Last weekend ‘The War of the Rohirrim’ finished its world premiere, the first anime film in the saga that tells us one of the most important events of the kingdom of Rohan and his riders.
In this case we focus on the king Helm Ironhand and his daughter Hérabut the truth is that the movie Kenji Kamiyama has left some fans of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ a little confused who don’t really know where to place it.
Warning! This article contains spoilers for ‘The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim’!
Where is this going?
From the outset, ‘The War of the Rohirrim’ would be a prequel to both ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’. It is set 183 years before the events of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ and the great war against Sauron and Mordor in the films, and in this case it tells us about a historical battle in hornville.
In ‘The Two Towers’ we are presented with the Kingdom of Rohan and also this refuge of the Rohirrim, where they run to protect themselves from invaders. In this case, Helm and Héra hide in the fortress to escape the forces of Wulf and the Dunlendings, and After the events of the film the place is renamed “Helm’s Deep” in honor of the king.
King Helm freezes to death, as he is left protecting the entrance to the Hornburg with a clean punch, and Héra is left in command of the fortress and in charge of her people. As the villagers and troops escape through a passageway to the Sanctum, she decides to launch a diversionary maneuver to entertain Wulf with a duel.
The future of Rohan
Wulf He is defeated in combat against Héra, Frealaf HildesonHéra’s cousin and Helm’s nephew, arrives with his troops wearing Helm’s armor, who finish defeating the Dunlendings and They end the siege in Cuernavilla.
When things calm down, Fréalaf is crowned the new king of Rohan and it seems that a new era of prosperity begins for the kingdom of the horsemen. After Fréalaf’s coronation we get the first of the great cameos: the appearance of Saruman.
The white magician is named the new guardian of Isengardwhich had previously been used as a base by Wulf and his army. From here, Saruman becomes an ally of Rohanand in the Appendices to ‘The Return of the King’ it is mentioned that the wizard came to Rohan with gifts and praising the valor of the Rohirrim.
Saruman (con a cameo that recovers the voice of Christopher Lee in ‘The Hobbit’ films), offers his services to the new king… although Fréalaf does not seem to trust him too much, anticipating his future betrayal in the story.
What a Hera, Hera
Héra is the protagonist of ‘The Rohirrim Waralthough as the film already makes clear to us, he is a character invented whom “history had forgotten”… or come on, who had not previously appeared in Tolkien’s imagination and It’s time to get it out of the way.
To justify why he disappears from Rohan, Héra honors her adventurous spirit and departs together with her maid Olwyn. Since Rohan has a new king and is no longer needed to lead the people, her goal is to travel and have new adventures, starting with a meeting with Gandalf.
‘The War of the Rohirrim’ already presents us with the future conflict of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, with the forces of Mordor seeking the Unique Ring. During the film, Héra meets some ring collecting orcsand later receives a letter from Gandalf, who has also undertaken his own quest and wants to recruit Héra or at least find out exactly what happened during her encounter with the orcs of Mordor.
And after?
‘War of the Rohirrim’ could well propose a sequel focused on Héra and his journey with Gandalf, while they investigate the rings or Peter Jackson’s team invents any other possible adventure.
The ending is left open enough and the fact that Héra is a new character without too many ties to lore gives the necessary freedom for this. Maybe showing Gondorwhich is mentioned several times throughout the film, or another region of Middle-earth.
Now, with the disaster at the box office that is being ‘The Lord of the Rings’ anime against its (modest) budget of 30 million dollars… it doesn’t look like Warner Bros. I’m going to want to bet on another movie. Although it has served them well to retain the rights to Tolkien’s books for longer, and in the process delve a little deeper into the history of the Rohirrim.
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