How the Witch-king failed at Weathertop...

[@DarthGandalfYT]

Hey everyone. Two things. 1). If I sound a bit dead in this video, it's because I'm currently in round 2 with COVID. 2). I'm not sure why I had a stroke every time I tried to say Weathertop.

[@TheGreatestJediOfAllTime]

You sound fine bro, looking forward to watching

[@Jacob_64]

You better knock up the sickness and win, and hope you get better soon

[@sayagarapan1686]

Just please don't die. But if you do, can I have your lava lamp?

[@shanenolan8252]

Sotry mate get well soon

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

_2). I'm not sure why I had a stroke every time I tried to say Weathertop._ Maybe because you are the witchking and still feel responsible for the downfall of your master? 😁 I wish you get well soon and appreciate you've done this insightful video despite of your illness.

[@the_last_blue_shiba]

Makes sense. A creature used to causing nothing but dread and being basically impossible to kill, within moments finds itself locked in combat with an individual seemingly not afraid in the slightest, being assaulted with a weapon actually capable of killing it and in the presence of creatures he has little knowledge of that apparently were capable of overcoming wraiths in the past... he might have been hearing the words of the prophecy in his head too at that moment. If you know all these, it wouldn't make sense for the Witch King to not be dismayed.

[@JeffDeanTheDeanZone]

The wraiths were not impossible to kill.

[@sayagarapan1686]

Brilliant. Great explanation. Loved this vid. The only thing I would add is that the Barrow Blade actually had the power to break the spell that caused the Witch-King to be impervious to normal weapons. Eowyn's blade was not magic, and only Merry's strike with a Barrow Blade caused the Witch-King to be vulnerable to her blade. On Weathertop I think it's possible the Nazgul knew how deadly was Frodo's dagger. And since Frodo was "no man", I have to believe this added to the Witch-King's fear in that moment on the hill.

[@mrmoneybags]

Great points. 👍

[@SirDrifter]

You make an excellent point.

[@Jim-Tuner]

Frodo also having the ring was probably a consideration. Someone with the ring with a powerful enough will could have at least slowed the Nazgul down. The Nazgul were likely to always be loyal to Sauron, but someone with the ring and the will could cause problems for them.

[@movoo6077]

Makes perfect sense

[@SNWWRNNG]

There's no mention of the Barrow-blade making the Witch-king vulnerable, just that it was especially harmful and broke the connection between his sinews and his will. It's a possible interpretation, but I not definite. Tolkien's magic system is too soft to be specific like that there.

[@himynameis3664]

This is why Tolkien's writing is so good. So much depth and thought gone into this one scene that in the overall scope of the entire story doesn't come across as very significant, but when you look into it and examine it as you have done here you can see vast amount of thought and work put into everything that he wrote.

[@Uncle_Fred]

This is why we'll always be disappointed by any commerical production using the LOTR's IP. No production will ever add anything to Tokien's legendarium that is as well thought out as the material written by the grand old author himself.

[@strongsuccessfulweeb1400]

Only to be ruined by a certain shipping company

[@jefffinkbonner9551]

Most any other author would’ve taken the lazy writing approach and just chalked it up to laziness or stupidity.

[@vrolijk9865]

This is kinda a reach imo and tolkien glazing. Tolkien and his work are amazing dont get me wrong. But this was probably a plot-hole he discoverd himself and had to come up with something to make it make sense

[@TheMarcHicks]

The Witch King's strong fear of death is entirely reasonable when you also consider that it was partly the desire to cheat death that led to all 9 men being tempted by Sauron into taking those Rings of Power.

[@similaritiesendhere]

Except the lore also mentions that the form of immortality granted by Sauron eventually becomes unbearable torture. The ring's destruction isn't the only way he could be freed. A powerful enough ring bearer could simply undo him. Maybe a small part of him wasn't too enthusiastic about the thought of Sauron's complete victory since it would mean his eternal slavery and torment.

[@Cyrus-rodn45]

@@similaritiesendhere understand that they are bound to the 1 ring. Their will is that of their master. And they are in complete servitude of the dark lord.

[@similaritiesendhere]

@@Cyrus-rodn45 I didn't say that they weren't in servitude. I just pointed out that they weren't enthusiastic about their servitude. None of Sauron's servants are if you think about it. There are several instances in the story where the ringwraiths are so afraid of another source of power that they hesitate or even retreat (disobeying Sauron's will).

[@Cyrus-rodn45]

@@similaritiesendhere thats not really true.

[@similaritiesendhere]

@@Cyrus-rodn45 Nuh uh is a not a valid argument. Do you have any evidence or do you want me to start burying you with examples? The most obvious example is Weathertop. The wraiths were within a few feet of the ring and got scared off by a Hobbit's prayer and a hobo with a torch. Sauron did not order them to retreat. Sauron can't even make 8 out of the 9 wraiths cross a body of water. They're more scared of the water than they are of Sauron.

