'Lord of the Rings' Fans Reveal Theories About The Kings Of Middle-earth

From Redditor u/Ranchking91:

In the LOTR movies there are these little details that only last for about a second. First when Aragorn witnesses Gandalf fall he freezes for a few seconds and almost takes an arrow to the face. It takes Boromir shouting at him to snap him out of it. Also, when the sad music is playing and all the Hobbits are crying we just see Legolas staring at the ground in disbelief. My theory is that Aragorn and Legolas where more distraught then any of the group but just didn't show it because they are hardened warriors but they are also educated and know who Gandalf is.

In the LOTR lore, it is revealed that Gandalf isn't just some mysterious Wizard but something equivalent to an archangel like Saint Micheal and Satan. He and the rest of the Wizards of Middle-earth are on the same power level as Sauron and Morgoth and Legolas and Aragorn know it because they were raised by the Elves and were educated. To the Hobbits, losing Gandalf was like losing a grandfatherly figure and Gimli and Boromir, both hardened warriors themselves, are barely affected by it but to Aragorn and Legolas it was like watching Jesus die. What was probably going through boths' minds afterward was ‘we are truly f*cked now.’

From Redditor u/numberonechewbacca:

In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Balin tells Bilbo that he has seen Dragon Sickness once before in Thorin's grandfather Thror. 

Now we learn in The Hobbit chapter XV, ‘The Gathering of the Clouds’ that Dragon Sickness may be imparted by a dragon brooding over the treasure. 

However, Thror had succumbed to madness long before Smaug attacked Erebor. Therefore, we cannot attribute his madness to Dragon Sickness. I argue that his madness is likely caused by his Ring of Power. 

Sauron gave the Dwarves seven rings, one of which becomes Thror's. In fact, Thror later gave the ring to his son Thrain, as we learned in a deleted scene from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The effects that the Rings of Power had on the Dwarves can be summarized as: 'The rings, used only for the gaining of wealth, amplified their wearer's natural skills and desire of dominion, which made them greedy and exceedingly rich.'

It seems likely then that while Thorin definitely developed Dragon Sickness, his grandfather's natural avarice may have been amplified to greedy madness by his Ring of Power. 

From Redditor u/NinevahDraught:

Remember that scene in the beginning of The Return of the King where Gandalf expresses doubt to Aragorn on whether Frodo is alive or not?

What if Gandalf never doubted it, but instead was testing Aragorn's reaction to see if he's ready to be king?

After Aragorn calmly reassures him, Gandalf gives him a long stare followed by a smile. What if that's Gandalf thinking, ‘Yes, he is the hope that Man needs.’

To me, it always seemed a bit out of character for Gandalf to express doubt and anxiety like that. I think it would make more sense if the purpose was to gauge Aragorn's reaction to it, it would make more sense as Aragorn's arc for the movie is his ascension to the throne. 

From Redditor u/m4_semperfi:

It has a symbolic value, after what Dwalin said, despite all this wealth and the fancy crown, he's lesser now than he ever was. So by the entire company casting off their fancy expensive armor, they're rejecting the desire for wealth, which has been pretty much their goal the entire time - to finally claim the riches of Erebor. But they see this is what's important. 

As for Thorin himself, it wasn't about trying to survive, he just wanted to go out an honorable Dwarf, not someone cowering inside. He didn't need his armor for that. 

[For the other dwarves] the charge wasn't about surviving as long as possible, some of them probably felt they'd lose anyway. The point was to follow Thorin one last time, to sacrifice themselves for their King, and after an entire trilogy of being sneaky, greedy, and sometimes selfish - now was the time to change and give it all up. 

From Redditor u/HipHopAnonymous23:

First, a brief history lesson. The tomato was introduced to Europe in the early 1500s when the Spanish conquistadors brought it back from Mesoamerica. Because tomatoes are so acidic, when they were placed upon European pewter plates or cooked in pewter pots, the acidity would cause a greater amount of the lead in the pewter to leach into the food. The resulting increase of lead poisoning lead to the tomato being blamed for causing sickness and death.

In The Return of the King, as Pippin sings for Denethor as he feasts, he is explicitly shown eating tomatoes from a pewter platter. He is also shown drinking from a pewter cup.

I believe this was very intentional by Peter Jackson to subtly imply that lead poisoning was contributing to Denethor's unbalanced mental state.

From Redditor u/leadalloyammo:

To begin with, I have read the unabridged trilogy, albeit a while ago. Right now I'm just rewatching the trilogy for the 80th time because it's on Netflix.

We first meet Theoden cursed and frail, allowing Grima Wormtongue to speak for him and influence his thoughts. Now I know that Saruman was corrupted by a Palantir (as was Denethor), but that doesn't exactly explain Wormtongue's position. Theoden was merely an unwise king, allowing for a literal worm to influence his thoughts and actions even before Saruman curses him. When Saruman corrupts Theoden, he's already got a man on the inside.

Later, in The Two Towers, he makes some fairly questionable decisions. It's apparent that the Rohirrim are more than capable of taking on the Uruk Hai, but only in their natural fighting grounds: the open field. Had Theoden followed Aragorn's advice and fought them head on, many civilians could have been spared, the walls of Helm's Deep would not have been breached, and perhaps he could have inspired more Men to join the cause. Strategically, everyone, even Saruman, expected Theoden to retreat to Helm's Deep. That's why he preemptively created the explosive device and the large ladders (built to height for Helm's Deep). These would have been largely useless had the Rohirrim done as they were trained to do: ride.