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“Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.“
"I'm assuming that, like me, you're intimately familiar with the story and have been feeling both blessed and frustrated because of it. Blessed because your time on earth just so happened to overlap with the creation of these movies, and frustrated because no movie has given you quite the same experience ever since." This. 100% this.
People got irrationally upset when rings of power came out. I was just happy I got to be alive when Peter Jacksons trilogy was made. Its perfection. Demanding more is just greedy. I'm Content 😊
I think one thing that is overlooked about the beacons (at least I've never heard anyone talk about it) is the fact that there are still two guys at the top of these frigid, harsh mountains just waiting to light the beacons. Both Denethor and Théoden are hesitant to help each other and the alliance of Men has fractured, so why still have people man the beacons? Surely the guys atop the mountains keeping the beacons would rather be home and warm. The mere fact that the beacons are still being looked after shows that not all hope is lost for Men.
Yeah ... I was in the military and ... oh man ... can you imagine duty on one of those beacons? In the winter? I have to assume that they had some kind of structure to live in and some kind of watch schedule they kept but still ... there are some mighty lonely peaks some of those beacons were built on. And - this string of Beacons seems to go a long way through Gondor and Rohan. Keeping those Beacon Posts supplied would be a real effort. .
I'm glad there are others thinking about how the logistics of the beacons would work. They would have to rotate people, bring in supplies, have a place to live etc.. You can see one of the huts when they first light them. All for the slight chance every few years that one kingdom might need the others help haha.
@@lalilulelo123 It likely wouldn't be a 'job' in the way we see it, but a lifestyle or profession. Something handed down from father to son like a blacksmith would have been. Those peak-top beacons would have been supplied by a village in the valley below, a village who's entire construction was spurred by the beacon it's self. As such, making the trek up the mountain to stay at the beacon would have been seen as a great honour and tradition. As 'payment' for their continued duty a kingdom might lower the taxes of the supporting village so people will always want to live there, so then the cost is built in to the foundations, rather than incurred yearly in wagon trains and soldiery to transport goods over great distances. A modern analogue is a petrol station in the middle of nowhere who's existence created a town to service the vehicles stopping for fuel. Without the road, there's no town. The beacon's treaty is the road, the beacon is the petrol station. Yeah I spent a lot of time thinking about this too.
The scene also encapsulates the very important theme of "it's the small individually insignificant deeds of ordinary small people, which often have the profoundest effect in keeping evil/dispair at bay". Gandalf could have lit the beacons, but that would have defeated the message. Gandalf gets killed, the mighty Elves are fading and have to leave Middle-Earth, Denethor gets driven mad by dispair, Boromir wants to oppose force with force and nearly causes defeat, Saruman is turned evil by trying to fight Sauron like for like, the Dwarves can't hold onto Kazahad-dum, and the unified forces of men are nearly defeated. But in the middle of all that gloom and dispair a few small relatively insignificant people are continously rallying everyone and kicking evils ass, not by force but by being decent beings. With the arguably most heroic of them all being a gardener, who has no greater ambitions in life than helping his friend and growing a tree.
This is actually a scene that most often gets me crying. I agree about the small and insignificant people not only doing good but being on call for it. You look at the mountain tops where the fires light and realize that all those were manned. Kingdoms kept them manned and the men braved the elements for nothing else than to be there in a time of need. It's not a heroic post. It's probably dull even in its dangers. But the posts were manned and the beacons got lit and the call for help went through.
"Unstoppable hope" was always the only way I could describe the emotion the beacons scene filled me with. Another big thing is that the first heroic thing that Gondor does (with Gandalf's meddling, sure, but followed by the beacon-watchers eagerly rushing to do their job) is asking for help. Asking for help becomes heroic.
For me, its at the climbing of mount doom, when Sam says: I cant carry it for you, but I can carry you. Perfectly encapsulates his whole character, and how important it can be to support others.
That moment always makes me cry, and I don’t usually cry at movies. Frodo can’t go any further, his poor skin is torn up by the chain holding the Ring, and Sam dredges up the last of his strength and lifts him up, while both are convinced they’ll die there.
@@CatMom-uw9jl "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" Ask anyone who has ever served in an infantry and they all know this is true. I have never but the call to sacrifice for your friends, for your best friend, is in men's hearts and this scene beautifully crystalizes it.
Sam is probably the greatest example in the entire story to me. He has no assumption or pretense about his role, which you see near the end of TT when Frodo makes the comment about Sam’s role in the story and Sam thinks he is being made fun of. He is just there to ‘not lose’ Frodo and that is it, just simply looking to do the simple things right. He truly is a hero in ROTK. People see Aragorn or others as role models but boy would the world be an amazing place if more of us were like Sam.
The best and most significant moment in The Lord of the Rings, by far, is Frodo sitting under a tree in the woods, reading his book, surrounded by bluebells. It is the quintessential moment that the purpose of the whole trilogy is trying to return to. Despite its brevity on screen, that scene is more important than the cosiness of Bag End or the majesty of Rivendell. Those bluebell woods are pure English nature, in contrast to the grey industry of Saruman or the black gates of Sauron. The bluebell woods, where we can read a good book sitting under a tree on a warm summer's day, are many an Englishman's vision of an idilic paradise.
You know, I've been dealing with severe clinical depression for a large part of my adult life. That dreadful mental illness brings with it negative thinking, pessimism, and if left untreated, ultimately complete despair. Alongside a feeling of terrible loneliness and isolation. It is truly horrifying. The Lord of the Rings movies and books always remind me that I can never give in to that feeling. That I have to find hope somewhere, somehow. And to keep going, no matter how deep and endless the darkness may seem sometimes. Thank you for pointing it out again, I needed that. Honorable mention to Samwise, he has a special place in my heart. More than any other character in my opinion, he simply refuses to give up hope. I want to try to be a little bit more like Sam every day. ❤
Even though there are much more formidable and extremely heroic characters in the story, Tolkien actually makes a decided point of showing, that it's the everyday good of seemingly small and insignificant people, which amounts to the greatest and ultimately most difficult heroism and in the end has the greatest impact in keeping gloom at bay. It's not by accident, that a simple gardener, whose whole ambition in life amounts to "plant a tree and help my friend", is the stories greatest hero.
The lighting of the Beacons has also always made me think of how the world as a whole is so much more powerful than any of the malicious actors within it. It's an unstoppable chain reaction. Neither Sauron nor Denethor could do anything to stop it once the reaction has begun. In that sense it gives me the same feeling as the last march of the ents or the flood that destroys Isengard.
For some reason unstoppable chain reactions carry a lot of emotional weight. Think of all the times in movies you’ve watched people launch things, start machines, hit buttons, pressed send, or even watched dominos fall. There’s something about the one last effort, the final optimal human action in a sequence that magnifies its effect that can actually make people cry.
"And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."
The emotion behind the lighting of the beacons is that it is a call not just for aid, but for any free peoples of Middle-Earth to unite. In the perspective of Aragorn’s overarching arc, the lighting of the beacons is one of the external calls for him to take up his mantle as King of Gondor… until further into the movie’s climax when Aragorn cements his role via rallying the Fellowship and armies of Rohan and Gondor to march at the Black Gate to give Frodo more time to destroy the Ring. Given how Two Towers was about Aragorn slowly rallying allies in the world of Men and slowly taking up the leadership role, ROTK is Aragorn actually taking up his leadership role and taking action.
i wouldnot call it an external call. The hole point of the scene is HOPE and that is what the lighing of the beacons means for Aragorn. Confirmation that despite its dire situation the White City still stands, resisting the Darkness of the East. It also shows The future King´s convictions and beliefs. That the word of a man and the agreements between nations hold value and that once those beacons are lit the rohirrin and their King would honour their oaths. And their certainly did.
I think that the lotr character that I think of most often is Saruman. He joined Sauron simply because he thought that he could not be beaten, and in the end he was beaten despite the major support that Saruman himself provided. "Imagine if Saruman fought for the side of good", I've thought to myself ever since I was little. "How much less suffering and loss would the victory have cost". And as for The Hobbit, Bilbo shouting for more time in riddles in the dark was something that I always found to be somewhat profound.
Truly beautiful essay. As someone that grew up in Colombia during the 80's, 90's and early 2000's in poverty, I can tell you, every single day that you made it alive and unharm is a defiance to death lurking at each corner, my mother didn't give up and against probabilities, today, Im alive, wearing the scars but looking to the future, passing to an other generation the beacon that gives strength to the weak and small.
Hey man, my dad just died 2 days ago and I just wanted you to know you're videos have always given me hope and guidance through the years. This might not be the right video because there are other that are much more suited to the grief I was not ready for. But I just wanted to thank you for your videos and understanding of your subjects and the bigger context in our lives. If Joseph Campbell ever wanted a successor, it would've probably been you. Keep up the awesome work.