[@Jim-Tuner]

There were a couple other considerations. 1) Gandalf could still have been lurking around the area the night they attacked weathertop. 2) They had to be careful about the ring being used against them. Given a powerful enough person in control of it, it as well could be used as a weapon against them and even partially control them. 3) Their mission above all was to get the ring by any means. Pulling back, summoning all nine together and taking control of the road was not a bad plan. No matter where the other side hid or moved, they were going to have to return to the road at some point and probably cross the river. And they could also expect the effect of the blade to cripple what the other side could do. Getting into a fight with a powerful force of people that were their equal and had dangerous weapons was risky. Stabbing the one with the ring and then retreating was the safe way to deal with the situation. The other thing that might play into it is sauron. During the delay, they might have been trying to contact him for guidance or orders. Sauron wasn't the sort of leader to encourage independence in his followers. Another consideration is that Sauron himself didn't react well when things didn't go according to plan or he was surprised. He literally paniced when Aragorn revealed himself to him and ordered the final assault on Gondor early. He also had to be totally confused when the Witch-King was killed and his armies were utterly destroyed. And like the witch king at weathertop, Sauron backed off and did nothing for several days after the battle at Gondor. Getting surprised at the river was the biggest mistake the witch king made. He should have expected powerful elves to intervene given where he was. He had to be very familiar with their power given he would have also encountered it when he was kind of Agmar.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

Yes, and probably their plan would've been successful but Glorfindel saved the day.

[@Gjergji311]

We know that the Witch-king is aware of Glorfindel’s prophecy about his death. Finding a strange creature (certainly not a man), who has the courage to stand up to him, with the Ring, with a blade that can actually kill him could scarce but cause him fear. I don’t think it’s that the WK is overconfident and expects the wound he gave Frodo to finish the job, it’s that he hopes that will be enough rather than having to actually have to confront these people again. Of course, once he gathers himself and lays an ambush-which again, should show that the Nazgûl are being wary at this point, you don’t set an ambush when you’re facing a much weaker force-Glorfindel, the guy who prophesied his death actually shows up. Like, the WK has to be reading the tea leaves at this point.

[@JeffDeanTheDeanZone]

You read the books too! Good job.

[@xaviermontesdeoca2440]

Witch King: getting into a fight with my bois, posting the video later Witch King: I got my ass kicked, not posting that shit

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

Good analysis, especially with including the additional stuff from _The Hunt for the Ring._ Additionally I want to stress out one point. In the text of LotR it is not Frodo who is shouting at the Witchking. _At that moment Frodo threw himself forward on the ground, and he heard himself crying aloud: _*_O Elbereth! Gilthoniel_* _He heard himself crying,_ it's not him but some other force using his voice. In Frodo's first encounter with a Ring-wraith it was driven away by a company of elves. Their leader _Gildor_ gave Frodo their blessings: _May Elbereth protect you! […] I name you Elf-friend, and may the stars shine upon the end of your road!_ In Tolkien's world, such words have not only meaning, but power. Frodo was indeed protected by Elbereth at the Weathertop. Aragorn did his part to scare them away, but the crucial part was the doing of Elbereth himself.

[@khamulthewack4732]

Hey, that's a good point, I like that. Really ties it all together. Means the Witch-King wasn't just frightened, but repelled by a magic charm.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

@@khamulthewack4732 Yes, but not a _magic charm_ like in a RPG where a wizards casts a spell, but Elbereth herself protected Frodo against the wraiths. That explains why they've been so fast on their heels and needed to re-group afterwards.

[@khamulthewack4732]

@@Spielkalb-von-Sparta right, I'm aware LotR doesn't operate under DnD rules. Frodo didn't have a 7th level Protection from Evil spell cast on him (would be a waste of a spell slot anyway), but rather, words in the world of Arda have ACTUAL power behind them. So a blessing like that might actually invoke Elbereth to protect Frodo.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

@@khamulthewack4732 Indeed. I just wrote my previous comment to underline the difference to RPGs for other readers who might misunderstood it.

[@khamulthewack4732]

@@Spielkalb-von-Sparta gotcha. It's a really cool underlying thing that permeates how Arda works.

[@veronicadavanzo2064]

Great analysis! Just goes to show, the encounter with Bombadil wasn’t pointless, as some have suggested.

[@legionarybooks13]

Brilliant video. As much as I loved the films, they made Frodo into a pathetic weakling. Heck, in the Bakshi cartoon he draws his blade and at least tries to fight back. In the Jackson films he immediately drops his sword and falls on his ass. And while I'm fine with Arwen getting some actual screentime (she's little more than window dressing in the book's main story), in the books and Bakshi cartoon, Frodo rides alone to the ford and stands up to the Nazgul before succumbing to his wounds.

[@neildaly2635]

Initially I thought this was idle some speculation. But as I listened I appreciated the insightful work and found your conclusions well supported by the evidence you cited. I fear your illness could be related to the spirit of the Witch King angered by your criticism. May Elbereth protect you and thanks for the great content!

[@istari0]

Excellent video; the more in-depth explanation of what happened does help clear things up. I'm definitely in favor of more Nazgûl videos.

[@sebastianhovenas272]

Yes please, i would very much be interested in more Nazgul videos. Especially one that tackles the Witch King during the battle of the Pelennor Fields. To me it seems that the Witch King recieved a power boost as he willingly challenged Gandalf alone, a being that managed to fend off the entire strength of the Nazgul all by himself for a long period of time. And that was now no longer Gandalf the Grey but Gandalf the White.

[@nathanlamberth7631]

People often judge characters as if they knew everything the reader does. That’s not the biggest issue when the character can explain themselves later, but villains seldom get that chance.

