We wants it, we wants it, we wants it!

Welcome back readers to another LotR's check-in! Y'all know the deal by now. See you in the comments!

If you've read ahead and have a question or want to chat, head on over to the Marginalia and make a comment! But be cautious, there may be spoilers in the comment thread.

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Thanks for making this an enjoyable and exciting group read, especially for all the new readers, as we take the ever long road through Tolkien's Middle-earth!

Useful Links:

• Map of Middle-earth

• The Shire

Thanks for tuning in all you lovely people. Without further ado here are the chapter summaries. Feel free to jump straight into the discussions below!

Chapter Summaries:

• The Passage of the Marshes:

With Gollum as their guide, Sam and Frodo press forth towards Mordor. Every step towards the Dark Lord’s realm brings further desolation and bleakness to the landscape, and without Gollum showing them the way they’d surely be lost. Sam greatly distrusts this strange creature, however, and continues to keep a watchful eye on him, at least when he can keep his eyes open… They travel by night because Gollum fears the sun, but also to provide cover from their enemies. As if to confirm this advice from Gollum, wraiths fly above their heads, scouring the land for the Ring.

Days pass and Frodo seems to see his energy sapped by the weight of the Ring around his neck, growing heavier as they approach the Dark Lord. They pass through the Dead Marshes, which are described in vivid and awful detail as bogs filled with decaying bodies of orcs, humans, and elves from a long ago battle. Finally leaving these marshes they encounter lands even more desolate than anything they’ve encountered. One early morning Sam wakes to find Gollum standing over Frodo as he sleeps, conversing with his own fractured mind aka Smeagol. They go back and forth discussing their promise to Frodo or whether they should just take the Ring for themselves and get out of harm’s way. Sam watches this conversation unfold with interest, and decides to hold this information in his back pocket for the time being.

• The Black Gate Is Closed:

The 2 hobbits and their guide arrive at the Black Gate. The ramparts on either side of the gate are heavily patrolled, and seemingly impassable without the gate being magically opened. Gollum begs Frodo to give him the Ring instead of trying to pass the gate and let the Ring fall into the Dark Lord’s hands. Hearing Frodo’s resolve to carry forth, however, Gollum then offers up a secondary way to enter into Mordor. This path would take them near the Tower of the Moon (built by Isildur–warrior who cut off the Dark Lord’s finger, and the Ring with it) and then through a dark passage and bridge called Cirith Ungol. Here the story pans out to consider how Gandalf and Aragorn would feel about the hobbits taking this path, and it’s unfortunate that they can’t telepathically send the hobbits a clear “NO” over the long distance that stretches between them. The chapter ends with the 3 of them hiding out as they hear and witness a new army of strange looking men enter Mordor under the watch of the Dark Riders and wraiths.