Lord of the Rings recap: the story so far

No. 01 · 2001 · Film

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring recap

At Bilbo Baggins's 111th birthday party in the Shire, Bilbo vanishes using a magic ring and leaves it to his nephew Frodo. Gandalf the wizard discovers it is the One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron, who is searching for it. Frodo sets out with his gardener Sam and his cousins Merry and Pippin, hunted by the Black Riders, the Nazgul, and joined in Bree by the ranger Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor. Gandalf is betrayed and imprisoned by the wizard Saruman but escapes. Frodo is stabbed by the Witch-king on Weathertop and saved by the Elf Arwen. At Rivendell, a council decides the Ring must be destroyed in Mount Doom, and a Fellowship of nine forms: four hobbits, Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir of Gondor, the Elf Legolas and the dwarf Gimli. In the Mines of Moria, Gandalf falls fighting the Balrog. The company rests in Lothlorien, where Galadriel tests Frodo, then travels down the river Anduin.

How The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ends

At Amon Hen, Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo and repents too late: Saruman's Uruk-hai attack, kill Boromir and carry off Merry and Pippin. Frodo decides to go to Mordor alone, but Sam refuses to be left behind and the two cross the river together. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli let them go and set off after the Uruk-hai to rescue Merry and Pippin, which is where The Two Towers picks up.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 02 · 2002 · Film

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers recap

Frodo and Sam, lost in the hills, capture Gollum, the creature who owned the Ring for centuries, and Frodo makes him their guide to Mordor. Merry and Pippin escape the Uruk-hai when Riders of Rohan slaughter the orcs, and they flee into Fangorn forest, where they meet the Ent Treebeard. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli track them and find Gandalf returned as Gandalf the White. Gandalf frees King Theoden of Rohan from Saruman's spell and banishes Saruman's agent Grima Wormtongue. Theoden leads his people to the fortress of Helm's Deep, where Aragorn grows close to Theoden's niece Eowyn. Faramir, Boromir's brother, captures Frodo and Sam and is tempted to take the Ring to Gondor. Saruman sends ten thousand Uruk-hai against Helm's Deep, and they breach the wall with explosives.

How The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ends

At dawn, Theoden and Aragorn ride out, and Gandalf arrives with Eomer's riders to break the siege of Helm's Deep. The Ents, roused by Merry and Pippin, flood and wreck Isengard. Faramir lets Frodo and Sam go after the Ring nearly takes Frodo at Osgiliath. Gollum, his darker half winning out, plans to lead the hobbits to "her" and take the Ring back, setting up The Return of the King.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 03 · 2003 · Film

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King recap

Centuries before, Smeagol murders his friend Deagol for the Ring and becomes Gollum. Now Gollum turns Frodo against Sam on the climb into Mordor. With Isengard fallen, Pippin looks into Saruman's palantir and glimpses Sauron's plan to attack Minas Tirith. Gandalf rides there with Pippin, while Merry stays with Rohan. Denethor, steward of Gondor, sends Faramir on a hopeless charge and then tries to burn himself and his wounded son alive; Pippin and Gandalf save Faramir, and Denethor dies. Aragorn takes the Paths of the Dead and wins the oath-breaking ghosts to his side. At the Pelennor Fields, Rohan charges, Theoden dies, and Eowyn and Merry kill the Witch-king. Gollum leads Frodo into the lair of the giant spider Shelob, and Sam fights her off and rescues Frodo from orcs at Cirith Ungol. Aragorn leads an army to the Black Gate to draw Sauron's eye.

How The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ends

At the Crack of Doom, Frodo cannot let go and claims the Ring, but Gollum bites off his finger and falls into the fire with it. Sauron is destroyed and the eagles rescue Frodo and Sam. Aragorn is crowned king and marries Arwen. The hobbits go home, but Frodo never heals, and he leaves Middle-earth from the Grey Havens with Bilbo, Gandalf and the Elves, giving Sam the Red Book to finish. Sam returns to his family. The story is over; later films go back in time.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 04 · 2012 · Film

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey recap

Old Bilbo starts writing his story for Frodo. Sixty years earlier, Gandalf and thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield invade young Bilbo's home in the Shire and recruit him as a burglar on a quest to retake Erebor, the dwarf kingdom stolen by the dragon Smaug. Thorin hates the orc Azog, who killed his grandfather, and believes him dead. Bilbo saves the company from three trolls. The wizard Radagast finds a dark sorcerer, the Necromancer, at Dol Guldur, and at Rivendell Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel and Saruman discuss the threat. Captured by goblins under the Misty Mountains, Bilbo gets separated, finds a ring in Gollum's cave and wins a game of riddles; invisible, he chooses to spare Gollum's life and escapes.

How The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ends

Azog, very much alive, ambushes the company and Thorin is nearly killed; Bilbo saves him, and Thorin accepts him at last. Eagles carry them to safety. From a high rock they see the Lonely Mountain in the distance. Inside, Smaug wakes under the gold, which leads straight into The Desolation of Smaug.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 05 · 2013 · Film

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug recap

Hunted by Azog's orcs, the company shelters with the skin-changer Beorn and enters Mirkwood, where Bilbo uses the ring to fight off giant spiders. The Wood-elves of King Thranduil, his son Legolas and the captain Tauriel capture the dwarves, and Bilbo frees them in empty barrels down the river. Tauriel and the dwarf Kili form a bond, and Kili is wounded with a poisoned arrow. Bard the bargeman smuggles them into Lake-town. Gandalf goes to Dol Guldur and finds that the Necromancer is Sauron, who imprisons him. The dwarves open the secret door into the mountain on Durin's Day, and Bilbo goes in alone to steal the Arkenstone, Thorin's royal jewel, and wakes Smaug.