[@TJDious]

I don't think it's accurate to say that Aragorn wasn't afraid of the Witch-king. I think he was courageous enough to overcome his fear, and wise enough that he knew that attacking with fire was his best advantage in the situation.

[@istari0]

I have to disagree with that. Aragorn, as well as Boromir, both leapt to try and help Gandalf when the fight with Durin's Bane began. I don't think Aragorn feared the Nazgûl at all.

[@ZacharyPackard0976]

@@istari0 I disagree with you, courage is not necessarily devoid of fear rather overcoming it. Which is the archetypical design of aragorn proven in his character throughout the movies and books fearing the past and his potential failure even leaving gondors kingdom vacant of a monarch. Him fighting through his fear in this scene is equivalent to him being crowned king as he defeated the fear that kept him defending or ruling what is his duty.

[@istari0]

@@ZacharyPackard0976 If you are talking about movie Araogrn then possibly. Book Aragorn was well past that.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@ZacharyPackard0976 There is a pretty good indication in his expression and the way he clutches his chair when he first speaks of The Nazgul how much he fears them.

[@SNWWRNNG]

@@istari0 Courage isn't having no fear, it's overcoming fear.

[@stevensproul1]

I really appreciate that your videos on LOTR doesn't cover the topics that all of the other LOTR videos keep covering and copying one another

[@toddauvil1995]

It’s so interesting to get insight on the witch king thoughts

[@meregaming1770]

This is actually similar to a number of very real, equally huge military blunders.

[@johnbennett2618]

@Darth Gandalf, thank you very much for your videos, I think you have the most unique and interesting of all the tolkien lore videos on youtube. They always address a topic I never thought, and are always backed up with sound research. Cheers.

[@AliRadicali]

One recurring theme in Tolkien's writings, which has since become a fantasy trope, is the dark lord archetype's cowardice and refusal to take personal risks and sacrifices to accomplish their aims, instead relying almost exclusively on their underlings and minions to do their bidding. Infuriatingly, this is often considered a "plot hole", which it admittedly can be if the trope is executed poorly, but in the case of Morgoth, Sauron and the Witch-King, it clearly isn't: it is a character defect which the author very intentionally gave these characters because it is a *key* element of what makes them dark lords to begin with. A consistent feature among the heroes of middle earth is that they lead from the front unless they are physically incapable of doing so, in which case it will be their heir or chosen champion fighting in the vanguard in their stead. The good guys are willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of their righteous cause, whereas the dark lord by contrast is so fearful of losing power, let alone risking death, that he will refuse to take even the smallest of personal risks, lest his victory be marred by a permanent scar. You'll note that in the handful of cases where we do see a dark lord engage in single combat or lead their armies, they almost always suffer some permanent disfigurement, sometimes even death, despite them always having a significant advantage. The Witch-king's death at the hands of Eowyn and Merry is the perfect example of this. Not to mention, this tendency to avoid personal risk and sacrifice also ties into that other key feature of dark lords: Hubris. The dark lord always smugly assumes he doesn't have to personally intervene, because his victory at the hands of his lackeys is inevitable any way. When they finally confront the hero at the climax of the story, it is because all of their armies and champions have been bested, and they have no choice but to confront the hero themselves, at which point the hero has gained the knowledge, power or magic McGuffin that will defeat the dark lord. If dark lords were always completely rational, never underestimated their enemies and were willing to make personal sacrifices to achieve their goals, they wouldn't be dark lords. The point of the archetype is to highlight specific character flaws that crop up in leaders and people in positions of power: Selfishness, arrogance, complacency and the fear of losing power.

[@sageofcaledor8188]

You know what, all of that makes sense. Thank you for making this video. Of course, I will be bold to say, the Witch King does not deserve all the blame for Sauron's defeat. Sauron deserved part because he assumed Aragon will receive the One Ring.

[@thorshammer7883]

I guess Eru Iluvatar can also be thanked as well. The Nazgul being afraid with these extraordinary certain conditions set up can be called a blessing in disguise by the creator of Arda.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

Yes indeed, Gildor's blessings invoked Elbereth. See my comment above.

[@jonystyles9473]

Not Eru here sorry

[@thorshammer7883]

@@jonystyles9473 I disagree with that statement.

[@LiraeNoir]

I will never thank that racist, eugenist asshole who is an abusive parent. No thank you :)

[@johnfleet235]

I would agree the Eru was involved. The music of the Ainur ended in the Third Age. Not even Manwe had any idea of the future. Sauron did not realize it, but he playing poker against Eru. It was said that the Dominion of Man would come after the time of the elves. Eru was jealous of his Children and their destiny. Sauron was doomed to failure one way or another.

