"I amar prestar sen: han mathon ne nen, han mathon ne chae...a han noston ned wilith." (English:) The world is changed: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, I smell it in the air...Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it. SUPER: THE LORD OF THE RINGS EXT. PROLOGUE -- DAY IMAGE: FLICKERING FIRELIGHT. The NOLDORIN FORGE in EREGION. MOLTEN GOLD POURS from the lip of an IRON LADLE. GALADRIEL (V.O.) It began with the forging of the Great Rings. IMAGE: THREE RINGS, each set with a single GEM, are received by the HIGH ELVES-GALADRIEL, GIL-GALAD and CIRDAN. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest...fairest of all beings. IMAGE: SEVEN RINGS held aloft in triumph by the DWARF LORDS. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) Seven to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. IMAGE: NINE RINGS clutched tightly by the KINGS OF MEN...as if holding-close a precious secret. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) And Nine...nine rings were gifted to the race of Men who, above all else, desire power. (MORE) (CONTINUED) 2. CONTINUED: GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) For within these rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race. FADE TO BLACK GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) But they were all of them deceived. FADE UP: An ancient PARCHMENT MAP of MIDDLE EARTH...moving slowly across the MAP as if drawn by an unseen force the CAMERA closes in on a PLACE NAME...MORDOR. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) ...for another ring was made. TEASING SHOTS: SAURON forging the ONE RING in the CHAMBERS of SAMMATH NAUR. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a Master Ring to control all others. IMAGE: The ONE RING reflecting FIERY LAVA! FIRE WRITING emerges on the plain BAND OF GOLD. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) ...and into this Ring he poured his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life. IMAGE: THE ONE RING falls through SPACE and into flames... GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) One Ring to rule them all... IMAGE: A GREAT SHADOW falls across the MAP...closing in around the realm of GONDOR... IMAGE: SCREAMING VILLAGERS, MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, RUN from their homes, pursued by ARMIES OF HIDEOUS ORCS. GALADRIEL One by one the Free lands of Middle earth fell to the power of the ring. FADE TO BLACK GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) But there were some...who resisted. (CONTINUED) 3. CONTINUED: FADE UP: ISILDUR, son of the KING OF GONDOR, leads an ARMY ACROSS the PLAINS OF DAGORLAD... GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) A last alliance of Men and Elves marched against the armies of Mordor. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) On the slopes of Mount Doom they fought for the freedom of Middle- Earth. TEASING SHOTS: THE BATTLE OF DAGORLAD...THE ELF LORD, ELROND, commands rank after rank of ELVEN ARCHERS...ORCS RETREATING before the ARMY of the LAST ALLIANCE...ELENDIL holds aloft the great sword....NARSIL! GALADRIEL Victory was near! IMAGES: THE HUGE, DARK FIGURE OF SARURON, bearing the ONE RING on his finger, looms over the field of battle... GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) But the power of the Ring could not be undone. IMAGE: SAURON lays waste to the armies of the LAST ALLIANCE. With desperate courage, ELENDIL leads a charge...THE BLACK MACE OF SAURON LASHES OUT!! IMAGE: ELENDIL'S body falls like a crumpled rag doll... IMAGE: ISILDUR cradles the body of his father in his arms. The SHADOW OF SAURON falls over him... GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) It was in this moment..when all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the king, took up his father's sword. ISILDUR snatches up the BROKEN BLADE OF NARSIL..The BLADE severs SAURON'S FINGERS... AND THE ONE RING FLIES from his body. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) Sauron, the enemy of the Free Peoples of Middle Earth, was defeated. SAURON'S ARMOR clatters to the ground. His body GONE....VAPORIZED! CLOSE ON: ISILDUR picks up the SEVERED FINGER and removes the ONE RING...transfixed! GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) The Ring passed to Isildur...who had this one chance to destroy evil forever. (CONTINUED) 4. CONTINUED: IMAGE: GLADDEN FIELD...ISILDUR leads a small column of men through DARKENING WOODS...the ONE RING glinting on a CHAIN around his neck. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) But the hearts of Men are easily corrupted. And the Ring of Power has a will of its own. SUDDENLY! ARROWS FLY! They are ambushed by ORCS...ISILDUR SCREAMS! FADE TO BLACK FADE UP: ISILDUR MATERIALIZES UNDER WATER...as THE RING slips slowly from his finger. Ripples of LIGHT play across ISILDUR'S PALE FACE...he is DEAD. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) It betrayed Isildur to his death. IMAGE: THE RING falls through the MURKY WATERS of the RIVER ANDUIN. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) And some things that should not have been forgotten...were lost. FADE TO BLACK GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) History became legend...legend became myth. FADE UP: The waters of the ANDUIN RIVER lie dark and undisturbed. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) And for two and a half thousand years the Ring passed out of all knowledge. IMAGE: SILT SWIRLS...A THIN WHITE HAND reaches down...grasping the RING... GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) Until, when chance came, it ensnared a new bearer! IMAGE: THE THIN WHITE HAND opens to reveal one ring. GOLLUM (V.O.) My Precious... 5. IMAGE: MIST SHROUDED MOUNTAINS... GALADRIEL (V.O.) The Ring came to the creature Gollum, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. IMAGE: THE GLOOM of a MOUNTAIN CAVERN..a MURKY POOL of WATER...in the DARKNESS the SHADOWY OUTLINE of an EMACIATED FIGURE. GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) And there, it consumed him. A RASPY VOICE mutters in the half light... GOLLUM It came to me. My own. My love... (ecstatic whisper) My preciousness. GALADRIEL (V.O.) The Ring brought to Gollum unnatural long life. For five hundred years it poisoned his mind. And in the gloom of Gollum's cave... FADE TO BLACK GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) It waited. FADE UP: Bathed in COLD MOONLIGHT, the WORLD lies DARK and STILL...the unsettled quiet before the storm... GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumor grew of a Shadow in the East...whispers of a nameless fear. And the Ring of Power perceived...its time had now come. It abandoned Gollum. SLOW MOTION: unseen by its KEEPER..THE RING falls to the MUDDY FLOOR of a MOUNTAIN TUNNEL... GALADRIEL (V.O.) (CONT'D) But something happened then the Ring did not intend... FADE TO BLACK IMAGE: FUMBLING in the dark, a SMALL HAND closes over the 6. RING. GALADRIEL It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable... BILBO (to himself) What's this? A YOUNGISH LOOKING BILBO BAGGINS peers down at what lies in his hand...PERPLEXED by what he has found. GALADRIEL (V.O.) A Hobbit....Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. BILBO (surprised) A Ring. SUDDENLY! A VOICE SCREAMS...ITS ANGUISH RINGING through the COLD, DANK TUNNELS... GOLLUM (V.O.) Lost! Lost! My Precious is lost!! Frightened Bilbo quickly POCKETS the ONE RING and hurries on. DISSOLVE TO: WIDE ON: THE CAMERA SOARS AWAY FROM THE MOUNTAINS. MOVING FASTER AND FASTER...THEIR DARK GREEN FORESTS AND JAGGED WHITE PEAKS RECEDING INTO THE SHROUD OF MIST GALADRIEL (V.O.) For the time will soon come when Hobbits will shape the fortunes of all.