The other inspiring thing about that sequence is the implication that the keepers of each of those beacons had to dutifully keep vigil for a long time, like a prolonged version of the army's "hurry up and wait", for the one moment when their action was needed. Every link in the chain, across lands and cultures, had to exhibit the same hopeful call to action as pippin
I look at this scene as the first part of the very next scene. Theoden is told by Aragorn about the beacons being lit, meaning that Gondor is asking for help. Theoden had been ambivalent about the possibility of helping Gondor since they had not come to Rohan’s aid when it needed it. A moment passes between when Aragorn asks Theoden what Rohan would answer Gondor’s cry for help. We see the expectant looks of the characters waiting for Theoden’s answer, maybe expecting him to say no and think of his own people which he had every right to do. Instead, Theoden says “and Rohan will answer!”. Then he calls to Eomor to muster The Rohirim. Cuts immediately to my favorite half of the whole scene; the bell calling the Rohirim. “Now is the hour! Riders of Rohan, oaths you have taken fulfill them now for lord and land!” I may have just stood in the theatre and run to the screen to join them.
The hole point of the scene is HOPE and that is what the lighing of the beacons means for Aragorn. Confirmation that despite its dire situation the White City still stands, resisting the Darkness of the East. It also shows The future King´s convictions and beliefs. That the word of a man and the agreements between nations hold value and that once those beacons are lit the rohirrin and their King would honour their oaths. And their certainly did.
The movie has many stirring moments. But the most moving part for me is in the book when Aragorn calls Faramir back from under the Black Shadow. “My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king command?” Faramir is getting the love he never got from his father. “who would lie idle when the king has returned?” Who, indeed? Gets me every time.
I like when at the end of the trilogy, the four hobbits are sitting in the Green Dragon completely oblivious to everyone around them. They just look at each other silently and smile knowing what they've been through couldn't be explained or understood. I feel that's what WW2 veterans might have felt after coming back home.
That's the experience of any veteran of any war--or of any human being who's been through a traumatic or life-changing experience--who has survived, and is "back to normal", back in the "regular" world, surrounded by people who probably have no idea what the veteran or victim has experienced...and for those of us who have experienced that, there's a sense of disconnection and loneliness, that your experiences have forever set you apart from others...unless one of them experienced it, too. When Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin (especially Pippin, his look is the most wistful and poignant in the scene) stare unfocused for those brief seconds, then look at one another, the realization that they still have one another to share their experiences with is incredibly comforting for me. This, of course, makes their separation when Frodo leaves on the elven ship that much more painful. His experience was too severe to continue living in the Shire. This, too, is true with some veterans and victims, unfortunately.
This scene when the others are realising that Frodo is leaving and how he explains that the Shire has been saved, but not for him, is the most emotional for me. Sometimes I go back to just that very last part of the books and the movies.
"People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider's webs. It's not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go." @CrowsFault What can men do against such reckless hate? The best they can. And when our strength is spent, when we stand alone against that hate, we ask for help. And we hope that we will get it.
For me, the best scene was shortly after Theoden's regaining of his senses. Upon learning of the death of Theodred, Theoden stands at his son's burial mound with Gandalf. He holds a little white flower, Simblemynë, that grows on the mounds. Theoden laments that it shall cover the grave of his son, and that "... alas that these evil days shall be mine. The young perish and the old linger." Gandalf tries to console him, that Theodred's death wasn't of his making and Theoden breaks down after saying "No parent should have to bury their child." As he cries, Gandalf once again tries to comfort him by saying, "He was strong in life." The music swells and he continues, "His spirit will find its way to the halls of your fathers." Gandalf whispers a short prayer; "Westu hál. Feròu, Théodred, Feròu." Allegedly, and I'll look for a source if anyone's interested or anyone can confirm, he actually cried during this. I've heard rumours it's because of what a woman in Glasgow said to him, others that he was playing with his children after learning the lines and he thought about it, but whatever triggered it that he truly broke down and started to cry. Further, again alleged, he considers this to be his favourite scene in his career.
It's a brilliantly moving scene. For a film trilogy that has had some critisism for having almost no female characters, at least it can't be criticised for upholding toxic masculinity. The number of grown men who break down and cry throughout, who are supported by their friends and never shamed, is a breath of fresh air even twenty years later. We'll be learning things from these films for decades more.
My favorite scene in the entire trilogy isn't in the books, but it's the scene with Boromir and Aragorn in Lothlorien. "Have you ever seen it, Aragorn? The white tower of Ecthelion, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver. Its banners caught high in the morning breeze. Have you ever been called home, by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?" That with the Gondor theme softly playing in the background is just a chefs kiss.
That was in the book as well. It might have been worded differently, but Boromir says much the same to Aragorn just before his death in Amon Hen. But yeah, Howard Shore's music added a lot to passages like that.
@@Disgruntled_Grunt that conversation is not in the books at all. The dialog is from a part from the third book. But Aragorn and Boromir don't have that conversation in the book.
@@MorgothsBalrog Yep, you're right. I could have sworn it was from either The Breaking of the Fellowship or Departure of Boromir, but I just checked both and it seems I Mandela-effected myself about it.
This highlighted theme reminds me a quote from Cloud Atlas: "No matter what you do it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean.” - Haskell Moore “What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?” - Adam Ewing
Simple. To me the Lighting of the Beacons by Gondor shocks Rohan back into action after a dejected King Thoden asks his famous rhetorical questions earlier in the trilogy, "Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell?" The beacons recall him and his people back to their ancestral loyalty.
You captured the essence of LotR so beautifully. I always watch it to remind myself that there is hope. That the small deeds of ordinary people are what keeps evil at bay. Seeing those manned posts on the top of the mountains do their job even though it is not glorious or comfortable just for the slim chance that they might be needed... The lighting of the beacons has been the most powerful scene for me in any movie since I first saw it and it never fails to make me cry.
You are correct - the central theme of perhaps three themes - is the difference between hope and despair. Even hope in the face of near certain death, like Theoden's charge of Death, and Aragorn marching on Mordor as a distraction. Denethor could have chosen Hope, but instead chooses dispair and suicide. - at least the book version tried to fight, and only gave in when his last son was dying.
This video made me quite emotional. As always you manage to so beautifully articulate and unravel the elements at the core of these movies that make them so meaningful to so many of us. Thank you!
As soon as the video opened on what the metaphor was of the beacons, the first one that came out of my mouth was hope. I also always really loved this sequence because it shows not only that hope is possible but that hope is hard but ultimately worth it. So much could have gone wrong in this sequence from Pippin failing, to the beacons being interrupted by doubt or fear, to Theoden potentially rejecting the call to arms and yet, despite any of the doubts and misgivings of any of the characters hope prevailed. That's a beautiful message. No matter who you are or where you are at in life that despite everything hope can always prevail. Great video like always
I always wished I could experience Lord of the Rings as if watching it for the first time, and somehow this video brings me to that. This is UA-cam content we didn't deserve, but definitely the kind it needs right now. Absolutely top tier content!
I still remember how quiet the theater became the moment Fellowship started. The darkness and then Cate Blanchett’s voice. And it stayed quiet for the whole movie. My husband is a lifelong Tolkien nerd, and we saw it on opening day with a theater full of other Tolkien nerds, and everyone was all so focused. Reminiscent of seeing Star Wars as a kid, with the massive star cruiser appearing overhead and the thunder of its engines vibrating the air. You knew you were seeing something big and amazing.
I think that is why a lot of us (me included) like to watch first-time reactions to Lord of the Rings on UA-cam, as it's a vicarious experience, like when my son saw it for the first time as a boy. Someone who has empathy can enjoy them again by sharing them with someone else who hasn't seen them.
I always found it a great testament to the quality of the trilogy that few things in any other movie - or all kinds of media for that matter - have made me feel the sheer excitement and enthusiasm this scene evokes. Peter Jackson and Howard Shore didn't need to make it go this hard, yet here we are.
I really love when you have a perfectly succinct metaphor. It really brings that special element that helps a story transcend and touch something deeper.
The lighting of the beacons has always been my favorite sequence, from it's beauty to it's message of hope, it's message that even the smallest of us have our part to play. Thank you for this beautiful video! Your crafting of it is brilliant as is the script. I loved it!
When ROTK came out, I was 12. I still remember crying at the lighting of the beacons, trying so hard to hide it from my friend who, I found out years later, was also crying.
At the end of Two Towers, when Gandalf comes riding down the hill from the East.. The music, the meaning, the hope. That’s my favorite moment in the incredible series.
This is also why Aragorn, whose name Estel means hope, is the perfect king to lead the resistance against Sauron. It really is Hope that leads the charge at the black gate!
I don't say this often, but you make impactful, highly emotional, meaningful videos. Without being corny. It's damn hard, but it's obvious that you love searching for deeper meaning in things. And so do I. Thank you!
First, the beacon lighting sequence is a flex and a full happy ending to the brutal deep tissue massage you've been getting. Jackson knows he has you, knows you've had that "men are weak...scattered, divided, leaderless" line echoing in your head for two movies and knows that you'll be floating above your seat after this scene and all the way through to the 9 endings he has in store. Second...oh, goodness...if anyone isn't watching the extended editions...ugh, I don't know how to look on the rising sun with full optimism if that is the case. Please don't short your life in that way. Please don't watch the unextended editions.
