you cannot pass!
i am a servant of the secret fire, wielder of the flame of anor!
argh! go back to the shadow. the dark fire will not avail you, flame of udűn! you… shall not.  pass!!!
argh!
fly, you fools!
through fire and water. from the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, i fought with the balrog of morgoth.
until at last, i threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside.
darkness took me. and i strayed out of thought and time. stars wheeled overhead and everyday was as long as a life-age of the earth. but it was not the end. i felt life in me again.
i've been sent back until my task is done.
gandalf? yes.  that's what they used to call me. gandalf the grey. that was my name.
i am gandalf the white. and i come back to you now at the turn of the tide.
one stage of your journey is over, another begins. war has come to rohan. we must ride to edoras with all speed.
shadowfax. he's the lord of all horses and he's been my friend through many dangers.
edoras and the golden hall of meduseld. there dwells thoden, king of rohan, whose mind is overthrown. sarumans hold over king thoden is now very strong.
be careful what you say. do not look for welcome here.
ah.
hmm? oh. you would not part an old man from his walking stick?
the courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, thoden king.
be silent! keep your forked tongue behind you teeth. i have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!
thoden, son of thengel, too long have you sat in the shadows.
hearken to me! i release you from the spell.
i will draw you, saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound.
you did not kill me, you will not kill him!
be gone!!
breathe the free air again, my friend.
your fingers would remember their old strength better.  if they grasped your sword.
thodreds death was not of your making.
he was strong in life. his spirit will find its way to the halls of your fathers. westu hl. ferđu, thodred, ferđu.
this is but a taste of the terror that saruman will unleash. all the more potent for he is driven now by fear of sauron. ride out and meet him head on. draw him away from your women and children. you must fight.
then what is the kings decision?
there is no way out of that ravine. thoden is walking into a trap. he thinks hes leading them to safety. what they will get is a massacre. thoden has a strong will but i fear for him. i fear for the survival of rohan. he will need you before the end, aragorn. the people of rohan will need you. the defences have to hold.
the grey pilgrim.  thats what they used to call me. three hundred lives of men ive walked this earth and now i have no time. with luck, my search will not be in vain. look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. at dawn, look to the east.
look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. at dawn, look to the east.
thoden king stands alone.
saurons wrath will be terrible, his retribution swift. the battle for helms deep is over. the battle for middle-earth is about to begin. all our hopes now lie with two little hobbits. somewhere in the wilderness.