A wizard, a warrior elf, two brave humans, a likable dwarf, and four adventurous hobbits walk into Mordor… Jokes aside, since the original fantasy trilogy written by J. R. R. Tolkien was adapted into three epic movies, Lord of the Rings immediately became a cult icon. It’s nothing to be surprised about. There are plenty of reasons why we’ve grown to adore these Middle-earth stories, especially the adventures of the Fellowship of the Ring, a group of nine set out to destroy the One Ring in the fiery pits of Mordor.
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first movie of the trilogy, and for that reason, it holds a special place in ever LOTR fan’s heart. However, upon re-watching the movie (as is the case with the sequels) there are moments when you really have to wonder how much logic there is in some of the protagonists’ decisions. That being said, the movie provided more than a fair dose of meme material since it first aired 18 years ago. Today, we’re checking out 10 hilarious memes questioning this logic by re-visiting some of the best scenes of The Fellowship Of the Ring.
You were asking for it, Sauron
Everyone knows the first five minutes of the film showcases the famous Battle of Dagorlad. One moment, the mighty Sauron kills everything in front of him, and in the other he approaches Isildur and a chopping motion leaves him fingerless, and bodyless, because he lost his precious One Ring.
Ridiculed by many fans for the lack of logic, this scene portrays Sauron as a half-cooked villain who, instead of protecting the one thing that makes him unkillable, slowly extends his finger bearing the One Ring towards his enemy, practically handing it on a silver platter.
Elron’s Biggest Failure
After chopping the One Ring off of Sauron’s finger in that faithful battle (which proved easier than it should have been), Isildur was joined by Elrond on a quest to Mount Doom to get rid of the ring. It’s perfectly understandable that the ring would affect Isildur so as to make him unable to toss it, but the thing that bugs many fans is that Elrond (a superhumanly quick and agile elf) did nothing at all to help get rid of the ring but yell after Islidur.
Of course, if he did that which could have easily been done, then we wouldn’t have our beloved story in the first place, would we?
Gandalf the Oblivious
This is a clever one that plays on the fact that we never got any evidence that Gandalf actually attended any of Bilbo’s Birthdays, as in the movies, so in the books. In all likelyhood, Gandalf - a wizard thousands of years in age and one of only five great wizards of Middle-Earth - probably had a lot better things to do than attend every single one of Bilbo’s birthdays.
The old Bilbo was also extremely surprised to see Gandalf on his 111th birthday, proving that he was by no means expecting the wizard’s company that day. Gandalf may be a great wizard, but perhaps his memory doesn’t serve him as well as it used to.
You (don’t) have my axe
Bilbo obviously meant this figuratively. Or maybe it was supposed to be a joke, given that he knows he shattered his axe moments earlier. To someone who didn’t read the books, there would be multiple potential explanations for this mishap, but given that the axe-shattering never happened in the books, we pin this one on Jackson.
It’s actually sad, given that the axe that now lay shattered in pieces around the One Ring was the same axe that Jackson made Gloin carry in the Hobbit trilogy, with the intention of being passed on to his Son, Gimli. Nevertheless, this is still a clever meme and we have to give it out to the person who first thought of it.
Barefoot to Mordor? Challenge accepted!
Everyone knows Hobbits have abnormally large and hairy feet that allow them to walk around barefoot, especially in the soft and grassy Shire. But how would that protect him from getting stung, cut, or hurt on his long journey?
Choosing to go on this adventure with absolutely no footwear does seem a little unusual, even for a hobbit, so it’s amazing that Frodo went the entire three Lord of the Rings movies without any shoes. More so considering the treacherous terrains and perilous situations he’d encountered on his way to Mordor.
Gandalf the Oathbreaker
Gandalf embodies the classic Scumbag Steve in this meme. Many of us know the story: Before Bilbo’s famous birthday party, Bilbo asks Gandalf if he’d keep an eye on Frodo, to which Gandalf answers: “Two eyes, as often as I can spare them.”
Yeah, and then he puts the most dangerous object in existence in Frodo’s palm and urges him on a six-month one-way trip to Mordor to get rid of it. Nice way to keep an eye on someone, eh?
Boromir was a huge spoiler
Sean Bean’s a terrific actor and the perfect casting choice for the role of Boromir in Lord of the Rings. That being said, the man is a walking spoiler, as none of the characters he plays make it out of his movies alive. And, surprise, surprise: Boromir meets an early end in the Fellowship of the Ring as well.
Whether this is just a coincidence or he was purposely cast as Boromir knowing the character dies in the first movie remains up to debate, but is nevertheless an interesting observation, cleverly mocked by this meme.
Gandalf the Scumbag
If things were that simple, The Lord of the Rings would be a boring few-page story with no purpose or excitement. Nevertheless, the question of why Gandalf, after entrusting Frodo and the Fellowship with such a dangerous task of defeating Sauron, didn’t at least use his eagles to spare them the perilous six-month journey remains one of LOTR’s most popular plot holes that still makes no sense to this day.
The explanation offered is that the eagles only helped Gandalf because they are indebted to him for saving their king. Despite this, the entire Middle-Eearth was at stake, so this reasoning still makes little sense.
Never skip upper body day
Where the books describe Gandalf as barely grasping the end of the cliff, the situation is obviously a bit different in the movies. We are talking about one of the most powerful wizards of Middle-Earth, someone immortal who’s able to fight the Balrog for days, yet getting himself over the edge is a task too great.
While it seems that Gandalf had more than a decent grip on that cliff and him falling down makes little sense, we can possibly conclude that defeating the Balrog and emerging as Gandalf the White was a part of his plan from the beginning.
Legolas’ unlimited arrow cheat code
The most mysterious member of the Fellowship of the Ring, Legolas never seems to run out of arrows, in the first movie as well as all the other sequels. This begs the question of whether his arrows were somehow enchanted. But, more likely, it’s just a huge plot hole that made this elf more badass and competent in large-scale battles.
It makes even less sense when we consider that he uses elven-made arrows, which would surely have to require him to make a trip back home in order to restock. We’ll never know, and as Frodo would say: “all right then, keep your secrets.”