[@DGLaderoute]

I always thought that a big reason that the Witch-King never grabbed the Ring is because Sauron explicitly didn't WANT him to. While Sauron did possess the Witch-King's ring, and could therefore presumably use it to control him, he probably had no way of knowing what would have happened if the W-K got possession of the One Ring itself. It was designed to dominate the other rings, after all, so if the Witch-King got his hands on it, what impact would that have on Sauron's ability to control him? The Witch-King was a powerful being in his own right, and not exactly a "good guy", so could he have tried to claim the One Ring for himself, freeing himself of Sauron's control, and turning against his former master? I don't think this is explicitly discussed anywhere, but Tolkien was not the sort of guy to do things "just because". There was a reason he had the Witch-King go through this cumbersome process of stabbing Frodo with the Morgul blade, which would eventually turn him into a wraith, rather than just killing him and grabbing the Ring right there. I wondered it about that the first few times I read the story, until it occurred to me that Sauron was paranoid enough that he probably wouldn't want the W-K (or ANY of the Nazgul, for that matter) getting their grubby ethereal hands onto his Ring. Hence, this otherwise kind of awkward plan, which would allow the Nazgul to presumably dominate Frodo once he'd finally wraith-ified and herd him back to Mordor--still carrying the One Ring--where Sauron could THEN take possession of it personally.

[@chesterbless9441]

In the Hunter for the Ring, from Unfinished Tales, it says, "they [the Nazgûl] were entirely enslaved to their Nine Rings, which he [Sauron] now himself held; they were quite incapable of acting against his will, and if one of them, even the Witch-king their captain, had seized the One Ring, he would have brought it back to his Master." It's an interesting theory, but apparently Tolkien thought of this and decided that they wouldn't have betrayed Sauron. Also, it's still possible that the Witch-king wanted to bring Baggins to Mordor: maybe Sauron wanted to personally steal the ring from him or something.

[@DGLaderoute]

Well, then. Who am I to argue with JRR himself?

[@hollygrace6814]

"the witch king has an existential crisis" me too.. me too.... Great video that definitely clears my curiosity

[@triplebog]

Notibly also, the hobbit with the weapon specifically designed to kill the witch king would have also likely fallen squarely out of the category of "man" to the Witch King's understanding of the prophesy that no man would kill him.

[@Jim-Tuner]

He also the ring which could have potentially given him a degree of control over the Nazgul. Not enough to control him, but probably enough to slow him down in a fight.

[@alphasierrazulu]

Haven't finished the video yet, but the dad advice here has to be "just finish the job if you're already there"

[@danepatterson8107]

What a great discussion of the scene! I never knew most of these facts before!

[@jayburdification]

This just brings out more questions. Why did it take Gandalf hours to drive off the ringwraiths with lightening while it took Aragorn only a matter of minutes to drive them off with fire? Wouldn’t Gandalf know that they were susceptible to fire? Isn’t he, in fact, a servant of the Secret Fire? Wielder of the flame of Arnór? The dark fire should not have availed them.

[@stephenglasse9756]

It is problematic. I guess the only thing you can say is, When the nazgul attacked Gandalf they were at full strength (numerically and spiritually) whereas when they attacked Aragorn and the hobbits they were weakened (numerically and spiritually)from the previous fight with Gandalf. This gave the hobbits and Aragorn an advantage. Maybe the fact that they were at Amon Sul (a dwelling of Aragorns ancestor Elendil helped Aragorn?)

[@LiraeNoir]

That's the better question, yes. And we can find reasons after the fact, and some work well (they are fatigued and damaged from the fight with Gandalf) but they are in fact excuses. For all his qualities, Tolkien's work isn't without holes. It's certainly not the first hole.

[@stephenglasse9756]

@@LiraeNoir I agree with that. The facts are (1) Tolkien didn't have much of a plan for the story but just let it develop as it went along (2) Tolkien admits in his foreword to the second edition "the most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects minor and major but being fortunately under no obligation either to review the book or write it again he will pass over these in silence..." It has to be admitted though that stranger events have happened in history. Franz Ferdinand goes to Serbia - a furnace of hostility - in an open carriage *with his wife* AND after having a grenade thrown at him *continues with his tour* only to get murdered with his wife! Is that any less crazy than the nazguls decision to wait until the outskirts of rivendell before attacking again? And note Tolkien was a participant in WW1.

[@stephenglasse9756]

@@LiraeNoir one could propose this theory: Gandalf never kills unless either (a) the being is on the same level as himself (b) the being is a threat to those with Gandalf. So, Gandalf kills the balrog who is a Maier like himself and he kills goblins (in the hobbit) in the cave and the great Goblin who was a threat to the dwarves . However when faced with the nazgul on weather top he is under no obligation to do anything but defend himself. As a Maier he would be guilty if he used lethal force against either the witch king or the others since they are far beneath him *This is what disturbs the witch king so profoundly!* Not only are they held at bay by a numerically far inferior opponent but that opponent is clearly not even using his full power! Yet even the power that he does use is unlike anything the witch king had previously faced. When Gandalf later says, "I was hard put to it indeed" he simply implies 'within the range of what was permitted to the istari who were forbidden from matching force with force '.

[@chesterbless9441]

I can understand the Nazgûl fleeing before Aragorn, they're kind of pathetic without the Witch-king, and they were probably more scared of the fact that the Witch-king was fleeing than they were of Aragorn's fire. But the part that's weird is their encounters with Gandalf. First, all nine Nazgûl struggle against Gandalf. Then the Witch-king sends four of them to chase after Gandalf. Why? Did he think four would succeed where nine couldn't? And again the other Nazgûl are kind of weak without the Witch-king: easily scared off by Gandalf at Minas Tirith, I don't even think they fight at the Battle of Pelannor Fields, and they flee at Weathertop as soon as the Witch-king is spooked. Then the Witch-king alone is willing to face Gandalf at Minas Tirith. There are explanations (maybe the 4 Nazgûl were just to stop Gandalf from turning back, Gandalf is more powerful at Minas Tirith, so is the Witch-king) but it's a bit inconsistent.

