 As we continue our journey into Middle Earth, we find ourselves at a crossroads between book and movie. This film in particular is quite different from its source material. During production, Jackson and the other screenwriters made some plot decisions that changed the structure of the story, ultimately a very important thing that had to be done in order for this film series to be a trilogy and not a very long miniseries. So to keep things simple, we're going to keep focusing more on the movie and the message it portrays, but we'll continue to explore some relevant bits and pieces from the books as we go along. Now the movie opens with a continuation of the plot from the end of Fellowship, and has Frodo and Sam lost in Emyn Mwil on their journey towards Mordor. They quickly learn that they are being stalked by the creature Gollum, the ring's former owner who has been twisted into a monster. The ring has extended his life well beyond its natural limits, and Tolkien tells us that he both loved and hated the ring, as he loved and hated himself. We can see his corruption demonstrated very well by the fact that Gollum is burned by the elven rope, as the elves stand for purity. It's something that he and his corruption cannot touch without hurting him. It's the same with elven food, he just can't eat it! Thematically and to a certain extent spiritually. Gollum serves countless roles in the story, and one of the most popular theories about Gollum is that he constitutes some kind of psychological pairing for Frodo. Following Karl Jung's theory of individualization, Gollum seems to play a role of Frodo's shadow self in many ways, an aspect of his unconscious, the id, that Frodo's ego doesn't identify with, and because one tends to reject or remain ignorant of the least desirable aspects of one's personality, the shadow is mostly negative. As we've begun to explore previously in Fellowship, the concept of duality and pairing seems to be a common theme in Lord of the Rings. Denethor is arguably a shadow for Theoden, Boromir for Aragorn, Saruman for Gandalf, Shilab for Galadriel due to their connection in the Cycles of the Creation of Middle-Earth, and many others, but the Gollum-Frodo one is the most widely known and discussed. Gollum expresses his shadowy nature with this little poem. This is very deep, alluding to the darkness within the hidden unconscious. The illuminating light has passed into night, we have grown cold, and there is something we must face in order to pass into the next chapter of our lives. What's more, during this very scene, Frodo reveals Smeagol's true name, which ignites within Gollum the re-emergence of a portion of his original identity, giving him his own dualistic split personality throughout the story. Now, alternatively, a Tolkien scholar named Charles Nelson sees Gollum as a kind of lousy psychopath, a corrupted soul who tries to overtake the Ring from the main characters, but who does, in fact, still lead them to Mordor. This is, of course, in stark contrast to Gandalf, who takes the role of the good guide, similar to Virgil guiding Dante through the Inferno. And, side note, did you know there's a whole extra two stories after Dante's Inferno, where he goes through Purgatory and descends up to Heaven? Wild stuff, yet it's interesting that we only ever hear about the Inferno. Anyway, Nelson makes a good point saying that both Gollum and Gandalf are servants of the one, Eru Illuvatar, the god in the Lord of the Rings universe mentioned in the Silmarillion. In the struggle against the forces of darkness, with Gandalf fighting off external forces of evil, and Smeagol fighting his own inner demons, and all of them, good and bad, being necessary to the success of the quest. From this, we can explore this idea in our own lives. We must face our challenges both internally and externally in order to create lasting harmony. However you feel about Gollum, there is no denying that he is essential to the quest. As without him, Frodo and Sam would still be lost in the wilderness right now. Along with this, we also hear lines in the story such as, even the corrupted and evil souls, those who dwell in darkness, have a place in our story, reminding us that they, more than anyone, hold a mirror for us to hold compassion for those who have taken a dark path. Further, we are reminded by the impact of the Ring upon Frodo, that the innate capacity for both light and dark can be seated and nurtured within anyone, even the purest of people. Writing in the Myth Lore journal, David Calloway delved a bit deeper into this idea. He describes Gollum as being not wholly evil and being able to make moral choices, and that like many of the characters, is manipulated by the One Ring in a kind of cosmic chess game. Even Gandalf at one point remarks that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill. What's truly amazing throughout the story is Frodo's continuous and unending forgiveness of Gollum, and his unwillingness to let Sam hurt him. As we