The beacons are not just a call for aid; they are a profound metaphor for the unity and collective strength of disparate entities against a common existential threat. They illuminate a fundamental truth about the human condition: we are stronger together than apart.
The best moment from the book: And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the city, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of war nor of wizardry, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns, in dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
That shot of Aragorn seeing the beacon, with him and the buildings in more or less silhouette and the mountains behind is so good. I feel like it's the kind of shot that film nerds would go nuts over if it was from a classic 60's western or something, and not really something you'd expect in a big, modern adventure movie.
Always proud to support your work. Your thesis here makes me think of the scene in Children of Men that makes me more emotional than any other. Everyone talks about the third act’s single take of Theo running through the battle, but what’s even more striking to me is (spoiler) the scene just a little later where he and Kee walk out of the war torn apartment building and the fighting ceases temporarily as everyone is completely arrested by the sight and sound of the baby. I suppose it is a very obvious metaphor for hope, as all babies are, but the sudden release of the tension built throughout the entire film as all of their allies die and the situation becomes increasingly, impossibly desperate hits me hard and leaves me sobbing every time. It is also a powerful reminder of our shared humanity that gets too easily forgotten due to myriad political and religious differences.
I've been thinking for a while that Children of Men should be almost mandatory watching...everytime I meet someone thinking about having kids or not, I say, watch that movie and that scene in particular...hope. That's it
Picard's will ultimately bends unbeknownst to his oppressor, however he won the moral fight and perhaps ultimately his soul by going until he thought he could actually see 5 lights
"Blessed becuase your time on earth just so happened to overlap with the creation of the Lord of the Rings movies". YES, that's how i feel. Perfectly put.
Your videos often bring me to tears, they make me think and ruminate about life, purpose and re-explore my ideas on politics and social studies. I'm grateful for what you bring to the world we share.
This is the first video of yours that I've seen and it had me crying most of the way through. You've put into words an incredible perspective on hope that is meaningful and applicable. Thank you for the amazing work! You've got a new subscriber out of me.
The question you articulate at length from Tolkien got me thinking: "One of the fundamental questions that Tolkien asks is, why does evil feel so all-devouring, and goodness so fragile? Why does it seem so easy to give in to despair, and so difficult to hold on to hope?" Some of your language in this section reminds me of a poem by Czeslaw Milsoz, "One Day." I think the poem answers this question, but it poses it somewhat differently and presents a different angle in its answer. But I think it's basically concordant with Tolkien's vision. Here are some lines from the poem, but I recommend the whole thing. It's very beautiful. Comprehension of good and evil is given in the running of the blood. In a child's nestling close to its mother, she is security and warmth, In night fears when we are small, in dread of the beast's fangs and in terror of dark rooms, In youthful infatuations where childhood delight finds completion. And should we discredit the idea for its modest origins? Or should we say plainly that good is on the side of the living And evil on the side of a doom that lurks to devour us? Yes, good is an ally of being and the mirror of evil is nothing... The same can be said of beauty. It should not exist. There is not only no reason for it, but an argument against. Yet undoubtedly it is, and is different from ugliness. ... And though the good is weak, beauty is very strong. Nonbeing sprawls, everywhere it turns into ash whole expanses of being, It masquerades in shapes and colors that imitate existence And no one would know it, if they did not know that it is ugly. And when people cease to believe that there is good and evil Only beauty will call to them and save them So that they still know how to say: this is true and that is false. (New and Collected Poems 1931-2001, pp. 418-419) I think it makes sense to read this poem while thinking of LOTR. The connection is obvious: beauty is the foundation of hope. And LOTR is very beautiful indeed. It is probably not an accident that both Tolkien and Milosz were Catholic.
I'm only 21 seconds in, but I'd say my favorite / best moments are: 1. The close ups on Sam and Frodo as the struggle to climb Mt Doom. There's a shot where the camera follows Frodo's hand has he grabs the rocks, it's very shaky and that music reminiscent of the shire plays... SO. GOOD. 2. When Gandalf arrives to Minas Tirith and uses wards off the Nazgûl's flying on Fellbeasts. There is a shot that follow this encounter, that pans away from Gandalf and aims to Minas Tirith. Also, very shaky. Love that moment.
Despair requires no effort. Merely giving up. Hope requires psychological heavy lifting, investment, action. There is a line in the novel, that is spoken in the second movie, but flashed over. It’s when the remains of the Fellowship decide to pursue the Uruk-hai to rescue Merry and Pippin and the dwarf tells Aragorn that it’s a hopeless task. Aragorn says, “Then we must go on without hope.” That for me, is a defining moment. As you put it, an act of defiance. Aragorn will expend the last of his energies doing the right thing, regardless of whether he expects success, because he sees himself as being one of those minor players in a bigger story, but feels the weight of responsibility for what others may think about their endeavours. It’s the tear jerking moment for me. To have a friend so loyal and committed that they just will not stop is a blessing we should all wish for. That’s the sort of leadership that inspires loyal followers, rational or not. To, “hope, beyond hope,” as Gandalf puts it.
After Aragorn says "Then we must go on without hope", he also says something like, "there is always revenge", which focuses his love for Merry and Pippin by showing his anger over that the orcs may kill them and how he would resolve it. It also brings to mind the Welsh saying, "In a fight, anger is as good as courage."
@@rikk319 : I didn’t remember anything about revenge? It’s been a lifetime since I read it though. Interesting. In a way, that kind of sullies the sentiment of the great love and sacrifice they’re willing to offer for their companions but, if it’s there it’s there. I like that Celtic war cry though.
As a Swiss this is particularly impactful. Lighting fires on the hills in each village and seeing all the other villages do the same is how we celebrate the national holiday.
What's significant to me about that LotR lighting of the beacons scene is, with deeper thought, the amount of effort to create and maintain those beacon posts. All that wood and kindling had to be carried up to those peaks, way above the treeline. The beacon minders had to live near enough to set them ablaze, keeping a smaller fire to light the beacon and to keep themselves warm in the frigid heights, likely having to build huts for themselves to live in and keeping a regular supply of firewood from forests below. They had to protect and maintain the woodpiles against snow and rain, keeping dry kindling on hand. Eyes had to always remain vigilant toward neighboring beacons to notice when they're lit. That is a LOT of commitment and work!
Although I DID grow up with Star Wars, like you the most emotional part of Rogue One is that sequence of individuals selfishly sacrificing themselves for a glimmer of hope. Similarly, the Beacons being lit has never failed to make me cry, but I never quite understood why that was. Thank you for explaining it so well.
Literally watched LOTR FOTR (EE) for the first time in 10 years and this video comes up straight after. Wow. Outstanding analysis, can’t believe I’ve not found this channel before now. Bravo.
In rogue one, I actually felt that it, rather than just showing one or two people off as heroes, it elevated every rebel into heroism by virtue of their cause
That, I think, was his purpose in saying that good guys in these kinds of movies ALWAYS work together, usually to fight one single, overpowering authoritarian bad guy. The collective is greater than the individual. Avengers vs Thanos, Fellowship vs Sauron, Rebels vs Emperor Palpatine, Dumbledore's Army vs Voldemort, and so on. It doesn't matter how far back you go, you see it--Dorothy and her new friends vs the Wicked Witch of the West is merely a century + back, but it's an archetype seen throughout this kind of fiction.
7:15 - 7:43 “Wars are fought for 2 things: survival or advantage. Battles may be won by the better soldier, wars are won by those who are willing to SACRIFICE everything to ensure victory!” - Kratos, Ghost of Sparta, GOW There is only ONE scene in three decades of cinema I have watched that will make me, a grown man cry a river uncontrollably every single time I see it. When Gandalf and Pippin are at their lowest moment, left CATATONIC, when all hope is lost and suddenly you hear the horns of Rhorrim…. Immediately its switched to the riders steady with the golden light behind them burried underneath the shadow… You see Theoden stare at the army that is awaiting him with shock, unbelief and fear in his eyes. What follows is just pure magnificence. FEAR NO DARKNESS! Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Spear shall be shaken, shield shall be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now, ride! Ride for ruin and the world's ending! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! - every single rider is screaming in unison unbelievable! Forth Eorlingas! We hear the horns a second time, shivers down my spine CHARGE! The king takes the first steps, the beautiful encore together with him rising ! One volley of arrows, the second, the third and Harvey Weinstein is utterly terrified together with all his brethren. Then when the charge is about to hit while you see all the fear in the eyers of the orcs, Jackson focuses the frame on one hell bent rider more eager than the rest to take the first kill giving no shit…just spectacular! Nothing will beat this moment in cinema history till the day I die I am certain of that, and the lighting of the beacons is the catalyst for this scene, but this is the scene that is everything that is about the LOFR. The total “irrational and fully emotional” denial of what is to expected, immeasurable courage against great odds, and a grand F U to “evil and despair” as a whole. Immaculate SACRIFICE that will ever be shown on screen “for all time”. P.S. the second is probably the great Rutger Hauer and his speech on that rooftop that also gets me every time.