[@perisdim]

Even in their elevated state, the Nazgul remained human as the fear of death overcame them

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

Not their fear of death, but their fear of *Elbereth.*

[@p-ar1755]

Awesome video! Quick question: you mention that the WK was surprised to see that with was a Hobbit who had the ring and not the human (ie Aragorn). But I thought that Sauron (therefore the Nazgûl) were actively looking for a Hobbit with the ring?!… Or was he simply looking for ‘Baggins of the Shire’ at this point, not knowing that he was a hobbit (and not a man)

[@chesterbless9441]

I'm pretty sure they knew to look for a halfling. Perhaps he was surprised that Aragorn hadn't taken the Ring for himself.

[@jamsbassy5439]

Right on great work

[@cowboystormchaser]

Great video. I WOULD like more of this type of content.

[@davepowder4020]

I love the use of Lord of the Rings Online graphics for videos like this. The game does such a good job at representing Middle Earth locations!

[@khamulthewack4732]

Super down to see more Nazgul content. Going over what's in the books and appendices is good, but then it might be cool to go over what other people have come up with outside of that; Shadow of War, Games Workshop and whatever else you can think of. Would be cool to compare it to canon or each other, explain why one thing works and why something else doesn't, etc.

[@saeedshahbazian9889]

And lets not forget, he breaks Frodo's sword as soob as he has a chance. He is not taking any risks. But then the flood comes...

[@Hemomancer]

Wow! I loved this video! It’s important to remember that the Nazgûl, despite being wraiths, are still human and still have human emotions. I’m not sure if you have made other videos on this but it would be cool to explore the Nazgûl and barrow wights more. The origin of the wights is unknown but did they also have emotion?

[@jonystyles9473]

Dont think so bro, they only exist to serve Sauron and to br drawn to the ring... although the WK had a will more of his own

[@marcouellette4671]

Thank you. Well said and explained a lot.

[@cryptococcusneoformans2389]

yeah that explain a lot. i feel kind of weird for years of the nine run away from a single ranger.

[@WhoIsCalli]

Great breakdown of events

[@AnfalasHerdsman]

random theory: what if the mouth of sauron is actually Earnur (last king of gondor before elessar) ? my simple argument is: earnur disappeared in minas morgul, and the mouth of sauron appeared out of nowhere and is described to be manish and forgot his original name

[@chesterbless9441]

I think the books said he was a Black Numenorean though, and it wouldn't make sense to call Earnur that.

[@thecappeningchannel515]

In an early draft he was a kidnapped child raiswd by Sauron. He just seems to be an anti aragorn and not 1500 years old.

[@otterrufus]

It is far to fitting that the Witch King who's greatest power was the fear he instilled in others and was thought by most to be immortal was defeated by his own fear of mortality.

[@sergeantsonso3490]

It was not in the nature of a man so frightened by death he accepted the dark lord's ring and became a slave to his will just to cheat it's clutches, to have the courage to steel himself in a moment of uncertainty. His moment of truth came, and the Witch-King of Angmar's true face was revealed; a sniveling coward, wracked with fear and doubt. For all his grand posturing and malice, no greater was he than wormtongue and his anxiety became his, and his master's, undoing.

[@adamhuskey5306]

I learn a lot from your work

[@alanmike6883]

Hey Darth what do you think would've happened if the numenorian fleet was late arriving to help Gil galad and what that means in the short term and long term ?

[@monitor-mindtheover-void6712]

Thanks for the explanation

[@dr.vikyll7466]

I honestly just figured they had been severely weakened by their fight with Gandalf.

[@cityman2312]

Although the Nazgul did poorly on Weathertop, the scene is definitely the most disturbing in the entire Lord of the Rings.

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

I have a question why are the Nazgul so scared of the Elves, i know they are powerful but they seem a bit timid around them, so what am i missing?

[@alanpennie8013]

It's because elves are at home in the spirit realm, and appear to have more power there than they do.

[@chesterbless9441]

In Rivendell, Gandalf tells Frodo that the High Elves who came out of the West and beheld the Two Trees have great power over the Seen and Unseen worlds. For everyone else, the Nazgûl are invisible without their cloaks, but the High Elves can see their invisible bodies and are just have more power against Unseen enemies.

[@richardh5485]

Dont also forget that Frodo as master of the ring is also master of the nazgul. Yes he may not have the will or power to control them as Sauron does or maybe even Aragorn could if he took up the ring but in that moment of attack Frodos will may have been enough to confound and to some extent compel the Nazgul to stop and withdraw.

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

More more more! Such good videos!

[@tscarb]

Ahhhh. Well done!!!

[@nomnomnooma]

I’d also explain what a barrow blade and barrow down is further but phenomenal videos

[@JeffDeanTheDeanZone]

The prophecy states that the Witch King would not be killed by a man. This is why he fled after learning the ring bearer was not a man. He then had to regroup and hope to approach the ring bearer when the blade had done its work. How do I know all this? I read the book.

[@77mpickett]

Great vid. Witch kings mindset. Ya these dudes are definitely not playin. The ranger has no fear of me. Dude has a barrow blade somehow. An angel of illuvatar is at large and opposing me and they also have a high elf of valinor on their side.

