance gives way to our desire to include them in our loving relationship. The next two acts of reparation are the reason why it is so essential for me to include this specific topic in this week’s editorial; today, October 1st, marks the beginning of the first week of October (duh). Which means this Friday and this Saturday are the first Friday and first Saturday of the month. I am going to introduce you guys to the First Friday and First Saturday devotions. Both of these could probably merit a whole essay on their own, but this editorial has gone on for a while already, so I will only be talking about what you have to do for them, not the stories behind them or the promises attached to them. Just know that they are acts of reparation. The First Friday Devotion is the longer devotion of the two, and it takes nine months to complete. If that sounds scary, don’t worry; it’s actually pretty simple. All you have to do is go to Mass and receive the Eucharist on the first Friday of every month for nine consecutive months. On those days, however, you should be especially focused on God. Some priests recommend spending at least ten minutes before Mass meditating on the Eucharist and Christ’s True Presence, and because this devotion is especially linked to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I would recommend praying in the name of the Sacred Heart on that day as well. So, why Friday, and why nine months? Remember, just as how every Sunday is an “anniversary” reminder of Christ’s Resurrection, Friday is an “anniversary” reminder of Christ’s death. That is why Friday has traditionally been a day of fasting among Christians. The question of nine months highlights the Marian quality of this devotion; a pregnancy takes nine months to reach a healthy conclusion. So in this devotion, we take on that aspect of Mary’s life, “carrying” Jesus within us for nine months before bearing the fruit of God with the conclusion of the devotion on the final first Friday. In a world that can be dark and cruel, you gestate and bear the Light of God. The First Saturday Devotion is the shorter devotion of the two, taking five months to complete. Again, the active aspects of this devotion are largely limited to the first Saturdays of these months. This one does require a little more activity, however. In addition to going to Mass and receiving the Eucharist on the first Saturday of each month for five consecutive months, there are three more requirements. First, you must go to Confession sometime during the week before you receive Communion. Second, you must prayer five decades of the Rosary (essentially one set of mysteries) on the first Saturday of the month. Second, you must spend fifteen minutes contemplating a mystery of the Rosary of your choosing. So you have two opportunities coming up to express your love for God in a special way. Some of you may argue, “But Aidan, the content of these devotions are stuff that we could be doing anyway. Do we really need to practice the devotions themselves if we express our love of God through similar means already?” And that’s a fair question. But let me ask you something else; do you actually go to Mass every Friday and Saturday without having to be asked? In a way, you can compare these devotions to holidays like Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. Of course, you’re supposed to express your love towards your mother and father on all days of the year. But Father’s Day and Mother’s Day (and the First Fridays and First Saturdays) are about intentionality; you are purposely taking the initiative to set aside time specifically for expressing love in a way that you might just not consider doing on a “normal” day. So really take the time and think about whether these devotions are something that you would want to do. If they are, email us, and we’ll even help you out; tell us which ones you’re doing, and we’ll even send you reminders at the beginning of each month to help make sure that you continue to perform these devotions to their completion. Together, we can show our love to God and intercede on behalf of the whole world. We are called to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) and the salt of the earth (5;13), aren’t we?

[spirit-science-blog]

If you’re a fan of any kind of Fantasy, you undoubtedly know about Lord of the Rings, with its beautiful story, complex characters, and its imaginative and colorful world. The significance of Lord of The Rings for the fantasy and sci-fi genres as a whole cannot be understated. If you were to ask any Fantasy writer, chances are most today would cite Tolkein as an influence in some way. His worldbuilding, personalities, and character archetypes have influenced nearly every corner of literature profoundly.

To be honest, when sitting down to write this episode, it was a DAUNTING task. There’s so much in the lore of Middle Earth, including its expanded universe, where do you even start? In case you didn’t already know, not only was Tolkein influenced by many religious, spiritual, philosophical, and even metaphysical sources, but there are also numerous underlying spiritual messages in his works that hold great wisdom if you know where to look and how to apply it. So let's dive into the Hidden Spirituality of Lord of the Rings!

Intro

To start with, since there’s so much to cover, we should point out that we’re going to be doing it on a movie/book by book basis, starting with this episode on the Fellowship and ending with Return of the King to wrap it up. Hey, we might even include the Silmarillion for all of the nerds out there who want to explore Numenor and Eru Illuvatar!

Now, at its heart, the central theme of LoTR is the quest. On its surface, we see a kind of normal fantasy thing. In essence, the heroes have to overcome the Dark Lord by going on this great journey of self-discovery to conquer the darkness both in the world and within themselves. With Lord of the Rings, it is depicted through the temptation of the One Ring, and the journey to save Middle Earth from its destruction.

