Eowyn and Faramir fell in love in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but the film’s theatrical cut left out their romantic meeting. As far as was shown in the standard edition of the movie, the pair were standing together at Aragorn’s coronation, and it’s never explicitly clear whether they were a couple or not. This meant that neither Eowyn’s nor Faramir’s characters got the clear endings they deserved. Additionally, it left other questions about the final scenes and the big battle of Return of the King unanswered.
Faramir and Eowyn are two well-loved Lord of the Rings characters who share no real connection before the end of The Return of the King. Eowyn was a member of the royal family in Rohan, while Faramir was the son of the Steward of Gondor. As far as could be told from the theatrical cuts of The Lord of the Rings movies, the pair never had much reason to know one another. However, the Return of the King book and Peter Jackson’s extended edition told a different story.
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Eowyn Met Faramir At Gondor’s Houses Of Healing In Return Of The King
A deleted scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King shows Eowyn and Faramir meeting one another while in the House of Healing in Gondor. Both had been wounded near death during the Battle of Pelennor Fields—Faramir from the unfortunate circumstances with his father, Denethor, and Eowyn from her big fight with the Witch-king of Angmar. As they fought their way back to strength together, they formed a close bond that ultimately led to romance.
This was the nature of their relationship in the Return of the King book, though there was even more context for their bond in Tolkien’s version. After stabbing the Witch-king, Eowyn was injured far worse in the book than she had in the movie, and it took Aragorn’s special healing powers to pull her back from the brink of death. The same was true for Faramir, though the nature of his injury was different. There was a sort of power in coming so close to death together, and the shared experience of having to remain in Gondor while that world hung in the balance resulted in a deep bond.
Eowyn & Faramir’s Deleted Scene Improves LOTR’s Movie Ending
Despite only standing next to each other and giving one another a meaningful look at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, many picked up on the implication that Eowyn and Faramir were romantic in the theatrical cut. However, without the context of how this happened, it felt as if Jackson was throwing characters together for the sake of it. The last anyone had known, Eowyn was in love with Aragorn, and the fact that she was seemingly paired up with the first Man she met after her previous crush wasn’t a particularly meaningful end for her character.
However, the deleted scene, which sees the pair comforting one another as they wait helplessly while their friends set out to fight Sauron, demonstrates how Eowyn and Faramir didn’t simply fall in love out of convenience. They had both been through excruciating loss and were in desperate need of love and peace. Faramir and Eowyn found this in one another, which meant the perfect resolution for each of their stories. Unfortunately, this was something entirely lacking in the theatrical cut of The Lord of the Rings.
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Return Of The King’s Extended Edition Explained 2 Final Battle Absences
As well as explaining Faramir and Eowyn’s romance, the deleted scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King explains why neither was involved in the final battle outside the gate of Mordor. Of course, this could be assumed—neither were in any shape to fight after the Battle of Pelennor Fields. However, without the deleted scene of Faramir and Eowyn together in Gondor, the last anyone had seen of these characters was during their previous battle. It isn’t even made clear if Faramir survived until Aragorn’s coronation.
With all the scenes included in the extended edition, however, Faramir and Eowyn are accounted for during the final battle of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This means that it is far clearer why Eowyn would sit this battle out when she had been so determined to fight, and it also sets minds to ease with the confirmation that Faramir survived his father’s actions. Ultimately, it’s a far more rounded and generally better story, but there wasn’t time for the scene in the Return of the King theatrical cut.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
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The final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King concludes the epic saga of the Fellowship’s quest to destroy the One Ring and put an end to Sauron’s reign of terror. As Frodo and Sam continue on their way to Mordor and Mount Doom, accompanied by Gollom, the rest of the Fellowship work to defend Minas Tirith from Sauron’s forces. The film’s ensemble cast includes Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Vigo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan.
- Release Date
- December 3, 2003
- Director
- Peter Jackson
- Cast
- Elijah Wood
- Runtime
- 210minutes
- Writers
- Peter Jackson
- Budget
- $94 million
- Studio(s)
- New Line Cinema
- Distributor(s)
- New Line Cinema
- prequel(s)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
- Franchise(s)
- The Lord of the Rings