[@benjaminlammertz64]

Good arguments all around, but i think we also shouldn't underestimate the importance of Aragorn being with Frodo. When the Nazgul reached the sarn ford at the morning of Frodo's and Bilbo's birthday, the rangers managed to stop them during the day and only had to let them pass when night came (else the ringwraiths would have arrived half a day earlyer and caught Frodo). Tolkien tells us that there are three main factors why the black riders managed to get past the dunedain: -It became night and the sunlight no longer weakened them. -The witch king was among them (implicating that maybe the rangers would have been able to hold the ford against the eight others, even during the night). -Aragorn was not with the rangers, but at the eastern road near Bree, waiting for Frodo. Tolkien writes that "most likely it wouldn't have made a difference had Aragorn been with his kinsmen"... but Tolkien chose words with great care and we should absolutely note that it says "most likely it wouldn't have mattered" and not "it wouldn't have mattered". Aragorn alone against 5 Nazgul who are still worn out from their earlyer battle with Gandalf... yeah, i can absolutely believe that they decided to regroup and gather the other 4, before attacking again in full force and rested. ESPECIALLY after having wounded Frodo. It's also important to note that absolutely noone was expecting Frodo to hold out against the morgul wound this long. Even Gandalf, who knew better than anyone what hobbits were capable of, was absolutely astonished by Frodo's amazing resistance. It was absolutely a fair assumtion for the witch king to make that there was no way Frodo would last untill they reached rivendell.

[@redfireeverstar2651]

The irony of a creature powered by fear was thwarted by his own fear.

[@stephanwatson7902]

6:13 and it's not just Hobbits who have weapons that can harm him, but the fact that they are not Men and the prophecy says that no "man" could kill him

[@cavetroll666]

Very cool topic and video thanks for the video at work bored af 🙃

[@DwellerOfTheEarth]

Phenomenal video

[@user-pk1hn9cr6i]

Very interesting diagnosis. I hadnt pieced this together at all. W-K afraid of Frodo?? Would’ve never agreed w that before this vid. Great deep dive

[@bill-gray]

Very good video

[@alanvatcher8374]

The wraith's Feared Gandalf! It took Four of the Nine to even pursue him. One or Two or even Three would not suffice (without the Black Captain's own self present).

[@alanvatcher8374]

If Even the Lord of Angmar commanded them, to confront Mithradier alone would be certain failure, and even a wraith would quail? (For all they ((the Nine)) knew, Even Galdalf the Grey had the Power to cast them from the World.)

[@joechang8696]

We don’t know Sauron’s instructions to the Nazgûl. It could be : bring baggins to me, but do not touch the ring? Sauron did know from gollum that baggins took the ring. The witch king knew of glorfindels prognostication that he will not die by the hand of man. Encountering a non-man with dangerous weapon would give him pause, same with encountering Gandalf or glorfindel

[@mediocreman6323]

So, basically, the Witch King did not dare grab the Ring, but chose the saver route instead, just stabbing the guy and wait until he delivers it himself. Amazing video! There is no lazy writing in Tolkien's work!

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

I understand that Covid probably got his voice but feel like the Witch King could been speaking more clearly in general …

[@CT-pi2gl]

It is worth considering whether the Nazgúl even could have directly killed the Ringbearer or seized the Ring from him. Their entire existence is built on being controlled by and deathly fearing the Ring Wielder and his Ring. Someone like Gollum who didn't even knowwhat he had, they probably could have handled. But Frodo, even as a Hobbit, who stood up to them wearing the Ring might present a severe obstacle. In a letter, Tolkien contemplates what if the Nazgúl had confronted Frodo at Mount Doom after he'd claimed the Ring. He states that while they would not have obeyed his commands, they probably could not directly attack him, and would have focused on isolating him from the Crack of Doom until Sauron arrived. Perhaps in the hunt for the Ring their *only* viable strategy was to stab and corrupt the bearer into the wraith state, where his free will and ability to wield the Ring was eliminated.

[@Bamazon1990]

Even in the book this part was kind of silly. I don't see how any of the hobbits survive. And why was Frodo stabbed in the shoulder and not in the head?

[@Erik-um1zn]

There is a lot of speculation here, but one must understand that the Nazgûl confrontation was much more of a spiritual battle, not a physical one. The Nazgûl are stymied by the fact that they were resisted and when Frodo calls upon Elbereth, he summoned a power that was beyond the Nazgûl’s ability to resist and were forced to flee the scene. It was not the witch-kings fear of death that caused the fumble, but rather that they were effectively banished by a higher power. After that, the witch-king was confident that the morgul wound would bring Frodo and the ring too him.

[@damonr-fk5rp]

Weathertop wouldn't be the last time Frodo and Sam would be confused for elf princes by the enemy. I seem to remember the Mordor orcs all up in arms because they thought an elf was cutting a swathe through the area, and it was just Frodo and Sam journeying to Mt Doom with an elven loadout of equipment and food.

[@everetttaylor8408]

I've always been a bit amused that we don't get to witness even a moment of what was easily one of the craziest canonical fights happen during the war of the ring. That honor probably goes to the Balrog, at least in terms of small scale fights. But Gandalf threw down with the 9 for hours and it just gets akipped over.