But where LoTR begins to get interesting is when you look at the actual pacing of it. The story is completely flipped on its head compared to your average story trope. See, the heroes are not seeking a “treasure,” but are questions to destroy one instead. If we were to look at this same story from Sauron's point of view, the tale is a quest, with Sauron trying to get the treasure back, with the evil Black Riders replacing the traditional "errant knights seeking the holy of holies." The movie begins with a bit of backstory, giving us an awareness of the rings, and the races. We learn about the villain, Sauron, who forged the rings of power and delivered them to the leaders of the tracks who could be controlled, humans, elves, and dwarves. These rings, bestowing power to the bearers, also binds them to the dark lord, which sets the spiritual tone of the story - the idea that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the deception that evil will use to trap others. In giving these rings to the leaders of the three races, Sauron essentially puts his hold on the world.

But as Sauron's power grows, some fight back, and we see the fall of Sauron at the hands of Isildur, but who is unable to destroy it - another powerful lesson for us still, the temptation that power has over us. What could this ring represent? The story says that into the ring, Sauron poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life. And so the ring ultimately comes to represent these qualities in the form of greed. This can be reflected in our daily lives as any kind of temptation, such as money, fame, sex, all of which can be used to subjugate or manipulate others into doing what you want. In addition to this, the ring bestows the wearer with invisibility, providing a false sense of security, which we can also see in this idea of greed - for as you generate more money or fame or what have you, it gives you this sense of security, but real security - as the story also teaches us, comes from the connections that we have with our friends and family.

One of the things that Sauron creates is feelings of absolute despair through facilitating the creation of evil forces, such as manipulating Saruman, to do his bidding in creating an army of orcs and uru-kai. Gandalf, on the other hand, has the reverse power, supporting others to resist the temptation of despair, and rekindling hope and courage wherever he goes. That Tolkien was conceiving these works during England’s darkest days during World War II, gives a unique context to this power to resist fear and despair.  

It would also seem that Tolkein uses this narrative, especially the easily swayed humans, to describe the over-inflated ego and the dangers of what can happen when your desire and ambition are left unchecked. From this viewpoint, it appears that the Fellowship is on a quest to destroy the ego and ultimately free the world from the dark influence of desire and temptation. Tolkien had lived through two world wars, including the "routine bombardment" of civilians, the use of famine for political gain, concentration camps, and genocide, and the development and use of chemical and nuclear weapons, and so much of this story, although based in a different world than ours, is very much rooted emotionally and contextually in severe and real events in history.

The story raises the question of whether, if the ability of humans to produce that kind of evil could somehow be destroyed, even at the cost of sacrificing something, would it be worth doing.

Now, if any of this talk of desire, temptation and evil sound familiar, that’s because Tolkein was devoutly Catholic, a trait which he admitted to having been a profound influence on his writings. While it is interesting that he never included a direct form of religion in his main body of work, the themes, moral philosophy, and cosmology of The Lord of the Rings reflect his Catholic worldview. Christian items are ever-present in much of his work, more so in the later books -especially return of the king, which we will cover when we get there, many of the ideas focus around death, resurrection, forgiveness, grace, repentance and of course, free will.

Even Tolkien himself said, "Of course God is in The Lord of the Rings. The period was pre-Christian, but it was a monotheistic world," and when questioned who was the One God of Middle-earth, Tolkien replied, "The ONE, of course! The book is about the world that God created – the actual world of this planet." Delving a bit deeper into the language of Middle Earth, even the name itself comes from the Norse Midgard - which was the name for our earth.

The influence of Norse Mythology for Tolkein was HUGE. There are some excellent videos out here on YT that talk about the Mythology of LoTR, so if you want to go deeper, we recommend looking this up. Everything from the characters to the environments is rich in symbolic meaning.

Let’s take Gandalf, for instance. Speaking purely from Tolkein’s point of view, Gandalf was mostly based off of the Norse God Odin Who is a bit different from the Marvel version you’re probably familiar with. Odin, in Norse Mythology, is described as "The Wanderer," an old man with one eye, a long white beard, a wide-brimmed hat, and a staff. Tolkien, in a 1946 letter, nearly a decade after the character was invented, wrote that he thought of Gandalf as an "Odinic wanderer." Much like Odin, Gandalf promotes justice, knowledge, truth, and insight. His battle with the Balrog in the Mines of Moria was meant to mirror that of the fight with Surtr spiritually, the Fire Giant in Norse Mythology, with the ensuing collapse of the Bridge of Khazad Dum mirroring the prophesied destruction of the Bifrost during Ragnarok.

Interestingly though, it should be said that Ragnarok was not seen as the end of the world as it is often thought, but rather the beginning of a new cycle, and this is essentially what happens in the Fellowship, with the fall of the Balrog and the collapse of the bridge, it gives way for the journey to unfold. Gandalf had to fall to be reborn as a higher, more ascended, and powerful being than he was before.

