"Arwen’s fate is now bound to the ring"
by Diamond Took
“Arwen’s fate is now bound to the ring” a musing -
Elrond is possibly not telling Aragorn that Arwen is actually dying and
that her fate is tied to the ring, but that she has chosen mortality
and her fate is now tied to the earth- and she will not leave now no
matter what, so Middle Earth better not go under Sauron’s dominion, or
she will die (as will everyone else)! To explain, Elrond tells Aragorn
that Arwen is dying, that as Sauron’s power grows, hers wanes, and that
her fate is now tied to The Ring. This could be taken at face value,
but if it is then it can be only really seen as a cheap plot device,
urging Aragorn on to become King, but really only weakening his
motivation as a character. So, as I looked at it recently, I decided to
not take it at face value, and to instead try and find a deeper, better
meaning (lol).
First, take that Elrond tells Aragorn that Arwen is dying. I take this
to be his subtle way of telling Aragorn that she has chosen mortality,
for him. The fact that she was an elf means that there is no way that
she could be dying for no reason normally. Elrond is telling Aragorn
that because she has chosen him, she is now slowly dying the death of
any mortal, as they live and grow older. Seeing as (in the movie of
course) Aragorn left thinking that Arwen had chosen immortality and was
leaving Middle Earth, this is important information for him to know.
Second, the fact that Elrond says that as Sauron’s power grows, Arwen’s
wanes. This has to do with the nature of Elves in Middle Earth. Because
the kingdom’s of the elves are sustained by the Elven rings (Vilya in
this case), as Sauron’s power grows, all of the power of the Elves
wanes. Elrond is just putting a more personal note into this statement.
A way of saying, “Yes, I know that you know that Elves are losing their
power, but it always means more when you put the face of someone you
love on it, so look at Arwen.” Now, I am not saying that Aragorn needed
this kind of encouragement, but it is different from Elrond tying the
fate of Arwen unnecessarily with Sauron’s.
This brings me to the third statement. Arwen’s fate is now tied to The
Ring. This statement looks rather silly at face value, but try looking
at it like this: Arwen has now chosen Middle Earth and mortality. If
The Ring is not destroyed, all of Middle Earth will perish, and so will
Arwen. She no longer has the choice to leave the troubles of Middle
Earth behind. This is a way to tie the last points together. Arwen has
chosen Aragorn and hence mortality, and Arwen is now tied to Middle
Earth as a mortal would be, so that it is not just that if Sauron wins
Aragorn will not be king and will not “get” Arwen, but she will suffer
just like everyone else in the world- but not any more so.
I don’t know if this all makes sense or even helps any of you come to
terms with this scene, but it did help me, so I wanted to share my
musings. :)
Note- this is not meant as a defense of PJ’s changes, but only a musing
on another way to look at it, so as possibly to be less disturbed by it
in the future. The same sort of contrivance as when I say Frodo’s
“real” lines in my head to myself as he claims The Ring, so that it
seems the same to me.
