Morannon
22
MENTIONS
8
EPISODES
6
PODCASTS
Search complete. 22 mentions across 8 episodes found for "Morannon".
Sep 14, 2026
Laura MarieHOST
And I was just going through it.
Laura MarieHOST
I was just like, oh, where am I? Oh, they're at the Black Gate.
Laura MarieHOST
Oh, they're at the Black Gate a lot earlier than I thought they would be.
Laura MarieHOST
When I went through and actually looked at the time of everything, we spend a lot of time Kind of with everybody.
Laura MarieHOST
But I really do like this opening to really ground you in where you need to be, because after we have this like operatic, you know, falling Gandalf, we have we wake up with Frodo, who is perfect.
46 MINS LATER
Laura MarieHOST
Okay.
Laura MarieHOST
Okay.
Laura MarieHOST
Frodo and Sam and Gollum are on their way to the Black Gate.
Alan SistoHOST
He gives Éomer back his sister and he arranges it so that it doesn't even look like a gift.
Alan SistoHOST
So at the last debate then on the question of marching to the Black Gate, it's no surprise that Éomer responds the way he does.
Alan SistoHOST
As for myself, said Éomer, I have little knowledge of these deep matters, but I need it not.
Alan SistoHOST
This I know, and it is enough, that as my friend Aragorn succored me and my people, so I will aid him when he calls.
Alan SistoHOST
Then he gets back the general principle.
Alan SistoHOST
Here he doesn't ask how a man should judge.
Alan SistoHOST
Aragorn had just said he didn't claim to command any man, so nobody's ordering Amir to the Black Gate.
Alan SistoHOST
He just volunteers the same way that he handed over the horses.
RobertHOST
The Battle of the Morannon, when Aragorn's army faced off against Sauron's outside the Black Gate, is the culmination of the War of the Ring.
RobertHOST
So what happened? Hi everyone, this is Robert.
RobertHOST
Welcome to In Deep Geek.
6 MINS LATER
RobertHOST
Remember that? Sauron sent a force earlier to secure that northern crossing over the River Anduin, and push on into Rohan to intercept the Rohirrim en route to Minas Tirith.
RobertHOST
Theoden avoided them by going through the Druidan forest, so the orcs were still there, loitering between Gondor and Rohan, and Kaer Andros needed reclaiming.
RobertHOST
Around 1,000 volunteered to do that, leaving Aragorn with probably a bit under 6,000 to take to the Black Gate, which they reached on 25th March, after a last dark night encamped to the north-west of the Black Gate.
RobertHOST
At which point, let's do a quick bit of geographical scene setting.
RobertHOST
The Black Gate stood at the northwest corner of Mordor, completely spanning a gap or pass between two high cliffs.
RobertHOST
But then, on the 25th of March, came the end of the war in the south.
RobertHOST
Sauron and the Black Gate had fallen, the Ring was destroyed, and with that, the power of Galadriel's Ring also died.
RobertHOST
Still, the balance of power had shifted.
RobertHOST
Over in Dale, the Easterlings were routed by the dwarves and men, and Celeborn led a force of elves out of Lothlorien on the offensive, attacking Dol Guldur and moving northwards through Mirkwood, clearing out any evil they encountered.
speaker_1HOST
So he proposes a strategy to the unified command that defies every established military doctrine.
speaker_1HOST
He advises taking their battered, heavily depleted forces and marching directly on the Black Gate of Mordor.
speaker_4HOST
I have to pause here because from a purely military standpoint, this is absolute suicide.
speaker_1HOST
It really is.
speaker_4HOST
The Coalition forces march purposefully, but they drag their feet.
speaker_4HOST
They are milking the clock, extending the timeline to give Frodo every possible second.
speaker_1HOST
Upon arriving at the Black Gate, they do not initiate combat.
speaker_1HOST
They demand a parlay.
RobertHOST
Any which way you look at it, the Free Peoples were vastly outnumbered at the Pelennor Fields, and only one because of… well, we'll look at that in the next video.
RobertHOST
When it comes to the Battle of the Morannon outside the Black Gate, we do have some reasonably precise numbers from Tolkien.
RobertHOST
Aragorn and the Army of the West set out with 7,000 soldiers, although en route Aragorn released 1,000 of those to guard their rear and to liberate Caer Andros, so 6,000 remained.
RobertHOST
In opposition to them, we're told that Sauron had 10 times and more than 10 times that number, so more than 60,000 that had until then been held in reserve, although some had probably retreated back from the Pelennor Fields to Mordor.
Jessie EarlHOST
Yes, I'm really glad that you brought that full quote to us.
Jessie EarlHOST
But it is a moment that like, yeah it is a moment that like let me put it this way I'm glad it's there in any form because it is a one that means something to me and it is such a like hard thing to visualize like it's it's like a very very like philosophical moment that's very hard to do and I see why it's cut from the theatrical version so I like I understand why but I am glad that it's there in some form so I will take what I can get because even I like you know I'm a filmmaker it's like I would struggle figuring out how exactly how to do this beat so yeah yeah But yeah, anything else? Well, we should talk about the Black Gate, but not this day.
Jessie EarlHOST
So, Caitlin, anything about all that?
Caitlin BurnsGUEST
Yeah, I just want to note, all of my, what did I call them?