Showing a bunch of people doing their very best to avoid the end of their world is so much more powerful than just telling us the big bad plans to end the world
Man, your video essays are some of the best content I’ve seen on UA-cam. I don’t go to church anymore, but so many of your videos inspire me and give me hope more than any sermon ever has
"What can men do against such reckless hate?" "Ride out with me." Theoden and Aragorn's exchange at Helm's Deep has really stood out to me in recent times of darkness and despair for this very reason. The people of Rohan are screwed, there is no victory, there is no winning in this situation. But there is still importance in doing something, even if it seems like it will be futile, and it often makes all the difference.
My family and I have been following you for years. Thank you for making these videos to teach our children the principles and powerful messages that we want to pass on. We appreciate you and have for a very long time. Take care of yourself.
I love your comment about feeling blessed and frustrated about the existence of these films. You’ve captured a shared sentiment in an incredibly precise way.
I'm genuinely crying. This is one of the best videos I've ever watched. You deserve to be successful and admired all around the world. The way you explain things and concepts is incredibly emotionally effective. You have a rare talent, my friend.
Great video dude. I love all of your discussions of LotR and it's genuinely amazing how well you manage to capture and articulate the beauty of these movies. "Hope". Yeah, shit. That's *exactly* what that scene is about. Well done.
Excellent work as per. Rogue One's "Take it!" always stood out to me, as you correctly pinpoint, it is the desperate flaring of hope in the face of almighty dark adversity 👌💪
Excellent, thank you for this beautiful analysis Here, I have a complementary explanation that you might like : there's also the music. Lighting of the beacons it is the strongest iteration of the Minas Tirith theme, which is one of the three arias, in the trilogy, that represent each one specific chant of courage and fortitude. The other ones are, first the Fellowship theme, which we hear in the first movie foremost (for instance, in the Moria stairs scene), and which stands for fortitude found in friendship, bold, joyful, and self-sufficient. The Minas Tirith theme, with its sort of spiraling and escalating shapes, stands for fortitude resulting from the institution of the State, its majesty and legitimacy, and the years it has stood in defense of men, like a tower, or like a beacons system, always ready to be lit. Which is why the moment when they are lit, is the moment of all its glory : things have been prepared for years, for help to be called, solidarity between men to be implemented. And then there is the third one, of course, which is the contrary of the previous one, and possibly the most emotional to everyone : the theme of Rohan. With its single, lonely and melancholic Hardanger violin motif, its stands for courage in absolute solitude, when no one is helping you; no state or alliance ("Where was Gondor" etc.). Which is why it is so great when we hear it one last time at the precise moment when the Rohirim begin their charge : they basically freed themselves on their own, before liberating the whole of Middle Earth through their sacrifice.
your videos always bring tears to my eyes. your careful analysis and soft voice over emotional music.... and this one hit especially hard with all the wars going on right now. I hope we can all keep our beacons lit for those who need it most right now. Thank you for your video.
You are so correct...lighting the beacons was a meaningful moment that stood out for me as well. At the very moment was profound to me and as I watched it I knew it...I just couldn't explain it. Now I can. I think that you perception of hope is very connected to what these movies are saying. These are some of the more powerful movies during our cinema age of mediocrity. It's very curious to me that these movies of hope are so powerful. I find it meaningful that we seem to have such a hunger for hope in these days. I think the need for hope seems curiously strong at this moment that happens at a time when despair seems high and all control seems out of the vommon person's hands.
To me the beacon light means that even in darkest moments you can hope for aid, even if you think that no one is out there, you can hope someone will be. Even if that help takes time to reach, or the laces have been broken someone will answer at the end.
Late to the party here. The lighting of the beacons is my favorite scene in the trilogy, and what struck me when I first saw it was its portrayal of human ingenuity and perseverance. The story takes place at the end of the Elven age and beginning the "Age of Men," and it's demonstrating what humanity can do, why it will survive the LOTR and continue into subsequent ages. Yeah, it's about hope and working together, but it also a demonstration of simple genius, what something as simple as fire can do when harnessed. It made me think of early humanity and pre-modern communication networks. It's the kind of ingenuity that got us to this point, in a purely metaphorical way of course. Whatever it means, it's awesome. You got some of the most epic, swelling music in the entire score building progressively more triumphant as you're like, "holy shit, yet another beacon. It's pure epic cinema.
After all, Galadriel does call the fight against evil "the long defeat." It's sobering, to hear it put in this manner. Yet we have to stay and fight it anyways, mustn't we? What is hope, if not that?
As a massive LOTR fan I've watched a lot of video essays about it, and this was one of the best I've ever seen - the messages you conveyed, along with the careful selection of related visuals and the beautiful music, which added so much, was wonderful and moved me quite a bit. You made me understand and appreciate the core messages of LOTR more than before - thank you.
Great analysis! I think it is worth narrowing back down to the individuals for a moment when considering this scene. Why is Gandalf the instigator? Why have Pippen actually light the first beacon? Why is it Aragorn who first sees the signal and so energetically entreats Theoden? Remember that Pippen, at that moment, is not just hanging out in Minas Tirith with Gandalf; he is in the sworn service of Denethor in payment for the death of Boromir defending him. In other words, Pippen is a literal stand-in for Boromir. And back in Fellowship, there is a scene in Lothlorien where Boromir (who has changed his mind from his earlier rejection of Aragorn's kingship) talks about hope, his father, and tells Aragorn that one day their paths will lead them to Minas Tirith. (Aragorn's storyline in the movie has him flatly rejecting the notion early, but by the wonderful death scene at the end of FOTR, he promises Boromir he will go to save the city.) So, when Peter Jackson has Pippen be the lighter of the signal, it is in essence the spirit of Boromir, his literal stand-in, who does it. Gandalf sees the second beacon (Amon Din) blaze up and states "Hope is kindled!" And who is it that gets fired up on the other end? Aragorn. Aragorn, whose nickname from his mother is Estel, meaning "hope". Oh, and Gandalf...in the Appendices of LOTR, Tolkien writes that Gandalf received one of the three Elven rings, the Ring of Fire, so that he might "rekindle hearts in a world that grows chill." BTW, the score ties all of this together perfectly, and the music for the lighting of the beacons is far, far from being isolated and self-contained. The musical story of this scene goes all the way back to FOTR, and bridges scenes therein with the beacon lighting, the presentation of the sword Narsil to Aragorn, and to the coronation scene.
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“There never was much hope. Only a fool’s hope” gains a new meaning after Pippin the ‘Fool of a Took’ rekindles hope by lighting the beacons.
“Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.“
"I'm assuming that, like me, you're intimately familiar with the story and have been feeling both blessed and frustrated because of it. Blessed because your time on earth just so happened to overlap with the creation of these movies, and frustrated because no movie has given you quite the same experience ever since."
This. 100% this.
Same. I understand this so much.
Totally. I'm sad to think my daughter may as well never get to experience something like that
I thought exactly the same.
People got irrationally upset when rings of power came out. I was just happy I got to be alive when Peter Jacksons trilogy was made. Its perfection. Demanding more is just greedy. I'm Content 😊
If this could be a t-shirt I would wear it to the end of my days
I think one thing that is overlooked about the beacons (at least I've never heard anyone talk about it) is the fact that there are still two guys at the top of these frigid, harsh mountains just waiting to light the beacons. Both Denethor and Théoden are hesitant to help each other and the alliance of Men has fractured, so why still have people man the beacons? Surely the guys atop the mountains keeping the beacons would rather be home and warm. The mere fact that the beacons are still being looked after shows that not all hope is lost for Men.
idiot one has to keep watch while other sleeps
Yeah ... I was in the military and ... oh man ... can you imagine duty on one of those beacons? In the winter? I have to assume that they had some kind of structure to live in and some kind of watch schedule they kept but still ... there are some mighty lonely peaks some of those beacons were built on.
And - this string of Beacons seems to go a long way through Gondor and Rohan. Keeping those Beacon Posts supplied would be a real effort.
.
I'm glad there are others thinking about how the logistics of the beacons would work. They would have to rotate people, bring in supplies, have a place to live etc.. You can see one of the huts when they first light them. All for the slight chance every few years that one kingdom might need the others help haha.
I remember watching it in theaters and thinking, man, that job must suck.
@@lalilulelo123 It likely wouldn't be a 'job' in the way we see it, but a lifestyle or profession. Something handed down from father to son like a blacksmith would have been. Those peak-top beacons would have been supplied by a village in the valley below, a village who's entire construction was spurred by the beacon it's self. As such, making the trek up the mountain to stay at the beacon would have been seen as a great honour and tradition.
As 'payment' for their continued duty a kingdom might lower the taxes of the supporting village so people will always want to live there, so then the cost is built in to the foundations, rather than incurred yearly in wagon trains and soldiery to transport goods over great distances.
