War of the Rohirrim

Warning: Major spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim ahead

The latest cinematic adventure set in JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrimis marked by a bloody conflict that takes the lives of several main characters in the story. Set almost 200 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, The War of the Rohirrim chronicles one of the most significant events in the history of Rohan, the revolt of the Dunlendings under Wulf of the West March against the Hammerhand Helm of Rohan and the siege of the fortress that would come to be known as Helm's Deep.

Despite being an anime-style animated film, The War of the Rohirrim is full of connections to Peter Jackson's character. Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, one of the big differences is how few main characters survive the action. The War of the Rohirrim. Although the entire Fellowship of the Ring survived the War of the Ring, all but a few characters met violent ends at the end of The War of the Rohirrim. Between Helm Hammerhand's family and their enemies, there are seven noteworthy deaths that occur throughout the war.

7

Freca

The local leader of the West March clashed with the helm

Lord Freca was the much-maligned local lord of the West March of Rohanand his actions were the impetus for the entire conflict in the center of The War of the Rohirrim. Freca approached Helm with a proposal: instead of Hèra marrying a lord of Gondor, she should marry his son Wulf (who happened to be Hèra's childhood friend) and strengthen the bonds of the people of Rohan. Helm's deep distrust of Freca led him not only to deny the proposal, but to mock Freca and call him inferior, essentially unworthy of his lordship.

Despite their status as masters, the egos of the two leaders led them to resolve their differences by literally “taking them out”. The two men agreed to fight, and after some posturing, they began to fight in front of members of Helm's court and Freca's son, his right-hand man General Targg, and guards. Although Freca quickly landed a few blows on Helm, all he did was enrage the powerful king. Helm finally crushed Freca with a violent punchwho killed Freca instantly with brute force.

As a further insult, Helm banished Wulf and his followers from Rohan, fueling his bloodlust for revenge beyond reason. Wulf already saw his father's death as murder at Helm's hands, whether that was Helm's intention or not. Freca's death defined the entire narrative of The War of the Rohirrim in motion.

6

Lord Thorne

The Lord of Rohan was quickly rewarded for his betrayal

Lord Thorne was a lord of Rohan and a member of Helm's inner council, and more than once preached patience and peace in the face of Helm's wrath over Freca's disrespect for the king. It is eventually revealed that Thorne had his own motivations and ambitions regarding the throne of Rohanand as a means of promoting his own position, he allied himself with Wulf when he returned with his army from Dunlendings to attack Helm at Edoras. Thorne betrayed Helm by not only removing his soldiers from the flank of Helm's defense but also handing them over to Wulf in the attack.

Thorne personally returned to Edoras as part of the attack force and confronted its only defender, Hèra, in one of the barns as she attempted to escape. Thorne revealed his true intention and attempted to assassinate the princess. However, he ran afoul of her horse in the process, who attacked and kicked him, throwing him against the tines of the pitchfork that Hèra was using to defend herself. Throne died right there in the barn, with his betrayal exposed and nothing to show for it.

5

Haleth

Helm's eldest son fell after an extreme act of courage

The hilltop city of Edoras stood virtually no chance against Wulf, with Fréaláf and his soldiers banished to Dunharrow and a huge horde of Dunlendings, Corsairs and Southerners on the warpath. That didn't stop Helm from rallying his Rohirrim, and Both Hèra and her brave brother Haleth did everything they could to defend the city. The gates of Edoras were broken down by several mûmakil, the enormous elephantine animals called “oliphants” by Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings. As someone advanced towards Meduseld's Golden Hall, Haleth took action.

The warrior prince managed to kill all the southern soldiers riding the enormous beast and, with his axe, cut through the tough skin on top of the monster's neck, killing it just before it could devastate the hall. When the beast stopped and Haleth stood over her conquered enemies, Wulf took a bow and shot Haleth in the neck from afar.killing him almost instantly. Haleth's death was the deathblow in the fall of Edoras, as it spurred her brothers and injured father to flee to Hornburg.

