Aragorn by his courage and leadership proves himself a worthy ruler of men. The brave and loyal Sam Gamgee enables the long-suffering Frodo Baggins to reach the Crack of Doom, where the One Ring is destroyed along with Gollum, freeing Middle-earth from Sauron's power forever. The Hobbits return home, only to find the Shire under the control of Saruman, diminished in power but not in malevolence. Merry and Pippin, now experienced warriors of Rohan and Gondor respectively, take the lead in setting things right again. Time passes. The Shire heals, but Frodo does not. Eventually Frodo departs for the Undying Lands to find healing, along with Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and the elves. Sam, Merry and Pippin watch them depart and return home in silence. Sam is greeted by his wife Rose and his daughter Elanor. "Well, I'm back", he says.
Title
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single volume comprising six sections he called "books" and extensive appendices. The original publisher made the decision to split the work into three parts, publishing the fifth and sixth books and the appendices under the title The Return of the King, in reference to Aragorn's assumption of the throne. Tolkien indicated he would have preferred The War of the Ring as a title, as it gave away less of the story.
Structure
The structure of The Return of the King mirrors somewhat that of The Two Towers in that the first section recounts the various adventures of several characters including a massive battle, and the second section resumes the quest of the Ringbearers.
Book: On the way to the Morgul Vale, Frodo, Sam and Gollum pass through the Crossroads, where there is a giant statue of a seated king with his head laying on the ground nearby, "crowned" anew with flowers that have grown there, an image of hope amidst destruction.
Book: The Witch-king enters Minas Tirith when its gate is breached and challenges Gandalf to fight, but as a cock crows the horns of the Rohirrim announce their arrival and the Witch-king is forced to return to meet their assault.
Book VI was titled The End of the Third Age or The Return of the King.
The structure of The Return of the King mirrors somewhat that of The Two Towers in that the first section recounts the various adventures of several characters including a massive battle, and the second section resumes the quest of the Ring-bearers.
Since the two books were written at nearly the same time, and since Lewis and Tolkien were close friends who were in the habit of reading the manuscripts of their books to each other and to other fellow-members of the Inklings, it may be that the similarity between the two books is not accidental.
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