know, Tolkien loved inserting Christian moral values into his text with the intent of teaching his readers a thing or two. Chief among them are the virtues of grace and forgiveness, two of the most core tenets of Christianity. This is nowhere more powerfully observed than in the opening scenes where Sam attempts to kill Gollum, but is stopped by a gracious Frodo who has taken pity on the lost soul. No doubt, Tolkien is reminding us of the power of humility over pride, and that by acting from this place of grace and forgiveness, it supports us in becoming kind, compassionate people. Elsewhere in the plot, Mary and Pippin have been captured by Uruk-hai and are being taken to an orc stronghold. It doesn't go well for the orcs, and the hobbits are able to slip away into Fangorn Forest, where they drink some magic water and meet a very beardy tree guy. Aragorn and company run after them for a long time. A very, very long time, and eventually meet up with Aomir and the Rorim troops and discover that darkness is festering in the lands of Rohan. They too enter Fangorn Forest, and they meet a new leveled up Gandalf the White. Now, Gandalf the White is a huge part of this story, for as we know, Gandalf dies at the end of his fight against the Balrog, but he is sent back by Eru Aluvatar as Gandalf the White, the most powerful of the Order of Wizards. Gandalf's passage through the minds of Moria and dying to save his companions by facing down the mighty Balrog subtly mirrors the resurrection of Christ. This is hammered home when he is shown with an enormous white aura, clad in beautiful white robes, symbolic of purity and virtue, gently reminiscent of early depictions of saints and holy men in Western religions. It would seem this is so strongly implied because Jackson chose to dub church choir music over the scene to accentuate the idea. When he first speaks, it is in the voice of Saruman. Perhaps on some level, Tolkien is unintentionally implying what quantum physics is proving now, that we and our perceptions create the reality that we experience, as everyone was expecting the White Wizard to be Saruman, and so that's who they mistook him for. Then Gandalf says something interesting. He says, I am Saruman, or rather, I am what Saruman should have been. According to the lore, at the beginning of the age, five wizards were sent by Eru Iluvatar to Middle-Earth to aid in the advancement and protection of the world and all its creatures. These, of course, were Saruman the White, Gandalf the Grey, Radagast the Brown, and the two blue wizards, who we were told went to different corners of Middle-Earth to aid in their ways, but otherwise are not mentioned. Out of all of them, only Gandalf stays true to his mission to help humans. His mission is to provide guidance, resolution, and encouragement in the battle with Sauron, among other things. He genuinely cares for the inhabitants of Middle-Earth, and it is this love that keeps him to his mission. Saruman, on the other hand, has no real affection for the beings of Middle-Earth. He takes up his dwelling in his high tower, Orthanc, and as a result of his isolation and disconnection from the world, he becomes susceptible to the corrupting influence of power, and ultimately is crushed by it. And I mean, come on, Saruman. It doesn't matter how good you once were. Come home for yourself that looks like that, and you're just asking to become evil. Now, there is a sense of dichotomy here that perhaps Gandalf was intended to represent Tolkien's form of ideal wisdom, one that, at its heart, comes from a sense of love and compassion. Without love, willfulness can become the pursuit of worldly power, and wisdom can degenerate into cunning. That is, the pursuit of strategies to obtain power as happens with Saruman. Gandalf is, despite his high energy, humble, and humbleness is universally of virtue in all spiritual traditions. Indeed, modesty, compassion, and living in harmony with the spirit is seen as a higher alternative to the pursuit of power. As a side note, it's worth noting another lesson here, although not mentioned in the film. Radigas the Brown doesn't necessarily fail. He still loves people, but he recludes himself in nature and loves animals and trees more. So much so that he forgets his mission is to help humans evolve and prosper. Radigas's quote-unquote failure is not due to a lack of love, but of loving nature more than humans, a trait that I'm sure we can all relate to in some level. Perhaps there is a lesson in balance here. All things are a part of the one, and to truly succeed and prosper, we must love and be compassionate towards all things, not just the ones that we like. Now, as a final note on the subject of wizardry, isn't it interesting that Gandalf's account of his rebirth is eerily reminiscent of Hermes' vision of creation in the Hermetica? Gandalf states that Compare this with the second book of the Hermetica, where Hermes passes into higher worlds and experiences creation. Suddenly, everything changed