Why not throw the Ring into the Sea?

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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[ST_Law]

*Throws the Ring into the sea*

"Well, that's the future generations problem now."

[coopmurphy]

At the bottom of the sea, the ring would've eventually been discovered by a being more devious and evil than Sauron himself-James Cameron

[grimeto]

In the first movie Gandalf explained this question very well -"Always remember Frodo, the Ring is trying to get back to its master. It wants to be found." . The ring is not an object that would just lay helplessly and it will surely seek Sauron.

[demrasnawla]

Yeah I think the most important point is indeed that Sauron was going to conquer the world even if he didn't find the ring, and destroying it was their only chance to survive, even in the short term.

[Vok]

Keeping thr seas mysterious was a great writing choice. Invokes the same fears we have in real life. The ocean is unknown to us.

[danesorensen]

A kraken finding the ring and becoming the new ring-lord is my new headcanon origin story for Ctulhu.

[concretephill]

The octopus who finds the ring:
🐙 💍
I shall call this holy site of my ascension.... Ry'leh!

[gmhelwig]

You left out the best part of Galadriel's speech. It still sends shivers down my spine! "That is how it would begin."

[AskMia]

For some reason the idea of there being unknown creatures in the sea as a reason to not hide the ring there has stayed in my mind since my mother first read the books to me when I was 6 or 7. It was so mysterious and a little scary to wonder what kind of creatures might be in the oceans of middle earth.

I think mom paraphrased the whole of the council of Elrond (that chapter is dense even for adults). Basically what the grandfather in the Princess Bride does. I’m forever grateful that she made it accessible for my brother and I, who were WAY too young to fully understand much of Tolkien’s prose style. But we loved the story so much and that’s all thanks to her.

[Simon.Tr.]

Sauron be like: F it, ima send orc scuba divers

[dannylopez]

I am genuinely impressed by how thoroughly Tolkien covers up any potential "plot hole" or seeming odd decision in his story. He must of truly spent years just planning the story in his head.

[allisonthompson]

After his analysis of why they shouldn't just throw or hide it away somewhere, Gandalf adds: "and, as for me, I pity even his slaves, " which I feel is such an important part of JRRTS' theme of Pity and Mercy, echoed so many times in the books.

[pyrosolboy]

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. Not only is there the psuedo-infiinite possibilities of "something" moving the ring to a more accessible place over time, but we also know the Ring has a will in and of itself, so it would not just be the random chance of nature to worry about, but also the purposeful machinations of the ring to be found again. It would not be a permanent, or even a truly helpful, solution.

[DerexTheWrapperOfflineGuy]

Even without the Ring Sauron would keep grinding away at Middle Earth's forces until he won eventually. This was the one chance to take him out.

[Mantis_Toboggan_TrashMan]

I can't help but think of these nameless horrors and then think of Tom Bombadil. Of course, Tom isn't a nameless horror, but he was seemingly born from the creation of the world. We see how powerful Tom is. These nameless horrors that dwell deep underground and in the sea were also born of the creation of the world.

It starts to make sense why Gandalf, an immortal demigod, feared these horrors so greatly.

[bobidybilly]

You know what I love about these lore videos? I feel like I’m listening to a well ventured hobbit who has many a tale to tell

[CanadaBoardGame]

Dorey finds the Ring: "I will call you Squishy, and you will be mine, and you will be.. my

[LOTT]

One thing Robert i never understood. Perhaps it is my lack of legendarium knowledge but how did anyone know that the only way to destroy the ring was to throw it into Mount Doom? Celebrimbor's tutelage from Anatar? An educated guess? A slippage from one of Sauron's underlings? I'd enjoy a In Deep Geek dive on that topic if already not covered in the past. Ty sir!

[gdedgar]

“LOTR from the one Ring’s perspective.”

I enjoy your perspective videos, and this is one of the few characters you haven’t covered yet. I wonder what it felt when it was cut from its masters hand. Or held under the lonely mountain in wait. Or picked up by an unlikely hobbit. How it must have screamed with all its power to save itself from Frodo.

[AntonSmirnov]

One of the things that has always confounded me about Tolkien's legendarium is how the Ainur were spiritual and able to wear physical forms as raiment but also potentially get stuck in them if they expended too much power. I'd love to see a video exploring that - from Sauron being stuck in Huan's jaws despite his shape shifting to how he escaped Nuemenor to why Morgoth had a limp and face scritches after his battle with Fingolfin.