- Bronwyn: I heard you were leaving.
- Arondir: We are.
- Bronwyn: Where's the rest of your company?
- Arondir: Most likely searching for me at this very moment.
- Bronwyn: Then why are you at my home?
- [he comes closer]
- Bronwyn: Say what you wish to say.
- Arondir: I have said it already. A hundred times over, in every way but words.
- Galadriel: [narrating] Nothing is evil in the beginning. And there was a time when the world was so young, there had not yet been a sunrise. But even then there was light. We had no word for death. For we thought our joys would be unending. We thought our light would never dim. So when the Great Foe, Morgoth, destroyed the very light of our home... we resisted. And a legion of Elves went to war. We left Valinor, our home, and journeyed to a distant realm. One filled with untold perils and strange creatures beyond count. A place known as Middle-earth. They said it would be over quickly, but the war left Middle-earth in ruin. And would last centuries. Now, we learned many words for death. In the end, Morgoth would be defeated. But not before much sorrow. For his Orcs had spread to every corner of Middle-earth, multiplying ever greater under the command of his most devoted servant, a cruel and cunning sorcerer. They called him Sauron. My brother vowed to seek him out and destroy him. But Sauron found him first and marked his flesh with a symbol. One whose meaning even our wisest could not discern. And there, in the darkness, his vow became mine. And so, we hunted. To the ends of the earth we hunted Sauron. But the trail grew thin. Year gave way to year. Century gave way to century. And for many Elves, the pain of those days passed out of thought and mind. More and more of our kind began to believe that Sauron was but a memory. And the threat, at last, was ended. I wish I could be one of them.
- Elrond: Let us say that all is as you fear, and this enemy is out there somewhere, lying in wait. Do you truly believe seeking him out will satisfy you? That one more Orc upon the point of your blade will bring you peace? If you are wrong...
- Galadriel: I'm not wrong.
- Elrond: If you are wrong, will you lead more Elves to die in far-off lands? To convince yourself you have done enough, how many more statues would you add to this path? No one in history has ever refused the call. Do so now, it may never come again. You will linger here, an outcast, poisoned in dark whispers and dreams.
- Galadriel: And in the West, do you think my fate would be better? Where song would mock the cries of battle in my ears? You say I have won victory over all the horrors of Middle-earth. Yet you would leave them alive in me? To take with me? Undying, unchanging, unbreaking, into the land of winterless spring?
- Elrond: Only in the Blessed Realm can that which is broken in you be healed. Go there. Go, and I promise you, if but a whisper of a rumor of the threat you perceive proves true, I will not rest until it is put right. You have fought long enough, Galadriel. Put up your sword.
- Galadriel: Without it, what am I to be?
- Elrond: What you have always been. My friend.
- Poppy Proudfellow: Can we turn back now? There's 110 things out here that could kill us.
- Nori Brandyfoot: Hundred-eleven if you count you worrying to death.
- Poppy Proudfellow: You know the rules. We're not supposed to be out this far.
- Nori Brandyfoot: Don't be... If we didn't do everything we weren't supposed to, we'd hardly do anything at all.
- Marigold Brandyfoot: You went to the old farm again. Didn't you?
- Nori Brandyfoot: I was careful.
- Marigold Brandyfoot: But the children might not be.
- Nori Brandyfoot: I'm sorry, I didn't know. We never get hunters up here before the harvest. Or wolves. I wonder if there's trouble down south.
- Marigold Brandyfoot: And what concern is that of yours, Elanor Brandyfoot?
- Nori Brandyfoot: Haven't you ever wondered? What else is out there? How far the river flows or where the sparrows learn the new songs they sing in spring? I can't help but feel there's wonders in this world. Beyond our wanderin'.
- Marigold Brandyfoot: I've told you. Countless times. Elves have forests to protect. Dwarves, their mines. Men, their fields of grain. Even trees have to worry about the soil beneath their roots. But we Harfoots are free from the worries of the wide world. We are but ripples in a long, long stream. Our paths set by the passing seasons. Nobody goes off trail and nobody walks alone. We have each other. We're safe. That is how we survive.
- Galadriel: Are you just going to stand there, breathing like an Orc?
- Elrond: It is said the wine of victory is sweetest for those in whose bitter trials it has fermented.
- Galadriel: I do not feel victorious.
