The Fellowship of the Ring goes through a lot during The Lord of the Rings, but, after the
Ring is finally destroyed, each member finally gets the ending they deserve. From the wisest
of wizards to the humblest of hobbits, these are the Fellowship's character endings ranked.
For a wizard who always seems to find himself in the thick of it, Gandalf's story ends,
surprisingly enough, with more of a whimper than a bang. By the time of The Lord of the Rings,
Gandalf has been pottering around Middle-earth for around 2,000 years. He gets particularly busy
towards the end of the Third Age, at which point he helps to drive the Necromancer out of Mirkwood,
sets the Quest of Erebor in motion, and sees the One Ring on its way to Mount Doom.
Once all of the action dies down and Aragorn becomes king, however,
Gandalf enters a kind of early retirement. In the book version of The Return of the King,
he travels with the four hobbit adventurers back to Bree and then splits off to visit
the mysterious Tom Bombadil. Two years later, he hooks back up with the hobbits at the Grey Havens,
where he boards a ship with Galadriel, Elrond, Frodo, and Bilbo, and heads into the West.
This is because Valinor, the land across the sea, was Gandalf's original home, where he'd lived as
the wise spirit Olórin before being incarnated as a wizard. Presumably upon his return,
Gandalf shed his elderly body and settled back into a quiet, comfortable, and well-deserved life.
"I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil."
At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Merry initially lives with Pippin in
his homeland of Buckland, a hobbit colony on the edge of the Shire.
Eventually, he inherits the title of "master of Buckland" from his father,
and becomes known as "Meriadoc the Magnificent." Evidently impressed with
the nominal leader of Buckland, Aragorn makes Merry a counsellor of his northern kingdom.
Merry also plays the part of the historian, travelling around Middle-Earth, gathering
information, and writing down as much as he can. This includes a manuscript on pipe-weed called
"Herblore of the Shire," a portion of which can be found in the prologue of The Fellowship
of the Ring. Much of his writing also ends up finding its way into the Red Book of Westmarch,
the manuscript that Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam are seen working on in The Lord of the Rings.
Merry also remains a rider of Rohan, a position that he had been granted after
swearing allegiance to Théoden during the War of the Ring. He stays Éomer's
faithful servant-from-afar for decades until, long after he becomes an old man,
he travels with Pippin down to Rohan — where he witnesses the passing of the king.
Merry then continues on to Gondor, where he spends the remaining years of his life.
After Aragorn and Pippin pass on, Merry's body is laid to rest beside his comrades.
During the War of the Ring, Pippin swears fealty to Denethor,
and like Merry in Rohan, he retains his status as a knight of Gondor long after the war ends.
This makes him one of Aragorn's loyal followers,
and the king rewards him for his service by making him an official counsellor of the North-kingdom.
As far as his life in the Shire goes, Pippin inherits his father's title of "thain of the
Shire" and becomes the leader of the Tooks. He also gets married,
settles down, and has a son of his own. While not a historian like Merry,
Pippin does begin collating a huge library, where he collects various manuscripts that
later become pivotal in maintaining the legacy of the War of the Ring.
At the ripe old age of 94, Pippin retires from his role as thain and joins his lifelong friend
Merry as they head south to visit Éomer. From there, the pair head to Gondor,
where Pippin eventually dies, as well, bringing an end to a long and happy life.
Though a royal prince of the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood, an immortal elf, and a member of
the Fellowship of the Ring, Legolas' backstory is never fully fleshed out by J.R.R. Tolkien himself.
When it comes to the elf's later life, though, there's a bit more information to be found,
and like most of the elves of Middle-earth, it's a sad and slow state of affairs.
Sooner or later, most of the elves heed the call to return to Valinor.
But Legolas doesn't leave straight away. First,
he and Gimli go on a number of adventures throughout Middle-Earth. The pair of heroes
visit the Glittering Caves Aglarond at Helm's Deep, as well as the ents in Fangorn Forest.
Not one to sit still for long, soon after arriving back in Mirkwood,
Legolas gathers up some of his people and heads back to Gondor.
There, he settles in the garden-like land of Ithilien, which becomes the fairest country
in all the westlands. Even here, though, Legolas is unable to find peace, and after Aragorn dies,
he builds a ship and sets sail for the Blessed Realm — with none other than Gimli by his side.
Gimli is a sturdy young dwarf during the War of the Ring, coming in at a youthful 140 years
old. This gives him plenty of life to live after the war, and he puts it to good use.
First, he embarks with Legolas on their trip through Fangorn Forest and the
Glittering Caves — and it's in that second place that Gimli finds his true calling.
At one point during the Battle of Helm's Deep, Gimli was forced into the caves,
and he found himself smitten by their jaw-dropping beauty. His description of them is so compelling
that it's precisely what convinces Legolas to suggest that they visit the caves themselves.
Gimli is so taken with their natural beauty that he eventually returns there with other
dwarves and sets up a colony, becoming the "lord of the Glittering Caves" in the process.