before me. The reality was opened out in a moment. I saw a boundless view as all became dissolved in light. I heard an unspeakable lament and inarticulate cry of separation until the light uttered a word, which calmed the chaotic waters. To say that the Hermetica influenced Tolkien is beyond the scope of this single episode, but reading passages like this does make you wonder. Now, Gandalf and pals then make their way to Rohan, for they are called to help bring harmony to the kingdom of men. They make their way to see Theoden and find the king of Rohan to be aged and possessed. In the film, Theoden is possessed by Saruman, who is causing this sickness, whereas in the book, he's simply depressed and deluded by Wormtong. Ultimately, Saruman is behind it in both ways, but Peter Jackson took the approach of possession to demonstrate a physical manifestation of mental illness and negative energy, and it worked very well for the visual medium of film. Now Grima serves as an archetypal sycophant, flatterer, liar, and manipulator, and is considered to be based by Tolkien on the untrustworthy character Unfirth in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. From a linguistic standpoint, the name Grima also comes from the old English or Icelandic word Grimo, meaning mask, helmet, or covering, or spectre, or ghost. In the narrative, he whispers negative thoughts, insecurities, and deception into the king's ear, causing him to retreat from life and turn a blind eye to the suffering in the kingdom. In this way, perhaps we can see Wormtong as another representative of the ego, whispering untruths into the back of our mind and making us think that we are alone and separate from each other. When we have thoughts of doubt, hate, fear, or any of these other negative emotions, and then act by them, retreat because of them, it's the same energy conveyed by Grima in the story. Ultimately, the only thing required for evil to prevail is if good people do nothing, and this is what we see happening as Theoden retreats from connecting with his own kingdom. Saruman is free to spread the evil of Mordor across the world. Now, there is a scene where he is threatened by Aomir, who asks him, what is it Saruman promised you to do this evil work? And Grima looks longingly at Aowyn. Now, this is part story and part amazing acting, and you can really feel that in that moment, Grima too is a human and deep down what he wants more than anything is to be loved. However, the path he has taken to try and get this love is one of manipulation, as he too was manipulated by Saruman. And if we follow that change to the end, Saruman is manipulated by Saran, and so it all comes down to this higher order of evil, making itself manifest through the people of Middle Earth. Some scholars of Tolkien have highlighted the idea that Grima is also symbolic of physical dependency in much the same way as a drug or behavior is addictive. Theoden is addicted to Grima's whispers. This theme is echoed in the one-bring itself, as we've discussed extensively before. So in this way, the scene where Gandalf overcomes and casts out Saruman takes on new meaning. Gandalf casts out despair and bandishes Theoden's ego, symbolized by both Saruman and Wormtong. His words to Grima even echo this, as he commands him to be silent. Here, Gandalf represents the light of the soul, and that in order to truly have control over ourselves, we must banish the parts of ourselves that keep us little, weak, and afraid of the world and our responsibilities within it. Now let's jump back over to Mary and Pippin for a moment, who are now spending some time with Treebeard and the Ents. The Ents are a fascinating species designed to be the physical personification of nature itself. They indeed share much in common with the nature spirits of European folklore, which may have even inspired their creation. Yet they serve a higher purpose than just being a folklore insert. They give voice to nature, to Gaia and to the natural world of Middle Earth, and stand as the primary opponent to Saruman's industrialization. Nature and the environment, or rather the destruction of it, is a pervasive theme in Lord of the Rings as a whole. Several different authors and critics have observed Tolkien's environmentalism and his criticism of technology. You'll notice that the forces of evil only employ technology in the story and that Tolkien found it to be one of the evils of the modern world, ugliness, depersonalization, and the separation of humanity from nature. It's no secret that most of the scenes with orcs tend to show industrialization on a vast scale. The churning of machines, the pollution of smoke, and the loud, destructive sounds of war all contribute to creating that feeling of evil that surrounds the orcs and the bad guys in every scene. To Tolkien it would seem evil and industrialism, the destruction of nature, were synonymous. Saruman's domain of Isengard, which we find to be a dark and desolate place, is actually an industrial haven. Machines