How The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ends

The dwarves fight Smaug through the forges of Erebor and try to drown him in molten gold, but the dragon bursts free. Furious, Smaug flies out to burn Lake-town. Bilbo, who has quietly pocketed the Arkenstone, watches him go and says "What have we done?" The film cuts off there, and The Battle of the Five Armies opens with the attack.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 06 · 2014 · Film

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies recap

Smaug burns Lake-town until Bard shoots him down with a black arrow, and Bard leads the survivors to the ruined city of Dale. Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman rescue Gandalf from Dol Guldur and drive out Sauron, and Saruman says he will deal with him. In Erebor, Thorin falls into dragon sickness, obsessed with the gold and the missing Arkenstone, and refuses to share the treasure promised to the people of the lake. Thranduil's elves join Bard, and Thorin's cousin Dain arrives with a dwarf army. Bilbo secretly hands the Arkenstone to Bard to force a deal, and Thorin nearly kills him for it. Then Azog's orc armies attack, and elves, men and dwarves fight together.

How The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ends

Thorin shakes off the gold sickness and leads a charge. On Ravenhill he kills Azog but is mortally wounded, and he makes peace with Bilbo before he dies. Kili and Fili are killed too. Bilbo goes home to find his possessions being auctioned. Sixty years later, Gandalf knocks at Bag End on Bilbo's 111th birthday, which leads directly into The Fellowship of the Ring.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 07 · 2022 · Series · optional

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 1) recap

In the Second Age, Galadriel hunts the vanished Sauron while the Elves believe him gone. Elrond seeks help from his dwarf friend Prince Durin IV for Celebrimbor's great forge in Eregion, and learns the Elves are fading and need mithril to survive. Galadriel is shipwrecked with Halbrand, a man who claims to be the lost king of the Southlands, and they reach Numenor, where Queen Regent Miriel agrees to sail with an army. In the Southlands, the Elf Arondir and the healer Bronwyn face orcs led by Adar, who uses a hilt-shaped key to flood a dam and turn the region into Mordor with the eruption of Mount Doom. Miriel is blinded in the battle. A strange man falls from the sky and is befriended by the harfoot Nori, while three cultists hunt him as Sauron.

How The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 1) ends

The Stranger is not Sauron; he is a wizard, and he leaves with Nori for Rhun. Galadriel works out that Halbrand is Sauron, after he has helped Celebrimbor design rings. He tempts her to rule with him, she refuses, and he walks off to Mordor. Galadriel and Celebrimbor forge three Elven rings from mithril. The season ends with the Elves holding rings that Sauron helped shape, which season 2 builds on.

No. 08 · 2024 · Series · optional

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 2) recap

Sauron rebuilds himself and, calling himself Annatar, a messenger of the Valar, returns to Eregion and wins over Celebrimbor to forge more rings. Galadriel and Elrond ride for Eregion; she gives her ring Nenya to Elrond and is captured by Adar. Durin III takes one of the seven Dwarf rings and grows greedy, mining ever deeper for mithril while his son resists him. In Numenor, the Faithful, led by Elendil, are persecuted, Pharazon takes power, and Miriel survives trial by the Sea Worm. Isildur survives in Middle-earth with Estrid and Arondir. The Stranger travels with Nori and Poppy, meets Tom Bombadil and faces a Dark Wizard. Sauron has Celebrimbor make nine rings for Men, laced with his own blood, and Adar's orcs besiege Eregion.

How The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 2) ends

Eregion falls. Sauron kills Celebrimbor and takes the nine rings from Galadriel, and Adar is killed by his own orcs. Durin III dies fighting the Balrog and Durin IV becomes king, sending his army to help the Elves escape. The Stranger finds his staff and his name, Gandalf, and Pharazon learns Halbrand's identity and arrests the Faithful while Elendil escapes. Season 3 premieres November 11, 2026, with the war between the Elves and Sauron.

No. 09 · 2024 · Film · optional

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim recap

Eowyn narrates a story from 183 years before The Lord of the Rings. Hera is the headstrong daughter of Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan. The Dunlending lord Freca asks for her hand for his son Wulf, her childhood friend, and when Helm refuses, the two kings fight and Helm kills Freca with a single punch. Wulf swears revenge. Years later, leading the Dunlendings from Isengard, he has Hera kidnapped; she is rescued, and he invades Rohan with the help of a traitor, Lord Thorne. Helm's sons Haleth and Hama are killed, and the Rohirrim retreat into the Hornburg for a long winter siege. Grief-stricken, Helm goes out alone at night to fight the enemy barehanded and is found frozen to death, standing. Hera also spies orcs gathering rings from the battlefield.

How The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim ends

Hera rides onto Wulf's siege tower to challenge him and buy time for her people to escape through hidden caves. Her cousin Frealaf arrives with Helm's horn and armour, and the Dunlendings, believing Helm's ghost has returned, flee. Hera kills Wulf in their fight. Frealaf becomes king and the fortress is named Helm's Deep. Saruman offers his friendship to Rohan, and Hera leaves to roam the world, meeting Gandalf about the ring-hunting orcs.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.