welcome to rivendell, frodo baggins. frodo sits up, looking at elrond with awe.
you have found your way to the last homely house east of the sea. the elves of imladris have dwelt within this valley for three thousand years through few of my kin now remain. frodo looks out from his balcony.
his strength returns.
and yet to have come so far still bearing the ring. the hobbit has shown extraordinary resilience to its evil.
gandalf, the enemy is moving. sauron's forces are massing in the east. his eye is fixed on rivendell. and saruman, you tell me, has betrayed us. our list of allies grows thin.
this evil cannot be concealed by the power of the elves. we do not have the strength to fight both mordor and isengard. gandalf. the ring cannot stay here.
this peril belongs to all middle earth. they must decide how to end it. not just for themselves but for those who come after. elrond approaches gandalf.
the time of the elves is over. my people are leaving these shores. who will you look to when we have gone? the dwarves? they hide in their mountains seeking riches. they care nothing for the troubles of others.
men? men are weak. the race of men is failing. the blood of numenor is all but spent, its pride and dignity forgotten. it is because of men the ring survives.
i was there, gandalf. i was there three thousand years ago when isildur took the ring.
i was there the day the strength of men failed.
isildur. hurry. follow me! images: elrond leads isildur into the steaming volcano.
i let isildur into the heart of mount doom, where the ring was forged: the one place it could be destroyed.
cast it into the fire. destroy it!
isildur!!
it should have ended that day, but evil was allowed to endure. isildur kept the ring. and the line of kings was broken. there's no strength left in the world of men. they're scattered, divided, leaderless.
he turned from that path a long time ago. he has chosen exile.
strangers from distant lands .  friends of old. you have been summoned here to answer the threat of mordor. middle-earth stands upon the brink of destruction. none can escape it. you will unite. or you will fall. each race is bound to this fate. this one doom.
bring forth the ring, frodo.
you have only one choice. the ring must be destroyed.
the ring cannot be destroyed, gimli, son of gloin, by any craft that we
here possess. the ring was made in the fires of mount doom. only there can it be unmade. it must be taken deep into mordor, and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. one of you must do this.
no, indeed. it is hardly possible to separate you. even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.
nine companions .  so be it. you shall be the "fellowship of the ring"