"The Last Debate" - Eric's Thoughts

As Ben points out, this chapter is awkwardly divided into two parts: one where Legolas and Gimli describe the behind-the-scenes employment of the ghosts, and another part where Gandalf, Aragon, and an elf-lord or two hang out in Aragon's tent and decide to launch a futile assault on Mordor to distract Sauron.

The first part I found tepid and yawn-inducing. Once again, Tolkien unravels his action scenes via flashback rather than in-the-moment narrative. Not effective. And the tale was less than compelling, and sometimes I had no idea what he was talking about. The gist I got was that the army of the dead scared the bad guys so much they jumped into the sea and drowned. Then, Aragon released the captives which then majestically rose up--at the last moment--to save Minas Tirith.

The hobbits are nothing more than foils for Gimli and Legolas to share that narrative, and offer no commentary or anything at all. The better narrative structure should have been to place this subplot in real-time alongside the siege of Gondor and cut back and forth between the two once or twice. Then, Aragon's sudden appearance wouldn't have been so deus-ex-machina-ish.

The second portion of the chapter was more interesting to me, and actually was one of my favorite chapters growing up in Return of the King besides the Scouring of the Shire. (And on a re-read, I think the latter half of this chapter still stands up as one of my favorite parts in the whole trilogy).

What happens in this excellent second act? Gandalf ponders the grim words of Denethor: You may triumph on the fields of the Pelennor for a day, but against the Power that has now arisen there is no victory.

Gandalf's reaction to Denethor's words is to not dismiss them as the ravings of a madman, but to analyze the words of a man that has seen the future and despaired. This chapter really develops the character of Gandalf--he does not pretend to be an all-knowing wizard that dictates what happens next, but instead reveals himself to be a shrewd logician.

In that regard, Gandalf spots a riddle in Denethor's words, unpacks the words, and arrives at a conclusion. The chapter guides the reader through Gandalf's thought processes on what they should do next: launch a futile assault of Mordor, likely to die, just so that Sauron's Eye is distracted from the real gambit. Really effective (and subtle) character development in my opinion.

Even more compelling, the characters themselves acknowledge this noble sacrifice does not fix everything, but merely offers a chance of a chance to rid the world of but one evil: "It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."

Duty indeed. The stakes are clear. This is exactly why we are rooting for these characters.