As we looked at, there are several key races in the story, which seem to spiral around the elements. This is not spelled out directly by Tolkien. Still, it would appear as though the humans reflect the element of Fire, showing their passionate ways, leadership qualities, and also a bit of their destructive power, and even in Return of the King we see that it is time for humans to take the throne as the new world leaders, further reflecting the fire being the closest to the Godhead in the alchemical systems. The Dwarves are Earth for probably obvious reasons, the Elves are Air with their both living in the trees, their precision, their mental acuity and awareness of the world, and Hobbits as Water - being natural, flowing, and most importantly, nurturing qualities, a trait that is often described as the highest form of the divine feminine, manifested through the alchemical element of water, or the emotional body. If we were to count wizards and orcs, we would see angels and demons join the fray with the aspects of Aether and Voidness, the latter of which stands for lack of substance.

Now speaking of Hobbits - the Shire itself represents an idyllic haven, where the hobbits live in harmony with nature and each other, creating an environment of peace, love, and pleasure. Even though not all hobbits get along and are mainly stuck in their ways, their ways are that of connection with the spirit of the earth. In many ways, living in the shire might be what we would think would be the end goal for many characters, a peaceful haven where evil doesn’t exist, reminiscent of the English Countryside.

We also see some new numerology here. As the story opens, we see Bilbo celebrating his eleventy-first birthday, which in the book just so happens to be on the same day as Frodo celebrating his coming of age birthday, as he turns 33. In Sacred Numerology, 111 signifies manifestation and prosperity. This number's central symbolism is manifesting thoughts into reality and is also said to symbolize awareness, uniqueness, motivation, and spiritual awakening. This makes sense as shortly after Bilbo’s celebrations; he slips away to go on a new journey in his life.

Frodo’s age is also hugely significant, as 33 in Christian numerology is the age Jesus was when he was crucified in the year 33AD. We might even go as far as to say that no number holds more esoteric significance than “33.” The number three is significant in all major religions, with there being a Trinity for Christians and even a trinity of Goddesses or Deities in many ancient cultures. The number 33 was also crucial to secret societies and is often concealed within significant literary works. There are even 33 degrees in modern Freemasonry. At the Vatican, there are 32 archways on each side of the courtyard with a giant obelisk in the middle, and the Pope’s cassock has 32 buttons with his head representing the 33rd.

Furthermore, the first Temple of Solomon stood for 33 years before being pillaged. Alexander the Great also died at 33, and Pope John Paul I was murdered after being in power for only 33 days. And if that wasn’t interesting enough, in the movie we see all of this happen on the 22nd of September! So all together, we have 111, 22, and a hidden 33.

When we first meet Bilbo and Gandalf, Bilbo is unwilling to give up a ring, a sign of being unable to let go of his worldly attachments and temptations. Eventually, after much persuasion from the Wizard, he gives it up and is relieved of a considerable burden, symbolic of him reducing his ego of its duty. When Gandalf returns later on to visit Frodo, he casts the ring into the fireplace, revealing the engraved Elvish Script. Isn’t it remarkable how the Black Speech of Mordor can be so beautiful and yet so evil at the same time? It's a scenario reminiscent of Lucifer, who was said to be the most beautiful of God’s angels, don’t you think?

Along with the strength of will, the value of wisdom is also integral to the underlying spirituality of The Lord of the Rings. Although I’m sure Tolkien never intended it this way, we find the elves to be the embodiment of and reminiscent of Taoist wisdom. Like the Taoist sage, the elves, for the most part, are free of the discontent that so affects humans. They love the natural world and govern their lives in harmony with it. They dedicate their creative powers to fashioning things of beauty that enhance the natural world without damaging it. Their dwellings bring to mind the houses in the tremendous Taoist landscapes — habitations in harmony with their environment. All of this, like the ideal government of the Tao Te Ching, is so at odds with our actual world that “fantasy” is an apt term for it. But it does bring to mind the kind of world, beings who were born with inner contentment might create. And in doing so reminds us of the degree that the world we have created is carried of our discontentment.

Leading up to their meeting in Rivendell, Frodo is stabbed by a Nazgul blade that begins to slowly infect him, which Aragorn says can only be healed by Elven Magic. If we look at it from a higher perspective, the Nazgul are creatures of Necromancy, fueled by dark magic and hatred. By being stabbed, perhaps that hatred and despair begin to enter Frodo slowly, but given that Elven magic is born solely out of love and compassion, it is the only thing that can heal a wound of fear and hatred. Much like our current situation, love is the sole real remedy for anxiety. It is no coincidence that Frodo meets Bilbo here again, as the environment itself is one of healing and repentance.

