One can't help but be intrigued by Faramir. He's definitely emo, but good emo.
Brooding, tragic, thoughtful -- a type that reads the hearts of man shrewdly, but what he reads moves him to pity.
So. Now we have an actual, real character with which to test how far Frodo has progressed. Gone is the Frodo that is scared by Farmer Maggot, replaced by a weary traveler who distrusts even those that might be of great aid. The old Frodo would have begged Faramir for help -- this Frodo seeks to avoid any at all cost.
Sam, of course, is as stupid as ever, serving as a foil to Frodo's metamorphosis. Naturally, Sam gets a little drunk and then blurts out: Hey! Turns out we have Isildur's Bane, that ring he wore, ya know?
Faramir's reaction is perhaps one of the most brilliant in the book (along there with Saruman's voice): "A chance for Faramir, Captin of Gondor, to show his quality! Ha!"
Faramir then stands up very tall and stern, and says that "How you have increased my sorrow, you strange wanderers from a far ountry, bearing the peril of Men!"
Faramir's reaction to this news is sorrow -- sorrow that his brother lacked the mettle for the trial. His reaction to the ring is not lust for it, but pity for those who carry it, and an apology for his brother's betrayal.
If anything, the reveal only bonds the hobbits even closer to Faramir. Sam is rightly impressed: "Yes sir, and showed your quality: the very highest."
I may have LOLd at "Hey! Turns out we have Isildur's Bane, that ring he wore, ya know?"
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