- Elrond: You deserve the honors of this day. Your brother would be proud.
- Galadriel: [looking around at wooden statues] I remember when the first of these were carved. The likeness of one fallen, preserved upon a living thing. I suppose some part of me always believed my rest would be here, with them. But instead, I am to leave them.
- Elrond: This is the gift of your king.
- Galadriel: A gift I have decided to refuse.
- High King Gil-galad: Galadriel sails to the sunset. You and I must look to the new sunrise. To that end, are you acquainted with the work of Lord Celebrimbor?
- Elrond: The greatest of Elven-smiths, of course. I've admired his artistry since I was a child. Why do you ask?
- High King Gil-galad: He is about to embark on a new project. One of singular importance. And we've decided that you will be working with him.
- Thondir: This company has followed you to the very edge of the world. But none who ever dared search for this last stronghold has ever found anything. It's been years since the last Orc was sighted. Is it not possible the other commanders are right and our enemy is no more? Night is closing in. How long can living flesh endure where even sunlight fears to tread? Perhaps we would be wise to camp here. And tomorrow, begin the journey home.
- Galadriel: [finding Barad-dûr] This is it. This is where the Orcs gathered after Morgoth's defeat. Far more must have escaped than we ever imagined.
- Thondir: My hand is past feeling.
- Galadriel: No. This place is so evil, our torches give off no warmth. This way.
- Thondir: How can you be certain?
- Galadriel: It's colder than the rest.
- Thondir: What devilry is this?
- Galadriel: These Orcs were meddling with the powers of the Unseen World. Some dark sorcery of old. But what was their purpose?
- Thondir: Surely, it is lost to the ages now. Whatever happened here was long ago.
- Galadriel: [watching a wisp of dust evaporate on a frozen stone slab] Water.
- [Thondir hands over a flask, and she pours the contents on the stone]
- Galadriel: [watching the ice melt] Even stone cannot hide the mark of one whose very hand is flame unquenched. He was here. Sauron was here. Tell the others to rest while they can. At sunrise, we move on. We'll take the search further north.
- Thondir: Further north?
- Galadriel: This mark was left as a trail for Orcs to follow. The last time I saw it was on my brother. We must follow it.
- Thondir: The mark is centuries old. Whoever left it could be long dead.
- Galadriel: Or lying in wait, gathering strength, perfecting whatever dark art eluded him here.
- Thondir: We exceeded our orders months ago. Surely we must first return home to take counsel with the High King.
- Galadriel: I promise you there is not a soul amongst our company who yearns for home more than I. I can still feel the light of the trees on my face. I can still see it. And until we are certain every trace of our enemy is vanquished... I can never return.
- Elrond: Lindon receives you with grace.
- Galadriel: With grace, I am received.
- Elrond: [she glances at a panting of a sailing ship] I hear it's said that when you cross over, you hear a song. One whose memory we all carry. And you immersed in a light more intoxicating than any sensation in all of Middle-earth.
- Galadriel: When I was a child, it was the only feeling I knew.
- Elrond: And look at you now. Commander of the Northern Armies. Warrior of the Wastelands. I half expected you to arrive caked in grime and mud.
- Galadriel: This time, frostbite and troll blood. And no army.
- Elrond: Tell me everything.
- Galadriel: This mark's very existence proves Sauron escaped. He's still out there. The question now is, where? I intend to ask of the King a fresh company. If he supplies enough to...
- Elrond: You have only just arrived. Must you speak of leaving again so soon?
- Galadriel: You know very well why I must.
- Elrond: There will be ample time later to discuss official matters. I want to hear about you. Your harrowing journey.
- Galadriel: Why, Elrond. You really have become a politician.
- Elrond: You make it sound so grim.
- Galadriel: I am not some courtier to be placated by idle flattery. I demand to speak with the King directly.
- Elrond: You have made that plain. So I will be equally plain. It was not your company who defied you out there, but rather you who defied the High King, by refusing to heed any limit placed upon you. In an act of magnanimity, he has chosen to honor your accomplishments... rather than dwell upon your insolence. Test him again and you may find him less receptive than you might have hoped.
- Galadriel: Are you going to arrange an audience or not?
- Elrond: If after the ceremony that is still your wish, you shall have it.