After Aragorn dies, it's recorded that Gimli is actually granted permission to travel
with Legolas to the Undying Lands. Seeing the opportunity to meet the Lady Galadriel again,
he accepts, and becomes the only dwarf to ever journey into the west.
By a great measure, Frodo Baggins suffered the most out of all the members of the Fellowship.
While the others took on armies of orcs, trolls, and Ringwraiths, Frodo endured a devastating
battle with the One Ring itself. The Ring is imbued with the power of the Dark Lord Sauron,
and Frodo's key victory is the simple fact that he's actually able to get to
Mount Doom in the first place — without having claimed the Ring for himself along the way.
Unfortunately, Frodo's scars endure long after the Ring is destroyed.
The wounds he endured by the Witch-King's blade and Shelob's stinger trouble him for many years,
with Frodo falling deathly ill on every anniversary of each stabbing.
"It's been four years to the day since Weathertop, Sam. It's never really healed."
After the War of the Ring, Frodo spends some time writing down his story, and then, plagued by the
memories of these old wounds, sets sail for the Undying Lands — in search of a place to finally
receive the healing and rest he needs. Whether he dies soon after getting there or lives a long,
happy life in the immortal country, Frodo finally finds peace at the end of his long journey.
Boromir is the heir of the steward of Gondor and one of the finest warriors in the Fellowship. He
arrives in Rivendell initially seeking answers to a prophetic dream, attends the Council of Elrond,
and before he knows it, finds himself joining the ranks of the Fellowship of the Ring.
Throughout their journey, Boromir serves as a crucial protector for the
Fellowship — particularly during their battle in the Mines of Moria. After that, however,
things begin to turn, and Boromir soon gives in to the lure of the One Ring. Eventually, he
tries to take it from Frodo, who narrowly escapes and heads off toward Mordor with Sam by his side.
While Boromir's actions technically lead to the breaking of the Fellowship,
the hero ultimately gets a redemptive ending — one that is nothing less than truly heroic.
He quickly repents his misdeeds and arrives back on the scene in time to find Merry and
Pippin being carried off by a pack of pursuing uruk-hai. Boromir defends the hobbits bravely,
but is nonetheless overwhelmed and fatally wounded by the retreating orcs.
In the end, the son of Gondor dies in the company of Aragorn, his friend and king.
"Fly, you fools."
Since he appears in two separate physical forms over the course of The Lord of the Rings,
it's probably worth bringing up Gandalf again — especially since,
at the end of his life as Gandalf the Grey, the Fellowship's wizard literally goes down in flames.
After millennia spent orchestrating the resistance to Sauron, Gandalf the Grey finds himself swept up
in the events of the War of the Ring. Never one to shrink from a challenge,
he identifies the One Ring, sends Frodo on his way, uncovers Saruman's treachery,
and then becomes, hands down, the most powerful member of the Fellowship of the Ring.
As Gandalf leads the company south towards Mordor, they eventually enter Moria. Soon enough,
the Fellowship is attacked by goblins, trolls, and, of course, a Balrog. Gandalf makes his stand
against the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and, after a brief battle, plunges along with
it into the depths below. The pair fall to the deepest, darkest pits of the mountains, then climb
up the Endless Stair, and there, at the mountain's peak, Gandalf finally defeats his enemy. The Grey
Wizard then succumbs to his wounds, before being sent back to Middle-Earth as Gandalf the White.
Of all the characters in The Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee is the one who finds true peace
after the end of the war. After he bids his master farewell at the Grey Havens,
Sam returns home and inherits Bag End, where he settles down with his wife, Rosie, with whom he
has 13 children. Among these children are four sons, named Merry, Pippin, Frodo, and Bilbo.
Sam is also elected as the mayor of the Shire for seven consecutive seven-year terms.
Aragorn subsequently makes Sam a counsellor of the North-kingdom
along with Merry and Pippin, and his daughter Elanor becomes Queen Arwen's maid of honor.
After over 60 years of marriage, Rosie passes away,
and much like Bilbo long before, Samwise decides that the time has come for one last journey.
He leaves Bag End and heads to the Grey Havens, where he becomes the last of the
Ring-bearers to board a ship and head over the sea to the Undying Lands.
After the War of the Ring, Aragorn becomes the king of the reunited kingdoms of Gondor
and Arnor. Aragorn rules for an impressive 120 years, at which point his son inherits the throne.
But Aragorn doesn't die in order for this to happen — not in a traditional sense,
at least. In the appendix of The Return of the King, it's explained that:
"He felt the approach of old age and knew that the span of his life-days was drawing to an end."
Bequeathing his crown and scepter to his son,
Aragorn goes to a prepared place of rest and lies down to surrender his life willingly.
A distraught Arwen protests, but Aragorn insists that his time has come. He adds:
"Take counsel with yourself, beloved, and ask whether you would indeed have
me wait until I wither and rail from my high seat unmanned and witless."
Though heartbroken, Arwen lets her husband go. Aragorn's final words are:
"In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! We are not bound
for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory. Farewell!"
And with that, the long life of Gondor's greatest king finally comes to an end.
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