4

Hama

Helm's Youngest Son Was Almost Used as Trade Currency

Helm's youngest son, Hama, was described as a gentler soul than his warrior brother, but without any courage. Hama was a talented singer, played the harp and even refused to abandon her beloved horse on the eve of battle, despite her advanced age. This decision ended up having disastrous consequences, as Hama stayed behind her sister and father as they fled to Hornburg with Edoras lost to Wulf and the Dunlending invaders. When his horse ran out of breath, Hama dismounted and attempted to shoot Wulf and his guard, only to be captured.

Wulf and Targg presented Hama at the gates of Hornburg, and a desperate and grieving Helm immediately began to beg for his life. Helm even offered to exchange his own life for Hama's, with the throne of Edoras already captured by Wulf and no army to take it back. Although Targg advised Wulf to accept the offer and exchange Helm's life for Hamas as a way of increasing Wulf's claim to the throne, the temperamental and vengeful young man slitting Hama's throat as a way to further devastate Helmletting his body rot in plain sight.

3

Hammerhelm

The mighty king died defending his fortress

Helm was taken to the fortress of Hornburg seriously injured and in a state of inconsolable mourning after the death of his two sons, both at the hands of Wulf. After many nights of what seemed like endless sleep, despite having regained her health, Hèra discovered that her father had left the room. Helm was escaping the fortress through a series of secret tunnels through the mountains and out into the snow. where he killed dozens of Dunlendings using nothing but his hands and his mighty war trumpet, which he blew to strike fear into their hearts.

The Dunlendings were so disturbed by the violence and suddenness of Helm's attacks that they came to believe he was an unkillable ghost. He almost proved them right when he and Hèra fled to the fortress after being caught in the open; After forcing Hèra through the frozen gates, which he held open with nothing more than his prodigious strength, Helm continued to kill countless enemies with his bare hands in the midst of an unyielding blizzard. He was discovered dead the next morning, frozen but still standing in defense of his fortress and his people.

2

Targg

Wulf's General had his common sense ignored

General Targg was Freca's right-hand man when he served as lord of the Western March, and when Freca was killed, Targg's loyalty passed to his son Wulf. While Wulf was reckless and driven by hatred and revenge, Targg was calm and sensibleoften preaching common sense to the young lord when it came to actually getting the throne and keeping it. Despite being a true voice of reason, his words often fell on the deaf ears of the impetuous Wulf.

This reason held true to the end, as Targg was a witness to Hèra and Wulf's final one-on-one battle at the end of The War of the Rohirrim. Hèra proposed that the two of them resolve the fate of the people inside the fortress with hand-to-hand combat, and made Wulf promise to call off his siege if she defeated him, which he did. After a fierce sword fight, Wulf found himself at the tip of Hèra's swordbeaten.

However, Wulf ordered Targg to continue the attack on the fortress despite his promises, which Targg refused to do knowing that promise had been made and that there was little point in continuing the siege. Because of what he saw as a betrayal, Wulf stabbed Targg in the middle and killed him. Although Targg could have been a far more effective leader of the Dunlendings than Wulf, his loyalty overrode his better judgment until it was too late.

1

Wulf

The leader of the Dunlendings fell into the hands of a true shieldmaiden of Rohan

With nothing but anger and revenge on his mind, Wulf blindly accepted Hèra's one-on-one challenge, not seeing it for the mere distraction it was. He lost in single combat to his childhood friend, just like what happened when they were kids and she gave him the scar over his eye. It was then that Fréaláf, clad in Helm's armor and wielding his warhorn, appeared atop the ridge overlooking the valley and frightened Wulf's troops into a retreat. The desperate and defeated Wulf once again violently attacked Hèra with everything seemingly lost.

The warrior princess managed to fend off his attack with the help of Olwyn, a former squire of Rohan. Olwyn tossed Hèra the small forearm shield that she and her kin used for both attack and defense; his shield, which had seen many battles in his life, was worn with jagged edges along its exterior. Hèra managed to subdue Wulf and pressed the tip of her shield against his neck.simultaneously suffocating him and slitting his throat, which ended up killing him.