The Lord of the Rings Movies Made a Small Story Change That Still Annoys Me 23 Years Later

When adapting J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to the big screen, Peter Jackson no doubt did a phenomenal job bringing his vision for Middle-earth to life. A massive undertaking that would certainly have pressured any other filmmaker, The Lord of the Rings trilogy remains a triumph that continues to make waves today. As the gold standard for not just fantasy adaptations but also film trilogies in general, Jackson delivered something truly special when he put Tolkien’s material on screen. But there’s one small change that the trilogy made in The Return of the King that I still think did a disservice to Frodo’s (Elijah Wood) character. If you haven’t already guessed, it’s the moment when he tells Sam (Sean Astin) to go back home — when they’re already on the edge of Mordor, mind you.

‘The Return of the King’ Splits Frodo and Sam Up Just To Create More Drama

After Gollum (Andy Serkis) frames Sam for eating the remainder of their provisions, Sam rightly calls out the creature for his deception. But, pulled by the power of the One Ring, Frodo instead blames Sam for the incident and, in a fit of rage, banishes him from the quest altogether. This leaves Frodo completely open to falling into Gollum’s trap, as the gangly creature delivers him directly to Shelob. The whole ordeal is undoubtedly meant to build on the growing tension brought about by Frodo’s slow corruption by the Ring. It seeks to add another layer of drama and prolong the whole (already prolonged) experience. But this fight between the two Hobbits is completely unnecessary, ultimately truncating Frodo’s heroic journey in the process.

This is a problem with the Jackson adaptation in general. It takes the noble, heroic, and self-assured characters of Tolkien’s tale and turns them into complicated and unsure heroes who only do what’s right in spite of their feelings on the matter. This is obvious to anyone who has carefully read the book, of course, and those of us who genuinely love the films, despite their differences. We see this perhaps most overtly in Viggo Mortensen‘s depiction of Aragorn, who has no desire to take the throne of Gondor for himself. Meanwhile, in the novel, Aragorn is not only committed to reclaiming the throne, but has no hesitations of doing so when the time is right. In fact, he is even willing to go with Boromir (played by Sean Bean in the film) back to Minas Tirith in order to aid in the battle against Mordor since their desires align. Obviously, this is different in the films, and the same goes for Elijah Wood’s portrayal of Frodo.

In Tolkien’s original novel, Frodo Baggins is a braver, nobler, and more proactive type of hero (something the 1978 animated film largely gets right). He is not so distant or cold while carrying the Ring, and unlike the film version (which borders on incompetence as the Ring’s hold over him grows), he is quite wise and discerning. In fact, he has no trouble questioning Gollum in the novel nor in bravely standing up to his enemies or for his friends. It’s actually one of the best qualities about Frodo. His willingness to take on the Ring comes from this pure sense of heroism and adventure that makes him a delightful protagonist to root for. By comparison, the film version struggles to even function the closer he gets to Mordor, and makes decisions that seem to be completely out of character — including turning Sam away. In fact, the pair remain by each other’s side throughout nearly the entire quest, save for only when Frodo is taken to the Tower of Cirith Ungol.

The Lord of the Rings Books Keep Sam by Frodo’s Side From Start to Finish

It’s because of these clear changes that the added conflict between Frodo and Sam ultimately comes across as contrived. It’s nothing more than another inauthentic roadblock on their journey toward Mount Doom, especially since the separation doesn’t stick. For some reason, it takes Sam finding the crumbled lembas bread on the Stairs to Cirith Ungol to convince him to turn around and return to Frodo. The whole thing fails to land as a genuine split, even if it does its job to create tension. Frankly, there’s no reason that this same tension couldn’t have been generated more organically in the caves of Shelob’s Lair, as is the case in Chapter 19 of Tolkien’s The Two Towers. As Gollum taunts them through the caverns, Jackson could just as easily have had Frodo and Sam encounter the Great Spider for the first time together.

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If you think about it, this creative decision works for the Lord of the Rings franchise.

While The Return of the King takes plenty of deviations from the source material (the least of which isn’t the full axing of the “Scouring of the Shire” at the end of the book), this is perhaps the only major change that is particularly irritating. Sam’s battle with Gollum at the end of the chapter — who made a deal with Shelob to offer her Frodo in exchange for being able to kill Sam himself — is a climactic moment that not only shows Sam’s continued heroism (something the films do particularly well), but also satisfies the overall conflict between himself and the stalking creature who betrayed them. It’s a moment that deserved to be adapted to the screen, and certainly would have been a better source of drama at this moment than a sudden and ill-crafted division between the two Hobbits as they near Mordor.

In the book, it’s because of Gollum’s physical interference that Sam is separated from Frodo as he is attacked by Shelob. Although Sam still arrives in time to fend the beast off, he believes Frodo to be dead in the attack, which is why he takes the Ring in the first place. In not adapting this sequence as Tolkien describes it, Jackson failed to utilize the full weight of this moment for Sam, as he believes he failed his master and only takes on the weight himself in a sense of urgency to see that Frodo did not die in vain. It’s only after discovering that Frodo is actually alive that he pivots back to his rescue, and after all they had been through in the caves (specifically, all Sam had been through), we can see his resilience and strength of character all the more clearly. It’s a small thing that Jackson does differently here, but it’s a change that is still bothersome to this Tolkien fan.