Episode Details

Twenty years ago, the world was watching one fantasy film trilogy to rule them all. Its final installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King arrived into American theaters on Dec. 17, 2003. From the beacons lighting of Minas Tirith, to Frodo’s and Sam’s desperate fights against Shelob, to the ear-tingling charge of the Rohirrim onto the Fields of Pelennor, how did we first experience this grand finale to The Lord of the Rings film series?

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Episode sponsors

1. Oasis Family Media
2. The Culling Begins by Anthony DeGroot
3. I. W.R.I.T.E.: How to Write a Novel course

Introducing guest “Rilian” of NarniaWeb

The fan code-named “Rilian” is a Tolkien geek who keeps a watch on Narnia. A longtime member of the NarniaWeb.com fan community, Rilian started his original podcast back in the mid-2000s. Now he’s the co-host of Talking Beasts: The Narnia Podcast along with “GlumPuddle” and “GymFan,” exploring Narnia books and films, interviewing Lewis scholars and film actors. This is the fourth episode of his Fantastical Truth “trilogy.”

– @‌Prince_Rilian on Twitter

Concession stand

• We may critique the avalanche of skulls and other odd movie moments.
• We probably won’t critique the “multiple endings,” still a silly criticism.
• This one’s a pre-Christmas chance to celebrate an epic, formative story.

Quotes and notes

We made a promise to ourselves at the beginning of the process that we weren’t going to put any of our own politics, our own messages or our own themes into these movies. What we were trying to do was to analyze what was important to Tolkien and to try to honor that. In a way, we were trying to make these films for him, not for ourselves.

—Peter Jackson

1. In 2003, how did we anticipate Return of the King?

2. What did we feel after se