- High King Gil-galad: [honoring Galadriel and her company] These most valiant of warriors kneel here before us, victorious. For though Morgoth fell an Age ago, some feared a new evil might arise from his shadow. So for centuries now, these soldiers have swept across crag and crevice, washing away the last remnants of our enemy like a spring rain over the bones of a spoilt carcass. And now, at last, they return to us in triumph, for they have proven beyond any doubt that our days of war are over. Today... our days of peace begin. And as a measure of our gratitude, these heroes shall be granted an honor unrivaled in all our lore. They will be escorted to the Grey Havens and granted passage across the sea to dwell for all eternity in the Blessed Realm, the Far West. The Undying Lands of Valinor. At last, they are going home.
- Galadriel: My brother gave his life hunting Sauron. His task is now mine. I go to seek the enemy that escaped us in the north. Alone, if I must.
- Elrond: Ah, yes. Your mystery sigil. I shared it with the High King.
- Galadriel: Then why would...
- Elrond: Because seeing a sigil does not mean you're any closer to finding Sauron. It is over. The evil is gone.
- Galadriel: [touching her chest] Then why is it not gone from in here?
- Elrond: After all you have endured, it is only natural to feel conflicted.
- Arondir: How familiar are you with the townsfolk of Hordern?
- Bronwyn: Very, I should hope. I was born there. Why?
- Arondir: The people of Hordern were known for having been especially strong in their loyalty to Morgoth.
- Bronwyn: What did you just say?
- Arondir: The truth.
- Bronwyn: You're talking about my friends. Close kin, I know them. There are good people there.
- Arondir: That is why I'm here with you. Instead of the Watchwarden. Bronwyn. You're the only kind touch I've known all my days in this land.
- [hearing a rumbling nearby, they climb a hill and see a village below them burning]
- Bronwyn: Hordern.
- Finrod: [with her friends, Galadriel plays with a paper ship] It was a good ship, sister.
- Young Galadriel: I made it just as you taught me.
- Finrod: Do you know why a ship floats and a stone cannot? Because the stone sees only downward. The darkness of the water is vast and irresistible. The ship feels the darkness, as well, striving moment by moment to master her and pull her under. But the ship has a secret. For, unlike the stone, her gaze is not downward but up. Fixed upon the light that guides her, whispering of grander things than darkness ever knew.
- Young Galadriel: But sometimes the lights shine just as brightly reflected in the water as they do in the sky. It's hard to say which way is up and which way is down. How am I to know which lights to follow?
- [he whispers in her ear]
- Young Galadriel: But that seems so simple.
- Finrod: The most important truths often are. But you must learn to discern them for yourself. I won't always be here to speak them to you.
- Elrond: She has passed beyond my sight. Galadriel was so certain her search should continue.
- High King Gil-galad: We foresaw that if it had, she might have inadvertently kept alive the very evil she sought to defeat. For the same wind that seeks to blow out a fire may also cause its spread.
- Elrond: Then the shadow she sought... you believe it does exist?
- High King Gil-galad: Set your mind at peace about it. What you did was right. For Galadriel and for Middle-earth.
- Elrond: It is hard to see what is right when friendship and duty are mingled.
- High King Gil-galad: Such is the burden of those who lead and those who would seek to.
- Largo Brandyfoot: How fare thee?
- Nori Brandyfoot: Well and well, Father.
- Largo Brandyfoot: And look at her! You found all that down by the riverbank, did you?
- Nori Brandyfoot: Mm-hmm.
- Largo Brandyfoot: Did you hear about the travelers?
- Nori Brandyfoot: Travelers?
- Largo Brandyfoot: Mm-hmm. Hunters. Two of them. Big as great boulders. Right up on that ridge.
- Nori Brandyfoot: I can't believe I missed them.
- Largo Brandyfoot: Well, maybe you ought to stick closer to home. That way you don't miss anything, hmm?
- Sadoc Burrows: First the big people, now the stars. Eyes open when they should be sleeping. Almost like... like they're watching for something.
- Nori Brandyfoot: [peeking over the edge of his book] Watching for what?
- Sadoc Burrows: [jumping in surprise] A tongue-lashing, if you don't mind your own cartwheels.
- Nori Brandyfoot: What is it? What do you see up there?
- Sadoc Burrows: Elanor Brandyfoot, with your father's nose, and always poking it into trouble, you are far too curious and meddlesome to have been born a Harfoot. Are you quite certain you're not part squirrel?