A modern analogue is a petrol station in the middle of nowhere who's existence created a town to service the vehicles stopping for fuel. Without the road, there's no town.
The beacon's treaty is the road, the beacon is the petrol station. Yeah I spent a lot of time thinking about this too.
The scene also encapsulates the very important theme of "it's the small individually insignificant deeds of ordinary small people, which often have the profoundest effect in keeping evil/dispair at bay".
Gandalf could have lit the beacons, but that would have defeated the message.
Gandalf gets killed, the mighty Elves are fading and have to leave Middle-Earth, Denethor gets driven mad by dispair, Boromir wants to oppose force with force and nearly causes defeat, Saruman is turned evil by trying to fight Sauron like for like, the Dwarves can't hold onto Kazahad-dum, and the unified forces of men are nearly defeated.
But in the middle of all that gloom and dispair a few small relatively insignificant people are continously rallying everyone and kicking evils ass, not by force but by being decent beings. With the arguably most heroic of them all being a gardener, who has no greater ambitions in life than helping his friend and growing a tree.
This is actually a scene that most often gets me crying. I agree about the small and insignificant people not only doing good but being on call for it.
You look at the mountain tops where the fires light and realize that all those were manned. Kingdoms kept them manned and the men braved the elements for nothing else than to be there in a time of need.
It's not a heroic post. It's probably dull even in its dangers. But the posts were manned and the beacons got lit and the call for help went through.
and marying a certain lady
@@ulla7378 each mountain topis an island, each representing us, separated, alone. But once alight, we are all connected and not alone any more.
"Unstoppable hope" was always the only way I could describe the emotion the beacons scene filled me with.
Another big thing is that the first heroic thing that Gondor does (with Gandalf's meddling, sure, but followed by the beacon-watchers eagerly rushing to do their job) is asking for help. Asking for help becomes heroic.
For me, its at the climbing of mount doom, when Sam says: I cant carry it for you, but I can carry you.
Perfectly encapsulates his whole character, and how important it can be to support others.
That moment always makes me cry, and I don’t usually cry at movies. Frodo can’t go any further, his poor skin is torn up by the chain holding the Ring, and Sam dredges up the last of his strength and lifts him up, while both are convinced they’ll die there.
@@CatMom-uw9jl
"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends"
Ask anyone who has ever served in an infantry and they all know this is true. I have never but the call to sacrifice for your friends, for your best friend, is in men's hearts and this scene beautifully crystalizes it.
Totally!
Sam is probably the greatest example in the entire story to me. He has no assumption or pretense about his role, which you see near the end of TT when Frodo makes the comment about Sam’s role in the story and Sam thinks he is being made fun of. He is just there to ‘not lose’ Frodo and that is it, just simply looking to do the simple things right. He truly is a hero in ROTK. People see Aragorn or others as role models but boy would the world be an amazing place if more of us were like Sam.
The Ring: "Wat the f**k! loophole!"
The best and most significant moment in The Lord of the Rings, by far, is Frodo sitting under a tree in the woods, reading his book, surrounded by bluebells. It is the quintessential moment that the purpose of the whole trilogy is trying to return to.
Despite its brevity on screen, that scene is more important than the cosiness of Bag End or the majesty of Rivendell. Those bluebell woods are pure English nature, in contrast to the grey industry of Saruman or the black gates of Sauron. The bluebell woods, where we can read a good book sitting under a tree on a warm summer's day, are many an Englishman's vision of an idilic paradise.
Worth protecting, perhaps.
Can't have that anymore, oy vey open borders guys, let the foreigners in, you bigots
Beautifully written. You stirred me up inside a bit🥲
Yes, indeed. Well said.
I'm tired and I literally read that as "blueballs" at first
Which I found hilarious.
You know, I've been dealing with severe clinical depression for a large part of my adult life. That dreadful mental illness brings with it negative thinking, pessimism, and if left untreated, ultimately complete despair. Alongside a feeling of terrible loneliness and isolation. It is truly horrifying.
The Lord of the Rings movies and books always remind me that I can never give in to that feeling. That I have to find hope somewhere, somehow. And to keep going, no matter how deep and endless the darkness may seem sometimes. Thank you for pointing it out again, I needed that.
Honorable mention to Samwise, he has a special place in my heart. More than any other character in my opinion, he simply refuses to give up hope. I want to try to be a little bit more like Sam every day. ❤
Even though there are much more formidable and extremely heroic characters in the story, Tolkien actually makes a decided point of showing, that it's the everyday good of seemingly small and insignificant people, which amounts to the greatest and ultimately most difficult heroism and in the end has the greatest impact in keeping gloom at bay.
It's not by accident, that a simple gardener, whose whole ambition in life amounts to "plant a tree and help my friend", is the stories greatest hero.
I'm fighting this fight with you my friend. You are not alone.
“Be more like Sam” words to live by…
Same, I’m here with you 🥲💞
I also have fought this problem my entire life. Keep up the good fight. I will as well.
The lighting of the Beacons has also always made me think of how the world as a whole is so much more powerful than any of the malicious actors within it. It's an unstoppable chain reaction. Neither Sauron nor Denethor could do anything to stop it once the reaction has begun. In that sense it gives me the same feeling as the last march of the ents or the flood that destroys Isengard.
For some reason unstoppable chain reactions carry a lot of emotional weight. Think of all the times in movies you’ve watched people launch things, start machines, hit buttons, pressed send, or even watched dominos fall. There’s something about the one last effort, the final optimal human action in a sequence that magnifies its effect that can actually make people cry.
"And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."
The emotion behind the lighting of the beacons is that it is a call not just for aid, but for any free peoples of Middle-Earth to unite. In the perspective of Aragorn’s overarching arc, the lighting of the beacons is one of the external calls for him to take up his mantle as King of Gondor… until further into the movie’s climax when Aragorn cements his role via rallying the Fellowship and armies of Rohan and Gondor to march at the Black Gate to give Frodo more time to destroy the Ring. Given how Two Towers was about Aragorn slowly rallying allies in the world of Men and slowly taking up the leadership role, ROTK is Aragorn actually taking up his leadership role and taking action.
i wouldnot call it an external call. The hole point of the scene is HOPE and that is what the lighing of the beacons means for Aragorn.
Confirmation that despite its dire situation the White City still stands, resisting the Darkness of the East.
It also shows The future King´s convictions and beliefs. That the word of a man and the agreements between nations hold value and that once those beacons are lit the rohirrin and their King would honour their oaths. And their certainly did.
To paraphrase one of my fav philosophers:
*_"Hope becomes a material force as soon as it has gripped the masses."_*
I think that the lotr character that I think of most often is Saruman. He joined Sauron simply because he thought that he could not be beaten, and in the end he was beaten despite the major support that Saruman himself provided. "Imagine if Saruman fought for the side of good", I've thought to myself ever since I was little. "How much less suffering and loss would the victory have cost".
And as for The Hobbit, Bilbo shouting for more time in riddles in the dark was something that I always found to be somewhat profound.
you felt exactly what tolkien intended you to feel about saruman :)
Truly beautiful essay. As someone that grew up in Colombia during the 80's, 90's and early 2000's in poverty, I can tell you, every single day that you made it alive and unharm is a defiance to death lurking at each corner, my mother didn't give up and against probabilities, today, Im alive, wearing the scars but looking to the future, passing to an other generation the beacon that gives strength to the weak and small.
Hey man, my dad just died 2 days ago and I just wanted you to know you're videos have always given me hope and guidance through the years.
This might not be the right video because there are other that are much more suited to the grief I was not ready for. But I just wanted to thank you for your videos and understanding of your subjects and the bigger context in our lives.
If Joseph Campbell ever wanted a successor, it would've probably been you. Keep up the awesome work.
My condolences! I couldn't agree more, these videos do give a kind of comfort and greater understanding of life.
I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. (I couldn't just pass you by.)
Sorry to hear about your Father.I know what it’s like.Safe Passage...to you both
My heart goes out to you, I'm sorry for your loss.
It's the perfect video to post on. I'm so sorry for your loss...
The other inspiring thing about that sequence is the implication that the keepers of each of those beacons had to dutifully keep vigil for a long time, like a prolonged version of the army's "hurry up and wait", for the one moment when their action was needed. Every link in the chain, across lands and cultures, had to exhibit the same hopeful call to action as pippin
I look at this scene as the first part of the very next scene. Theoden is told by Aragorn about the beacons being lit, meaning that Gondor is asking for help. Theoden had been ambivalent about the possibility of helping Gondor since they had not come to Rohan’s aid when it needed it. A moment passes between when Aragorn asks Theoden what Rohan would answer Gondor’s cry for help. We see the expectant looks of the characters waiting for Theoden’s answer, maybe expecting him to say no and think of his own people which he had every right to do. Instead, Theoden says “and Rohan will answer!”. Then he calls to Eomor to muster The Rohirim. Cuts immediately to my favorite half of the whole scene; the bell calling the Rohirim. “Now is the hour! Riders of Rohan, oaths you have taken fulfill them now for lord and land!” I may have just stood in the theatre and run to the screen to join them.
