This book (yes I know that link is for the whole trilogy condensed into one book whereas this post is only going to talk about the second half of the Return of the King, but deal with it mate) is the sixth and final instalment of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic (virtually myth-status) fantastical trilogy. I have a lot to say about this trilogy, but I'm reading it all in one go, so I'm saving my reflections and my recommendations until the final post (and before you say "but that's this one!" there is a book of appendices, so eat your words), and here will simply outline in brief the specific plot of this instalment. Spoilers, obviously.
Using the ring (oh did I not mention? It can turn you invisible) Sam sneaks into the tower of Cirith Ungol, and through a combination of dumb luck and the orcs' predilection for fighting each other they manage to escape. Then they trudge the long, slow, dark path across Mordor toward the volcano - Mount Doom, as it is so aptly named. When they get there however Frodo succumbs to the temptation of the ring and refuses to destroy it - but Gollum, who since Shelob's lair has been following the pair, loses his shit and bites the ring (finger and all) off Frodo's hand - only to fall into the lava when dancing about in victory. And so the ring is destroyed, Sauron is vanquished, and his forces lose all morale - which is great, because meanwhile at the gates of Mordor there are all the armies of good taking their final stand, which they suddenly win. Giant eagles show up and rescue Frodo & Sam from Mount Doom, taking them to safety. They meet up with resurrected-Gandalf and the remainder of the fellowship, celebrate a bit - then Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor, and after an entire chapter of people basically just saying farewells we follow a much-condensed journey home; back to the Shire with the hobbits. However the Shire has been taken over and industrialised by Saruman - though compared to everything our four hobbits have been through, this is small beans: they mobilise a large civil resistance against the evil wizard and confront him, only for him to then simply be stabbed in the back by his lackey. The work of rebuilding the Shire as an idyllic rural society begins, aided by Sam's gift from Galadriel of magical soil (idk). However - despite the happy endings all round - Frodo is still haunted by the wound he received all the way back in book one, and so he makes the choice to sail into the West, into the elven afterlife pretty much, with Gandalf and Galadriel and a few others, including his uncle Bilbo.
And that's how it ends.
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