What happened after The Lord of the Rings?

Explore the best of fantasy and sci-fi in depth, with analysis of the worlds of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Witcher and more.

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[williamedward]

I know Gimli was just allowed into Valinor with Legolas, but I will never not be amused by the idea that Legolas snuck him in under his coat, Looney-tunes style

[merlinsrobe]

The cleverest thing Tolkien did was to populate Middle Earth with fantastical races and creatures that were “fading”, which invokes a deep sense of nostalgia in the reader. Whenever we encounter a magical being like an elf or a dwarf or a dragon, Tolkien always reminds the reader that it’s leaving the world or somehow becoming scarce. That’s the hook he uses to trigger nostalgia and make people feel close to the novels.

[awesomehpt]

They all lived happily ever after till the end of their days

[Tim_the_Enchanter]

One of the things that always occurs to me about Sam is that he was made to love. Frodo. The Shire. Rosie. All things. Sam was presented as simple, but his understanding was broad.

[brandoncarter]

I found it unbelievably sweet Mary and pippin were buried beside aragon. Brought a lil tear to my eye

[chrisfraser]

There’s something very somber about all the changes early in the 4th age. Great video as always, Robert.

[acrustykrab]

It's pretty saddening that all magic began passing from the world. Sauron was awful but his presence was also keeping other wonderous magical elements present in Middle Earth. After him it becomes more like a normal world. Which is kind of a bummer.

[dlxmarks]

There is a grim note in _Unfinished Tales_ about the destiny of the Hobbits: "The much later dwindling of Hobbits must be due to a change in their state and way of life; they became a fugitive and secret people, driven (as Men, the Big Folk, became more and more numerous, usurping the more fertile and habitable lands) to refuge in forest or wilderness: a wandering and poor folk, forgetful of their arts, living a precarious life absorbed in the search for food, and fearful of being seen."

[saphcal]

Damn Merry and Pippin got buried next to the King? even someone without knowledge of LotR and those characters roles would instantly realize that thats a huge deal!

[SamwiseOutdoors]

I'd just finished a long-overdue return to the series, and the ending after The Scouring of the Shire surprised me.
Story time: I'd been given the nickname "Samwise" in the Scouts because the movies had just come out and I was *that Scout* who always overpacked on the cookware and food and made sure that everyone ate well.
Anywho, years go by, I became a dad and named my youngest "Daisy". I return to LOTR and re-learn that Samwise Gamgee did the same for one of his own daughters.
Life imitates art sometimes.

[conormurphy]

Olorin in Valinor centuries later: …

…

“OH MY ERU WE FORGOT RADAGAST”

[AlexanderWahler-gr]

Man, I love this channel so much! Almost every video I've watched so far was HIGHLY entertaining. Thank you for creating these Videos, In Deep Geek! : )

[AdamKadmon-cgqs]

Certainly we must consider also The New Shadow, that unpublished fragment which tells us at least that the elimination of the old evil was neither swift nor smooth.

[Matt-xcsp]

World still seems unfinished since I don’t know what Aragorn’s tax policy was
- Man who has only finished 3/4 of his own series

[RtB]

I've read and re-read all of Tolkien's works over many many years and my views on things have shifted and evolved as I have grown older. I had a point to make, but I've forgotten it.

[gurmsekhon]

Another great In Deep Geek video. Thank you, Robert!
The content of this one is as spot on as ever - with one exception:
You say that Sam "sails to the undying lands himself, at the age of 102, to be reunited with Frodo there." But, of course, there will be no such reunion, no matter how much we may wish it were otherwise. All Sam will find In Eressëa (or in Aman) is the memory of Frodo, his tale preserved in story and song but remembered from personal experience only by Gandalf-Olorin and by the handful of Elves who met him in Middle-earth, such as Gildor Ingiorion, Glorfindel, Elrond, Galadriel and members of their respective retinues and households. Frodo himself will have been long dead. Tolkien makes it clear in his letters [154, 246, 325] that there is no prolonged life for mortals across the Sea, just the potential to find peace. Bear in mind, too, that Frodo was 12 years older than Sam, and he'd been grievously and permanently "wounded with knife, sting and tooth, and a long burden." Tolkien also writes that a mortal's natural life would, in fact, be shortened by virtue of being in the home of the immortals; as it says in the History of Middle-earth book "Morgoth's Ring", a mortal in the Blessed Realm "would wither even as a moth in a flame too bright".

[taidee]

This video sounds scarily like Robert himself is closing this chapter on the channel, that wouldn't be great. Another amazing video from this man, thank you Sir.

[Jorlem]

I'd imagine that Tom Bombadil was around through all of that. I can't really imagine him fading away like the rest of the magical beings.

[JDHJDH]

The way Middle Earth changed after Sauron's downfall always reminds me of a scene from the Fellowship of the Ring movie where Frodo and Sam are watching a procession of elves heading to the Grey Havens and Sam comments on how it makes him sad. The passing of of so many peoples and magical places from the world made it a smaller, less wondrous place.

[classics]

Besides becoming Thain, Pippin also had a family of his own. He married a hobbit from Long Cleeve named Diamond, and they had a son who they named after Faramir.