[@Edward-nf4nc]

"No man can kill you right Captain?" "Correct" "those hobbits are not men, they also have weapons that were made to kill us, mainly you, and he missed but attacked you with a weapon that could have killed you" "yikes! A pint size runt nearly killed me! Me! The Lord of Mogul, the Witch-King of Angmar, the mightiest of Sauron's servants, the second most evil and powerful being in Middle-Earth! Me! Nearly killed by a pint size runt!" "This is not going to be as easy as we thought Captain" A week later: "I don't understand why that runt has not brount us the One Ring! How is this possible?" "Well, we don't know that those Hobbits are. They might have Elven magic or some type of magic Captain. This in not the type we've had to deal with before. If he's had it all this time maybe he's learnt to draw strength from it" "Once I get my hands on him, I'll make him suffer for many years!" Crossing the ford 'finally, the ring and my vengeance for being such a problem!' 'NO! Not water! Not now!' Hit by water 'I will have my revenge!' Gets out of the water 'my master will not be pleased!' 'It's a long walk home!'

[@dagonżyje]

NICE VIDEO

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

More Nazgûl-videos can't go wrong! _The Clueless Fangirl_ proposed an interesting suggestion who the Witchking originally was in the line of the kings of Numenor. What's your take on that?

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I have to disagree with her theories on the Nazgul. She makes a good case, but think a lot of the evidence is circumstantial and I'm not a fan of the whole idea of "king didn't actually die, but became a Nazgul instead" line of thinking. I don't believe the Witch-king was a named character, but I definitely believe he was a high-ranking member of the House of Elros, probably a cousin of Tar-Ciryatan or Tar-Atanamir. I think instead of being a King of Numenor, he was a "conquistador" who went rogue, declared his own kingdom in Middle-earth, and then gave in to Sauron.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

@@DarthGandalfYT Yes, I think her assumption the Witch-king had to be a king before being recruited by Sauron is a false assumption. But I totally agree with her that it makes sense Sauron had an influence in Numenor's course of turning away from the Valar. So your suggestion he was a _high-ranking member of the House of Elros, probably a cousin of Tar-Ciryatan or Tar-Atanamir_ makes sense to me.

[@chrisamon4551]

The Nazgul totally spotted Aragorn and the Hobbits as they crossed the Road to get lost in the woods to the South. They really should have just overwhelmed Aragorn some dark night, once it became obvious that Frodo hadn’t turned into a wraith after a couple of days.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

Their most concern wasn't Aragorn, it was Frodo! This unknown creature was able to conjure the might of Elbereth onto them to fight them off. So they waited to be rejoined for their next assault. They lost track of them but knew that they're heading to the ford. It was a good plan and only failed because Glorfindel showed up.

[@thorshammer7883]

Good research. It's a bit of shame some of these important details aren't in the main book and you have to look through the external ones hoping that they would explain them in context.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

If you read the main text carefully, you can come to some important conclusions without secondary sources. At least in this case.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

The fact that it's never neatly compiled in one place is part of the fun.

[@chesterbless9441]

How did the Nazgûl fail in Bree though? I mean they knew that the Ringbearer was in the Prancing Pony, and yet they allowed Frodo and Co. to leave the Prancing Pony, leave Bree, and run into the wilderness. Any thoughts on this?

[@ingold1470]

Is this why the movie portrays Aragorn moving the hobbits from their rooms just hours before the Nazgul arrive to stab the decoy beds?

[@chesterbless9441]

@@ingold1470 Yeah, they were moved out of the hobbit suites to a different room. It still seems like the Nazgûl didn't try hard enough to find them though.

[@superslayerguy]

Pretty cool that Tolkien went back and fleshed all this out

[@benkosakladen5349]

My understanding of Weathertop is that Nazgûl couldn’t actually just take the ring. It was beyond their power. Locate and capture Frodo, yes, but to physically take the ring would’ve put them at odds with their master’s will, which they couldn’t betray.

[@CT-pi2gl]

It highlights the difference in motivation between the Good and Evil sides. The Good guys were protecting their lands, wives, and children from being overrun, tortured, killed and enslaved. They had the greatest possible motivation to steel themselves and even sacrifice themselves to achieve victory at any cost. The Bad guys including the Nazgúl had none of these incentives, only to try and avoid punishment from their Master while also avoiding getting killed by the enemy. They did not have the same incentive to take risks and give their all. Dying to ensure Sauron's victory had the same result for them as Sauron's defeat. So the Witch King acted reasonably from his point of view.

[@cheezywheezy5568]

bro rlly lost a 9v1 then a 5v1 back to back 💀

[@theMightywooosh]

Great explanation...I always viewed them as scouts, nothing more....in the movie when the Witch King tries to take on Gandalf the White, solo...I'm like come on Peter Jackson, get with the program, these guys have no chance

[@istari0]

That scene at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields was the worst scene in all 3 movies.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

@@istari0 The worst scene was the Witch-king breaking Gandalf's staff at the gate of Minas Tirith. That's only in the extended version, I'm glad they've cut it for the cinema.