work in a well-oiled fashion and production is up. Weapons are manufactured promptly, so by our standards today, his domain is the perfect city. Yet, the industrial technology imported by Saruman's minions is seen as an evil threat to harm the natural environment and to replace the traditional crafts and peaceful serenity of the Shire's Hobbits with noisy, polluting mills full of machinery. Again, on a linguistic note, since we know Tolkien loved these, Saruman's name is even implied to be technology-focused, coming from the old English murky and dialect word Saru, which meant skillful or ingenious, and is also associated in Beowulf with Smithcraft being perfect for a cunning man such as Saruman. Of course, the closure of that particular arc of the story ends with all of the Ents storming Isengard, drowning the orcs by breaking the River Dam and stranding Saruman in Orthom. This may even be symbolic of the notion that the Earth is significantly more powerful than we give her credit for, being capable of destroying our civilizations with natural forces easily. There is a definite statement here that Mother Earth will always eventually take back what is hers. Now, the two towers ends with an epic battle, and both story-wise and in the film is nothing short of a masterpiece. At the end of the battle, we see Gandalf appearing on the mountainside with the Roarim army, and they charge down at the orcs. It's masterfully crafted in such a way that for a brief moment, we as the audience lose hope when the orcs pull up their phalanx spears. But just as that happens, the sun rises behind Gandalf and his army, blinding the orcs and faltering their formation. Now, Lord of the Rings makes use of what is known as a soft magic system, a technique in fantasy fiction where the rules and limits of magic are vaguely defined on purpose, so that we don't know the full extent of a character's power. We don't know if it's Gandalf causing this blinding sun, whether it's pure lucky coincidence, or if Eru Aluvatar is lending a helping hand, but either way, it's highly symbolic. And what the symbolism speaks to is hope returning, and the power of truth, love, and goodness. It shows us that light can expel the darkness and rekindle the spirit where it has been lost. Metaphorically and physically, Gandalf brings the light to the battlefield of Helm's Deep and conquers the darkness. Now, one final, very important scene is found at the very end of the movie, which happens in Oskiliath with Frodo and Sam. Frodo expresses that he can't do this after nearly giving in to the Nazgul and the will of the Ring, and like any great hero, he goes through a dark night of the soul where he loses all sense of confidence and feels like giving up on the quest. Sam then looks out over the battlefield and says, It's all wrong! We shouldn't even be here! Which is a hilarious ding at the readers of the Lord of the Rings book, because in the text, Faramir lets Frodo and Sam go very quickly, but in the film, he tries to take them to Gondor through Oskiliath on the way. It's funny because they don't even pass through this place on the book, and Sam's line is a nod to the fans who might otherwise have critiqued the scene. They really just shouldn't be there. Anyways, back to the speech. Sam says this. The old great tales, the ones that mattered, full of darkness and danger, so much that sometimes you don't even want to know the ending, because how can the end be happy? How can the world go back to what it was before everything bad happened? But in the end, it is only a passing thing, the shadow, and even darkness will pass, and when the sun shines, it will shine out ever clearer. Those are the stories that mean something. Even if you were too small to understand it, all those men in our tales succeeded because they held on to something good in this world, and it is worth fighting for. This is an incredibly moving and powerful speech. Spiritually speaking, Sam is delivering an idea here about the inevitability of change, and that no matter how bad things seem at any point, always to remember that they too will pass, and that nothing is permanent. We must ultimately remember that no matter what humanity faces, whatever disconnection within us causes us to abuse the natural resources of the world, and whatever suffering and strife we face collectively, is still all a part of a cycle in our great tale of human history. In time, it too will pass, and as Sam says, the sun will shine on us even brighter tomorrow. And finally, let us remember that while so many have expressed that they need a friend like Sam, we would do well to not forget to try to be more like him too. Lift each other up, check in on your friends and family, spread compassion, and rekindle hope like Gandalf when you see it waning. Thank you so much for watching, and until next time, don't forget to subscribe and hit that notification bell so that you get an update when we publish our final episode on The Lord of the Rings. See you soon.