The hole point of the scene is HOPE and that is what the lighing of the beacons means for Aragorn.
Confirmation that despite its dire situation the White City still stands, resisting the Darkness of the East.
It also shows The future King´s convictions and beliefs. That the word of a man and the agreements between nations hold value and that once those beacons are lit the rohirrin and their King would honour their oaths. And their certainly did.
The movie has many stirring moments. But the most moving part for me is in the book when Aragorn calls Faramir back from under the Black Shadow. “My lord, you called me. I come. What does the king command?” Faramir is getting the love he never got from his father. “who would lie idle when the king has returned?”
Who, indeed? Gets me every time.
One of THE best movie moments of all time. Will never forget seeing it in the theater.
I like when at the end of the trilogy, the four hobbits are sitting in the Green Dragon completely oblivious to everyone around them. They just look at each other silently and smile knowing what they've been through couldn't be explained or understood. I feel that's what WW2 veterans might have felt after coming back home.
That's the experience of any veteran of any war--or of any human being who's been through a traumatic or life-changing experience--who has survived, and is "back to normal", back in the "regular" world, surrounded by people who probably have no idea what the veteran or victim has experienced...and for those of us who have experienced that, there's a sense of disconnection and loneliness, that your experiences have forever set you apart from others...unless one of them experienced it, too.
When Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin (especially Pippin, his look is the most wistful and poignant in the scene) stare unfocused for those brief seconds, then look at one another, the realization that they still have one another to share their experiences with is incredibly comforting for me. This, of course, makes their separation when Frodo leaves on the elven ship that much more painful. His experience was too severe to continue living in the Shire. This, too, is true with some veterans and victims, unfortunately.
This scene when the others are realising that Frodo is leaving and how he explains that the Shire has been saved, but not for him, is the most emotional for me. Sometimes I go back to just that very last part of the books and the movies.
"People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider's webs. It's not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go." @CrowsFault
What can men do against such reckless hate? The best they can. And when our strength is spent, when we stand alone against that hate, we ask for help. And we hope that we will get it.
For me, the best scene was shortly after Theoden's regaining of his senses.
Upon learning of the death of Theodred, Theoden stands at his son's burial mound with Gandalf. He holds a little white flower, Simblemynë, that grows on the mounds. Theoden laments that it shall cover the grave of his son, and that "... alas that these evil days shall be mine. The young perish and the old linger."
Gandalf tries to console him, that Theodred's death wasn't of his making and Theoden breaks down after saying "No parent should have to bury their child."
As he cries, Gandalf once again tries to comfort him by saying, "He was strong in life." The music swells and he continues, "His spirit will find its way to the halls of your fathers."
Gandalf whispers a short prayer; "Westu hál. Feròu, Théodred, Feròu."
Allegedly, and I'll look for a source if anyone's interested or anyone can confirm, he actually cried during this. I've heard rumours it's because of what a woman in Glasgow said to him, others that he was playing with his children after learning the lines and he thought about it, but whatever triggered it that he truly broke down and started to cry.
Further, again alleged, he considers this to be his favourite scene in his career.
It's a brilliantly moving scene.
For a film trilogy that has had some critisism for having almost no female characters, at least it can't be criticised for upholding toxic masculinity. The number of grown men who break down and cry throughout, who are supported by their friends and never shamed, is a breath of fresh air even twenty years later. We'll be learning things from these films for decades more.
Certainly I agree with you on this.
I love this scene, but it is in the theatrical version. I've never seen the extended cut, and I have certainly seen this moment in the film.
@@Exodiant Yeah, the white flower is in the Theatrical. Eowyn's lament while Theodred is being placed in the tomb is what is not in the theatrical.
@@Exodiant ah, my mistake. I'll edit it. 👍
My favorite scene in the entire trilogy isn't in the books, but it's the scene with Boromir and Aragorn in Lothlorien. "Have you ever seen it, Aragorn? The white tower of Ecthelion, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver. Its banners caught high in the morning breeze. Have you ever been called home, by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?" That with the Gondor theme softly playing in the background is just a chefs kiss.
That was in the book as well. It might have been worded differently, but Boromir says much the same to Aragorn just before his death in Amon Hen. But yeah, Howard Shore's music added a lot to passages like that.
@@Disgruntled_Grunt that conversation is not in the books at all. The dialog is from a part from the third book. But Aragorn and Boromir don't have that conversation in the book.
@@MorgothsBalrog Yep, you're right. I could have sworn it was from either The Breaking of the Fellowship or Departure of Boromir, but I just checked both and it seems I Mandela-effected myself about it.
This highlighted theme reminds me a quote from Cloud Atlas:
"No matter what you do it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean.” - Haskell Moore
“What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?” - Adam Ewing
Simple.
To me the Lighting of the Beacons by Gondor shocks Rohan back into action after a dejected King Thoden asks his famous rhetorical questions earlier in the trilogy,
"Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell?"
The beacons recall him and his people back to their ancestral loyalty.
You captured the essence of LotR so beautifully. I always watch it to remind myself that there is hope. That the small deeds of ordinary people are what keeps evil at bay.
Seeing those manned posts on the top of the mountains do their job even though it is not glorious or comfortable just for the slim chance that they might be needed...
The lighting of the beacons has been the most powerful scene for me in any movie since I first saw it and it never fails to make me cry.
You are correct - the central theme of perhaps three themes - is the difference between hope and despair. Even hope in the face of near certain death, like Theoden's charge of Death, and Aragorn marching on Mordor as a distraction. Denethor could have chosen Hope, but instead chooses dispair and suicide. - at least the book version tried to fight, and only gave in when his last son was dying.
This video made me quite emotional. As always you manage to so beautifully articulate and unravel the elements at the core of these movies that make them so meaningful to so many of us. Thank you!
As soon as the video opened on what the metaphor was of the beacons, the first one that came out of my mouth was hope. I also always really loved this sequence because it shows not only that hope is possible but that hope is hard but ultimately worth it. So much could have gone wrong in this sequence from Pippin failing, to the beacons being interrupted by doubt or fear, to Theoden potentially rejecting the call to arms and yet, despite any of the doubts and misgivings of any of the characters hope prevailed. That's a beautiful message. No matter who you are or where you are at in life that despite everything hope can always prevail. Great video like always
Immediately, same.
I always wished I could experience Lord of the Rings as if watching it for the first time, and somehow this video brings me to that. This is UA-cam content we didn't deserve, but definitely the kind it needs right now. Absolutely top tier content!
I still remember how quiet the theater became the moment Fellowship started. The darkness and then Cate Blanchett’s voice. And it stayed quiet for the whole movie. My husband is a lifelong Tolkien nerd, and we saw it on opening day with a theater full of other Tolkien nerds, and everyone was all so focused. Reminiscent of seeing Star Wars as a kid, with the massive star cruiser appearing overhead and the thunder of its engines vibrating the air. You knew you were seeing something big and amazing.
I think that is why a lot of us (me included) like to watch first-time reactions to Lord of the Rings on UA-cam, as it's a vicarious experience, like when my son saw it for the first time as a boy. Someone who has empathy can enjoy them again by sharing them with someone else who hasn't seen them.
I always found it a great testament to the quality of the trilogy that few things in any other movie - or all kinds of media for that matter - have made me feel the sheer excitement and enthusiasm this scene evokes. Peter Jackson and Howard Shore didn't need to make it go this hard, yet here we are.
Aragorn’s “The beacons are lit” scene makes me tear up *every single time* . It’s a perfect scene.
I really love when you have a perfectly succinct metaphor. It really brings that special element that helps a story transcend and touch something deeper.
The smallest light will defeat the largest chasm of darkness. Thank you for this great video! Much deeper than the last one. I love it!
The lighting of the beacons has always been my favorite sequence, from it's beauty to it's message of hope, it's message that even the smallest of us have our part to play. Thank you for this beautiful video! Your crafting of it is brilliant as is the script. I loved it!
Dude you are absolutely amazing at this. I’m halfway through and crying like a baby. You _get_ these themes- like, damn…
The lighting of the Beacons has always been my favorite scene, ending with "And Rohan will answer!" - Gosh it's good
When ROTK came out, I was 12. I still remember crying at the lighting of the beacons, trying so hard to hide it from my friend who, I found out years later, was also crying.
This was always my favourite moment - the music swelling and the significance of the scene brings a tear to my eye.
At the end of Two Towers, when Gandalf comes riding down the hill from the East.. The music, the meaning, the hope. That’s my favorite moment in the incredible series.
This is also why Aragorn, whose name Estel means hope, is the perfect king to lead the resistance against Sauron. It really is Hope that leads the charge at the black gate!
I don't say this often, but you make impactful, highly emotional, meaningful videos. Without being corny. It's damn hard, but it's obvious that you love searching for deeper meaning in things. And so do I. Thank you!
First, the beacon lighting sequence is a flex and a full happy ending to the brutal deep tissue massage you've been getting. Jackson knows he has you, knows you've had that "men are weak...scattered, divided, leaderless" line echoing in your head for two movies and knows that you'll be floating above your seat after this scene and all the way through to the 9 endings he has in store.