[@istari0]

@@Spielkalb-von-Sparta Yes, that is the scene to which I was referring.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

@@istari0 Peter Jackson was great for the visual effects but even greater because he hired people who knew their Tolkien stuff. PJ wanted to have a fight Aragorn vs. Sauron at the gates of Mordor. I'm glad his advisors talked him out of this and it was replaced by Aragorn fighting a troll. You probably are aware of this tiny little detail, but I just brought it up because I feel there's a little hype about his films being the ultimate adaptations of Tolkiens work. I like the films even though they've partly re-written the characters at 180° degree. Coming back to the crucial scene here on Weathertop, it's well done in the movies for their sake but doesn't transport the meaning which it has in the book.

[@robertmyers4664]

Yes! I hate that it’s suggested he could defeat Gandalf in the extended edition. It was not Gandalf’s mission to use his power to attack the enemy, but if the Witch King hadn’t left when Rohan came, he would’ve been dead inside of 5 seconds against a Maiar that had just been given a major power upgrade.

[@seantimothyrussell8723]

I always thought It was interesting how when he put on the ring you can see the nazgul as men

[@xlan8999]

More nazgul things pls!

[@bauglir2462]

What if Frodo had the Soul Reaver?

[@the_empty_core]

What's the game footage from?

[@DarthGandalfYT]

Lord of the Rings Online.

[@the_empty_core]

@@DarthGandalfYT Thanks.

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

Darth Gandalf. Arnor or Gondor?

[@stephenglasse9756]

Excellent discussion well done 👍. Q: did the witch king even know Aragorn was with the hobbits let alone who he was?

[@SuperMoshady]

No man can kill me, but we got scared and afraid 😐

[@zeroaspect7036]

awesome video mate im wondering does frodo count as man ? would a male hobbit be able to kill him?

[@chesterbless9441]

No. Merry doesn't count as a man because he helped fulfill the prophecy.

[@sketcheadiscoming]

Isn’t it glofindel who approaches them after weathertop? And gives Frodo his horse to ride to Rivendell?

[@papalaz4444244]

Would Sauron allow any of the Nazgul to actually touch the Ring, let alone bring it back to Sauron? What woud have happened if the Witch King had taken the Ring? Would he have tried to keep it?

[@DarthGandalfYT]

The Nazgul are completely subservient to Sauron. The Witch-king would not have kept it for himself.

[@apstrike]

Feel better. Two issues: it kind of is bad writing that the Witch King's hubris makes him want to enslave Frodo and not kill him. It's odd given they've chased him since Bag End and just had to fight Gandalf and lose. Not a time for half measures. Glorfindel, Gandalf, and Aragorn together could fight off all nine and Rivendell is getting closer. It's also odd if the Witch King noted Frodo's strength and independence from Aragorn. He'd tell Sauron this, and about his failure to succumb to the Morgul blade, and Sauron would be less willing to passively accept that Gandalf has some secret plan involving hobbits. He'd squeeze Saruman for info, be further weirded out by the death of the Balrog, and maybe hold the assault on Minas Tirith in favor of a bigger attack on Lorien or Rohan so he could get answers about the Fellowship.

[@Spielkalb-von-Sparta]

Sauron's assumption was the leaders of the free people would fight over the ownership of the ring. It didn't even occur to him they chose to destroy it.

[@alanpennie8013]

He may well have had orders to capture Frodo if he could. Remember how The Nine threaten to carry him off to Mordor just before the flood sweeps them away.

[@shanenolan8252]

Cheers

[@Marko777ify]

It's been many years since I've read the books. Correct me if I'm wrong, but where did Tolkien state that the Witch-king was afraid of death, or Aragorn? Why would he be afraid of death? He showed no fear to Saruman nor Gandalf the White. I believe he failed only because of his wraith form.

[@LiraeNoir]

That was my impression when I read the book many decades ago. The Witch-king wreaking havoc at the last battle and dominating the battle field is not the Witch-king as a black rider sent to scout for the Ring, and neither are the "real" Witch-king itself. They are more akin to physical incarnation of the wraith, and probably in a form dedicated to their mission. In short: they were in a weaker non combat incarnation at Weathertop. In addition to the rest, I actually totally forgot about the battle with Gandalf. And didn't knew at all, or totally missed, about Frodo's name dropping.

[@SuStel]

The Witch-King's mission wasn't to seize the Ring. It was to turn Frodo into a wraith. Then Frodo would have taken the Ring to Sauron as surely as any of the Ringwraiths would have, and Sauron could then torment Frodo for daring to take his Ring.

[@royroy3]

Aragon commanded the dead. He ain't going to be scared of wraiths

[@kardy12]

I’m a bit confused about the conclusion - you outline all the (quite reasonable) reasons the Witch King withdrew, but then conclude that he should have really known that he had the upper hand and gone ahead anyway.

[@MadDog-dn5st]

This is one of the biggest plot holes in lotr and is totally inexcusable. The witch king would have chopped the ring off frodo's hand (yes hand and all) and he had four of his companions to cover his back against one man attacking them with a burning stick or two. The idea that a previous battle against gandalf would have somehow intimidated them when the ring was right in front of them is ridiculous. Or put it simply, Tolkien royally f**ked this "scene" up but realized later that he had and tried to cover the gaping plot hole.

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I actually agree with you to an extent. Despite being Sauron's deadliest servants, the Nazgul do come across as bumbling idiots at times.

[@Hofslagare]

Did this story come after the book? Feels like a circle argument.