The Road Goes Ever On... (scene)

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The Road Goes Ever On...
Scene from
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - Frodo rescues Sam on the Anduin.png
Scene number40 (theatrical)
46 (extended)
Event Frodo and Sam begin their lone journey to Mordor
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli set out to rescue Merry and Pippin
Characters Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli
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The Departure of Boromir
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The Foundations of Stone

The Road Goes Ever On... is the fortieth scene of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and the forty-sixth of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition). This scene was extended in the latter edition.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

Frodo stands by the river wishing the Ring had never come to him. He recalls the words of Gandalf in Moria: "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us". Finding strength, the hobbit resolves to continue his journey to Mordor, gets in a boat and begins to cross the river to reach the eastern shore.

Sam rushes to the river and finds Frodo going to Mordor alone. As he runs into the river, Frodo tells him to go back as he cannot swim, but Sam refuses to listen and begins to drown. Frodo turns back and pulls him into the boat. Sam tells Frodo that he made a promise:[note 1] "Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee. And I don't mean to." Frodo accepts that Sam won't be turned away and the two hobbits embrace.

After putting Boromir into a funeral boat and sending his body down-river, Legolas gets ready to follow Frodo and Sam, however Aragorn decides not to follow them whilst Merry and Pippin are captured. They pledge to hold true to each other and begin their hunt of the Uruk-hai that took Merry and Pippin.

Frodo and Sam top a rise overlooking the Emyn Muil with the borders of Mordor visible in the distance. Frodo ponders whether they will ever see the others again. "We may yet, Mr Frodo", Sam says. Frodo turns to look at him, smiling, and says "I'm glad you're with me".

Differences[edit | edit source]

The overall narrative pertaining to Frodo and Sam follows the events that occur at the end of the chapter The Breaking of the Fellowship, in that Sam decides to follow Frodo, begins to drown, and is saved by Frodo who eventually acquiesces to Sam joining him in the journey to Mordor. A minor difference when compared to the source material is that, in the book, Frodo wears the Ring[1] as he takes the boat by himself towards the river before Sam joins him. Furthermore, the dialogue that occurs between Frodo and Sam at the end of this scene after they have crossed the river occurs before they have crossed the river at the close of the book chapter.[1]

Notes

  1. In the film trilogy, the promise Sam refers to is made to Gandalf. This is mentioned by Sam to Frodo in the scene A Short Cut to Mushrooms.

References