Second...oh, goodness...if anyone isn't watching the extended editions...ugh, I don't know how to look on the rising sun with full optimism if that is the case. Please don't short your life in that way. Please don't watch the unextended editions.
The beacons are not just a call for aid; they are a profound metaphor for the unity and collective strength of disparate entities against a common existential threat. They illuminate a fundamental truth about the human condition: we are stronger together than apart.
The best moment from the book:
And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the city, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of war nor of wizardry, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.
And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns, in dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Best music moment for me, the beacons. But Sam's monologue is the climax for the series.
That shot of Aragorn seeing the beacon, with him and the buildings in more or less silhouette and the mountains behind is so good. I feel like it's the kind of shot that film nerds would go nuts over if it was from a classic 60's western or something, and not really something you'd expect in a big, modern adventure movie.
Always proud to support your work. Your thesis here makes me think of the scene in Children of Men that makes me more emotional than any other. Everyone talks about the third act’s single take of Theo running through the battle, but what’s even more striking to me is (spoiler) the scene just a little later where he and Kee walk out of the war torn apartment building and the fighting ceases temporarily as everyone is completely arrested by the sight and sound of the baby. I suppose it is a very obvious metaphor for hope, as all babies are, but the sudden release of the tension built throughout the entire film as all of their allies die and the situation becomes increasingly, impossibly desperate hits me hard and leaves me sobbing every time. It is also a powerful reminder of our shared humanity that gets too easily forgotten due to myriad political and religious differences.
I've been thinking for a while that Children of Men should be almost mandatory watching...everytime I meet someone thinking about having kids or not, I say, watch that movie and that scene in particular...hope. That's it
Completely agree. Imagine a world where soldiers stopped shooting and bombs stopped falling because a child was present!
This has captured humanity's struggle so beautifully. Hope in the face of evil is the victory
As Picard said once, " There are four lights!"
Picard's will ultimately bends unbeknownst to his oppressor, however he won the moral fight and perhaps ultimately his soul by going until he thought he could actually see 5 lights
Hope, that image of the beacons is what I feel for 2024. In the darkness, flickering hope of a few, whose light is reaching and inspiring
"Blessed becuase your time on earth just so happened to overlap with the creation of the Lord of the Rings movies". YES, that's how i feel. Perfectly put.
Your videos often bring me to tears, they make me think and ruminate about life, purpose and re-explore my ideas on politics and social studies. I'm grateful for what you bring to the world we share.
This is one of the most beautifully well done videos essays. Legitimately brought a tear to my eye. Well done sir
Goosebumps. The music goes incredibly deep. All these years and it hasn't changed a bit.
By far my favorite sequence of the trilogy. It feels like hope. I think Tolkien would have approved.
This is the first video of yours that I've seen and it had me crying most of the way through. You've put into words an incredible perspective on hope that is meaningful and applicable. Thank you for the amazing work! You've got a new subscriber out of me.
Your videos never fail to make me tear up. Thank you for creating this and all of your videos.
The question you articulate at length from Tolkien got me thinking: "One of the fundamental questions that Tolkien asks is, why does evil feel so all-devouring, and goodness so fragile? Why does it seem so easy to give in to despair, and so difficult to hold on to hope?" Some of your language in this section reminds me of a poem by Czeslaw Milsoz, "One Day." I think the poem answers this question, but it poses it somewhat differently and presents a different angle in its answer. But I think it's basically concordant with Tolkien's vision. Here are some lines from the poem, but I recommend the whole thing. It's very beautiful.
Comprehension of good and evil is given in the running of the blood.
In a child's nestling close to its mother, she is security and warmth,
In night fears when we are small, in dread of the beast's fangs and in terror of dark rooms,
In youthful infatuations where childhood delight finds completion.
And should we discredit the idea for its modest origins?
Or should we say plainly that good is on the side of the living
And evil on the side of a doom that lurks to devour us?
Yes, good is an ally of being and the mirror of evil is nothing...
The same can be said of beauty. It should not exist.
There is not only no reason for it, but an argument against.
Yet undoubtedly it is, and is different from ugliness.
...
And though the good is weak, beauty is very strong.
Nonbeing sprawls, everywhere it turns into ash whole expanses of being,
It masquerades in shapes and colors that imitate existence
And no one would know it, if they did not know that it is ugly.
And when people cease to believe that there is good and evil
Only beauty will call to them and save them
So that they still know how to say: this is true and that is false.
(New and Collected Poems 1931-2001, pp. 418-419)
I think it makes sense to read this poem while thinking of LOTR. The connection is obvious: beauty is the foundation of hope. And LOTR is very beautiful indeed. It is probably not an accident that both Tolkien and Milosz were Catholic.
Thank you for sharing the poem, very expressive of the themes here
I'm only 21 seconds in, but I'd say my favorite / best moments are:
1. The close ups on Sam and Frodo as the struggle to climb Mt Doom. There's a shot where the camera follows Frodo's hand has he grabs the rocks, it's very shaky and that music reminiscent of the shire plays... SO. GOOD.
2. When Gandalf arrives to Minas Tirith and uses wards off the Nazgûl's flying on Fellbeasts. There is a shot that follow this encounter, that pans away from Gandalf and aims to Minas Tirith. Also, very shaky. Love that moment.
Despair requires no effort. Merely giving up. Hope requires psychological heavy lifting, investment, action. There is a line in the novel, that is spoken in the second movie, but flashed over. It’s when the remains of the Fellowship decide to pursue the Uruk-hai to rescue Merry and Pippin and the dwarf tells Aragorn that it’s a hopeless task. Aragorn says, “Then we must go on without hope.” That for me, is a defining moment. As you put it, an act of defiance. Aragorn will expend the last of his energies doing the right thing, regardless of whether he expects success, because he sees himself as being one of those minor players in a bigger story, but feels the weight of responsibility for what others may think about their endeavours. It’s the tear jerking moment for me. To have a friend so loyal and committed that they just will not stop is a blessing we should all wish for. That’s the sort of leadership that inspires loyal followers, rational or not. To, “hope, beyond hope,” as Gandalf puts it.
After Aragorn says "Then we must go on without hope", he also says something like, "there is always revenge", which focuses his love for Merry and Pippin by showing his anger over that the orcs may kill them and how he would resolve it. It also brings to mind the Welsh saying, "In a fight, anger is as good as courage."
@@rikk319 : I didn’t remember anything about revenge? It’s been a lifetime since I read it though. Interesting. In a way, that kind of sullies the sentiment of the great love and sacrifice they’re willing to offer for their companions but, if it’s there it’s there. I like that Celtic war cry though.
Totally agree, despair is the easy way out, hope is challenging and it takes courage and effort to follow it
Thank you for making a video that pushes the darkness back.
As a Swiss this is particularly impactful. Lighting fires on the hills in each village and seeing all the other villages do the same is how we celebrate the national holiday.
What's significant to me about that LotR lighting of the beacons scene is, with deeper thought, the amount of effort to create and maintain those beacon posts. All that wood and kindling had to be carried up to those peaks, way above the treeline. The beacon minders had to live near enough to set them ablaze, keeping a smaller fire to light the beacon and to keep themselves warm in the frigid heights, likely having to build huts for themselves to live in and keeping a regular supply of firewood from forests below. They had to protect and maintain the woodpiles against snow and rain, keeping dry kindling on hand. Eyes had to always remain vigilant toward neighboring beacons to notice when they're lit. That is a LOT of commitment and work!
The Lighting of the Beacon always sends shivers down my spine every time I watch it.
You did it again, another masterpiece. Love your work, definitely you light the beacons!
Although I DID grow up with Star Wars, like you the most emotional part of Rogue One is that sequence of individuals selfishly sacrificing themselves for a glimmer of hope.
Similarly, the Beacons being lit has never failed to make me cry, but I never quite understood why that was. Thank you for explaining it so well.
Literally watched LOTR FOTR (EE) for the first time in 10 years and this video comes up straight after. Wow. Outstanding analysis, can’t believe I’ve not found this channel before now. Bravo.
In rogue one, I actually felt that it, rather than just showing one or two people off as heroes, it elevated every rebel into heroism by virtue of their cause
That, I think, was his purpose in saying that good guys in these kinds of movies ALWAYS work together, usually to fight one single, overpowering authoritarian bad guy. The collective is greater than the individual. Avengers vs Thanos, Fellowship vs Sauron, Rebels vs Emperor Palpatine, Dumbledore's Army vs Voldemort, and so on. It doesn't matter how far back you go, you see it--Dorothy and her new friends vs the Wicked Witch of the West is merely a century + back, but it's an archetype seen throughout this kind of fiction.
7:15 - 7:43 “Wars are fought for 2 things: survival or advantage. Battles may be won by the better soldier, wars are won by those who are willing to SACRIFICE everything to ensure victory!” - Kratos, Ghost of Sparta, GOW
There is only ONE scene in three decades of cinema I have watched that will make me, a grown man cry a river uncontrollably every single time I see it.