Now the first book and movie are called the Fellowship of the ring, and on a base level, it arguably represents the bonds of brotherhood and family and this idea that no one race is better than another. In this, we find that even once enemies can become friends, such as Legolas and Gimli. Although the fellowship was not meant to last, the establishing of this shared intention between all of them is ultimately what allows the entire story to transpire once they reach Rivendell.

During the council of Elrond, we see that the presence of the ring and the conversation stirs everyone to arms with each other. And honestly, if each of them tried to destroy the ring on their own, they would all fail and ultimately become corrupted by it. The only one who can do it is Frodo because he represents the purity and innocence of the natural soul, and even then, the ring still gets to him slowly but surely by the end. Nevertheless, only by having a united Fellowship made up of each of the world’s races can they hope to succeed. There is undeniably a lesson is cooperation here, only by working together and lifting each other when we can accomplish something seemingly impossible, and this is an excellent lesson for us to recognize in the world today. There is more power in unity than in separation. From a spiritual perspective, perhaps the experience here is that by creating and maintaining an environment of mutual trust and harmony and working together and creating a space for that kind of movement and growth to occur can we too “do the impossible” and curb our desires and egos, allowing us to exist in harmony with our world, collectively.

Also, it is impressive that the Fellowship numbers nine people (2 humans, an elf, a dwarf, four hobbits, and a wizard), along with their being 9 Nazgul. There's probably some strong numerology in there somewhere, as 9 is a very significant number numerologically. But for now, let's just say the two “groups” create a sense of balance, one for one.

Throughout the story, we also see the theme of personal sacrifice, over and over. I wonder if this was inspired by Tolkiens own spirituality, reflecting Jesus - who gave his own life because it was what must be done. Frodo went on the journey to take the Ring to Rivendell, and then to Mount Doom, sacrificing his old life, his old way of being, and things would never be the same again for him.

Further, Gandalf decided to allow Frodo the choice to take either the Mines or Mountains after leaving Rivendell, a decision which ultimately led to Gandalf’s death and Christ-like resurrection. While the majority of these scenes take place in the next film, it is significant that Gandalf dies his purpose, protecting and guiding the others. In doing so, he is allowed to return by the One as a much more leveled up Gandalf the White, taking the place of Saruman as the benevolent white wizard. The color symbolism here cannot go unmentioned, as his transition from Grey to White is arguably symbolic of him “shedding the veil of the night” (to quote our good friend Thoth in the Emerald Tablets) and becoming a real ascended being. This transition into ascension is also present with Galadriel in Lothlorien towards the very end of the film. For people who have only seen the movie version of The Lord of the Rings, we see a little context for Galadriel’s actions and words after she resists taking the ring. Even the book version does not provide the full context. But in the appendices at the end of The Return of the King and in The Silmarillion, we learn that Galadriel’s character flaw is the desire for power. This flaw she shares with her ancestors, who were exiled from the Far West due mainly to their pride and aggression. Through sharing in this exile, Galadriel was always torn by her love of the world and its beauty and her desire for power. Through the ages of Middle Earth, she steadfastly pitted her will against the will of Sauron, and in doing so, served in the protection of beauty and harmony against chaos and destruction. With this background, we can better understand the scene where Galadriel is finally offered the ring of power by Frodo. A part of her had long desired such an opportunity, yet she can resist this temptation, and in doing so, she finally can relinquish her desire for power. Having done so, she knows that the condition of her exile has been lifted and that she can return to the Far West, symbolic of her ascension and moving into a new life for herself.

Even the gifts of Lothlorien themselves have spiritual meaning. Frodo’s “Light of Earendil” that illuminates the darkness seems to signify light as purifying energy that provides hope, warmth, and shows the way. Interestingly there is a slight difference in the gifts that Sam gets from Galadriel. In the movie, he receives an Elven rope that can be easily anchored up by a simple tug, but in the book he receives soil from Galadriel’s garden and a seed, which he uses to replant the trees in the Shire after it is destroyed, signifying a spiritual rebirth and ultimately resurrection of the Earth. It makes sense that this item was changed for the movie because the destruction of the shire was cut from the film adaption.

The movie ends with Frodo disbanding the fellowship under the premise that the ring holds too much temptation to be able to keep the group together. Once again, he makes a substantial sacrifice for what he sees as the highest good. But like always, love is the answer. Sam, knowing Frodo as a friend, immediately guesses where he is going and follows him into what is quite literally the mouth of hell, signifying the bonds of brotherhood and family transcend even the darkest of darkness.

On that note, let’s bring this to a close. There is so much more that we could have spoken about here, and believe me, it was tough to condense this into just one video, but hey, at least we have two more to go! We will expand on each of these themes and delve more into them as we make our journey to Mt Doom by working through the story.