When Gandalf and Pippin are at their lowest moment, left CATATONIC, when all hope is lost and suddenly you hear the horns of Rhorrim…. Immediately its switched to the riders steady with the golden light behind them burried underneath the shadow… You see Theoden stare at the army that is awaiting him with shock, unbelief and fear in his eyes. What follows is just pure magnificence.
FEAR NO DARKNESS!
Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!
Spear shall be shaken, shield shall be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now, ride! Ride for ruin and the world's ending!
DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! - every single rider is screaming in unison unbelievable!
Forth Eorlingas!
We hear the horns a second time, shivers down my spine
CHARGE!
The king takes the first steps, the beautiful encore together with him rising ! One volley of arrows, the second, the third and Harvey Weinstein is utterly terrified together with all his brethren. Then when the charge is about to hit while you see all the fear in the eyers of the orcs, Jackson focuses the frame on one hell bent rider more eager than the rest to take the first kill giving no shit…just spectacular!
Nothing will beat this moment in cinema history till the day I die I am certain of that, and the lighting of the beacons is the catalyst for this scene, but this is the scene that is everything that is about the LOFR.
The total “irrational and fully emotional” denial of what is to expected, immeasurable courage against great odds, and a grand F U to “evil and despair” as a whole.
Immaculate SACRIFICE that will ever be shown on screen “for all time”.
P.S. the second is probably the great Rutger Hauer and his speech on that rooftop that also gets me every time.
This was my favourite one from you since. These movies remind me to always hold onto hope, to always show kindness, and to always value friendship.
Thank you my friend. Your deed is the telling. Through this deed you will achieve immortality. Again, I thank you.....
Love these movies, love this channel, love your essays. Keep up the wonderful work!
Showing a bunch of people doing their very best to avoid the end of their world is so much more powerful than just telling us the big bad plans to end the world
Man, your video essays are some of the best content I’ve seen on UA-cam. I don’t go to church anymore, but so many of your videos inspire me and give me hope more than any sermon ever has
"What can men do against such reckless hate?" "Ride out with me." Theoden and Aragorn's exchange at Helm's Deep has really stood out to me in recent times of darkness and despair for this very reason. The people of Rohan are screwed, there is no victory, there is no winning in this situation. But there is still importance in doing something, even if it seems like it will be futile, and it often makes all the difference.
My family and I have been following you for years. Thank you for making these videos to teach our children the principles and powerful messages that we want to pass on. We appreciate you and have for a very long time. Take care of yourself.
I love your comment about feeling blessed and frustrated about the existence of these films. You’ve captured a shared sentiment in an incredibly precise way.
The lighting of the beacons is always emotional for me … every time.
I'm genuinely crying. This is one of the best videos I've ever watched. You deserve to be successful and admired all around the world. The way you explain things and concepts is incredibly emotionally effective. You have a rare talent, my friend.
Great video dude. I love all of your discussions of LotR and it's genuinely amazing how well you manage to capture and articulate the beauty of these movies.
"Hope". Yeah, shit. That's *exactly* what that scene is about. Well done.
you can’t keep making me cry like this every video
Excellent work as per. Rogue One's "Take it!" always stood out to me, as you correctly pinpoint, it is the desperate flaring of hope in the face of almighty dark adversity 👌💪
The part where you said LOTR has given the feeling of being blessed and frustrated spoke to my soul
Excellent, thank you for this beautiful analysis
Here, I have a complementary explanation that you might like : there's also the music. Lighting of the beacons it is the strongest iteration of the Minas Tirith theme, which is one of the three arias, in the trilogy, that represent each one specific chant of courage and fortitude. The other ones are, first the Fellowship theme, which we hear in the first movie foremost (for instance, in the Moria stairs scene), and which stands for fortitude found in friendship, bold, joyful, and self-sufficient. The Minas Tirith theme, with its sort of spiraling and escalating shapes, stands for fortitude resulting from the institution of the State, its majesty and legitimacy, and the years it has stood in defense of men, like a tower, or like a beacons system, always ready to be lit. Which is why the moment when they are lit, is the moment of all its glory : things have been prepared for years, for help to be called, solidarity between men to be implemented. And then there is the third one, of course, which is the contrary of the previous one, and possibly the most emotional to everyone : the theme of Rohan. With its single, lonely and melancholic Hardanger violin motif, its stands for courage in absolute solitude, when no one is helping you; no state or alliance ("Where was Gondor" etc.). Which is why it is so great when we hear it one last time at the precise moment when the Rohirim begin their charge : they basically freed themselves on their own, before liberating the whole of Middle Earth through their sacrifice.
You know it's a good day when LikeTheStoriesOfOld publishes a video.
Your videos are spiritual food. Always feel good after watching/listening
your videos always bring tears to my eyes. your careful analysis and soft voice over emotional music.... and this one hit especially hard with all the wars going on right now. I hope we can all keep our beacons lit for those who need it most right now. Thank you for your video.
You are so correct...lighting the beacons was a meaningful moment that stood out for me as well. At the very moment was profound to me and as I watched it I knew it...I just couldn't explain it. Now I can. I think that you perception of hope is very connected to what these movies are saying. These are some of the more powerful movies during our cinema age of mediocrity. It's very curious to me that these movies of hope are so powerful. I find it meaningful that we seem to have such a hunger for hope in these days. I think the need for hope seems curiously strong at this moment that happens at a time when despair seems high and all control seems out of the vommon person's hands.
To me the beacon light means that even in darkest moments you can hope for aid, even if you think that no one is out there, you can hope someone will be. Even if that help takes time to reach, or the laces have been broken someone will answer at the end.
Late to the party here. The lighting of the beacons is my favorite scene in the trilogy, and what struck me when I first saw it was its portrayal of human ingenuity and perseverance. The story takes place at the end of the Elven age and beginning the "Age of Men," and it's demonstrating what humanity can do, why it will survive the LOTR and continue into subsequent ages. Yeah, it's about hope and working together, but it also a demonstration of simple genius, what something as simple as fire can do when harnessed. It made me think of early humanity and pre-modern communication networks. It's the kind of ingenuity that got us to this point, in a purely metaphorical way of course. Whatever it means, it's awesome. You got some of the most epic, swelling music in the entire score building progressively more triumphant as you're like, "holy shit, yet another beacon. It's pure epic cinema.
After all, Galadriel does call the fight against evil "the long defeat." It's sobering, to hear it put in this manner. Yet we have to stay and fight it anyways, mustn't we? What is hope, if not that?
As a massive LOTR fan I've watched a lot of video essays about it, and this was one of the best I've ever seen - the messages you conveyed, along with the careful selection of related visuals and the beautiful music, which added so much, was wonderful and moved me quite a bit. You made me understand and appreciate the core messages of LOTR more than before - thank you.
Great analysis! I think it is worth narrowing back down to the individuals for a moment when considering this scene. Why is Gandalf the instigator? Why have Pippen actually light the first beacon? Why is it Aragorn who first sees the signal and so energetically entreats Theoden? Remember that Pippen, at that moment, is not just hanging out in Minas Tirith with Gandalf; he is in the sworn service of Denethor in payment for the death of Boromir defending him. In other words, Pippen is a literal stand-in for Boromir. And back in Fellowship, there is a scene in Lothlorien where Boromir (who has changed his mind from his earlier rejection of Aragorn's kingship) talks about hope, his father, and tells Aragorn that one day their paths will lead them to Minas Tirith. (Aragorn's storyline in the movie has him flatly rejecting the notion early, but by the wonderful death scene at the end of FOTR, he promises Boromir he will go to save the city.) So, when Peter Jackson has Pippen be the lighter of the signal, it is in essence the spirit of Boromir, his literal stand-in, who does it. Gandalf sees the second beacon (Amon Din) blaze up and states "Hope is kindled!" And who is it that gets fired up on the other end? Aragorn. Aragorn, whose nickname from his mother is Estel, meaning "hope". Oh, and Gandalf...in the Appendices of LOTR, Tolkien writes that Gandalf received one of the three Elven rings, the Ring of Fire, so that he might "rekindle hearts in a world that grows chill."
BTW, the score ties all of this together perfectly, and the music for the lighting of the beacons is far, far from being isolated and self-contained. The musical story of this scene goes all the way back to FOTR, and bridges scenes therein with the beacon lighting, the presentation of the sword Narsil to Aragorn, and to the coronation scene.
The lighting of the beacons is my favorite scene in the whole of the movies. Cinematic majesty at its finest!
Currently a grad student and your videos are getting me through some lengthy diagnosis papers love your content
Just watched HEAT and was blown away by how much Nolan used that film as his inspiration for the Dark Knight. You should look into it!
i hear the music behind your opening narration and I'm already tearing up. hoo boy. I need to rewatch this.
Your analysis, skill to put it into words and editing is amazing.
Thanks for making this essay on the lightning of the beacons. My favourite scene of the trilogy, both estheically and thematically.