After 24 Years, Aragorn’s Crucial The Lord Of The Rings Quote Still Defines The Best Fantasy Franchise


The Lord of the Rings franchise has had many iconic quotes throughout the core trilogy and The Hobbit movies, but this crucial Aragorn line from 24 years ago continues to be the one that defines the best fantasy franchise. In recent years, when the topic comes to the fantasy genre, HBO’s Game of Thrones franchise tends to be the main one that comes to mind.

After all, the original became one of the best TV shows of all time, and HBO has since gone on to release multiple successful Game of Thrones spin-offs. That said, it is not the only fantasy franchise to have become more popular recently. For instance, on Prime Video, Critical Role’s shared universe of Exandria with shows like The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein have gained quite a few fans.

However, looking at all the fantasy releases thus far, it is hard to find a better franchise than The Lord of the Rings. From the carefully crafted source material from J.R.R. Tolkien to the grand adaptation by director Peter Jackson to The Hobbit trilogy, The Lord of the Rings franchise is as close to perfection as it comes in the fantasy genre.



















A Compendium of Enchanted Cinema
How Well Do You Know Fantasy Movies?
“Magic always comes with a price.”

🪄SpellsWingardium Leviosa

🐉BeastsHere be dragons

👑KingdomsLong live the king

⚔QuestsThe hero’s journey

🔮MagicWhat lies ahead

01

Across the Harry Potter films, the boy wizard is rarely without his loyal companion — a snowy owl gifted to him by Hagrid on his eleventh birthday. What is the owl’s name?




✓ Correct! Hedwig — the snowy owl Harry receives in The Philosopher’s Stone — becomes one of his most beloved companions. Errol is the Weasleys’ ancient, accident-prone owl; Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny hyperactive owl; and Crookshanks is Hermione’s ginger cat — not an owl at all.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Hedwig. Errol is the Weasleys’ clumsy family owl, Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny owl from later books, and Crookshanks is Hermione’s cat. Hedwig is the snowy owl Hagrid buys Harry for his birthday — even getting her own leitmotif from composer John Williams.

02

In Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride, the farm boy Westley answers Buttercup’s every demand with the same three words — which she comes to realize actually mean “I love you.” What does he say?




✓ Correct! “As you wish” is Westley’s signature line — and the film’s emotional core. “Inconceivable!” is Vizzini’s catchphrase (prompting Inigo’s famous “You keep using that word…”). The other two were never in William Goldman’s script — the whole point is that three plain words carry all the meaning.

✗ Not quite! The answer is “As you wish.” “Inconceivable!” belongs to the Sicilian Vizzini. Buttercup slowly realizes that Westley’s endlessly repeated “As you wish” is really his way of saying “I love you” — one of the most quoted lines in fantasy cinema.

03

The 2006 Spanish-language masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth blends a fascist-era fairy tale with the grim reality of post-Civil War Spain, featuring the nightmarish Pale Man. Which director created this dark fantasy?




✓ Correct! Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed Pan’s Labyrinth, designing the Faun and the eyeless Pale Man himself. He’d later win Best Director and Best Picture for The Shape of Water. Cuarón directed Prisoner of Azkaban; Almodóvar is Spain’s great melodramatist; Rodriguez is del Toro’s close friend but made Sin City and Spy Kids.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Guillermo del Toro. Alfonso Cuarón (a fellow “Three Amigos” of Mexican cinema) directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Pedro Almodóvar makes Spanish melodramas, and Robert Rodriguez made Sin City. Del Toro’s creature designs in Pan’s Labyrinth are now iconic.

04

In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), the four Pevensie children first stumble into the snowy land of Narnia by passing through what object?




✓ Correct! It’s a wardrobe — it’s right there in the title. Lucy hides inside during a game and finds the snow and lamppost of Narnia beyond the fur coats. A magical painting actually appears in the sequel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; the mirror and well are red herrings from other fantasy tales.

✗ Not quite! The answer is a wardrobe — literally named in the title. Lucy Pevensie pushes past the coats and steps out into snowy Narnia by the lamppost. (A magical painting does pull the children into the sea in the later film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — but not here.)

05

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) made Oscar history as the first fantasy film to win Best Picture, sweeping every category it was nominated in. How many Academy Awards did it take home?




✓ Correct! Return of the King won all 11 of its nominations — tying Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) for the all-time record, and becoming the first (and so far only) fantasy film to win Best Picture. Remarkably, it earned zero acting nominations yet still swept the board clean.

✗ Not quite! The answer is 11 — a perfect clean sweep. Return of the King tied Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscar wins ever and broke fantasy’s long Best Picture drought. Fellowship of the Ring won 4 and The Two Towers won 2; the finale took everything it was nominated for.

06

In the swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean films, Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination playing a swaggering, kohl-eyed pirate captain reportedly inspired by Keith Richards. What is the character’s name?




✓ Correct! Captain Jack Sparrow — Depp’s loose-limbed, rum-soaked performance earned a surprise Best Actor nomination for The Curse of the Black Pearl. Will Turner is the blacksmith hero (Orlando Bloom), Davy Jones is the tentacle-faced villain (Bill Nighy), and Hector Barbossa is the mutinous rival captain (Geoffrey Rush).

✗ Not quite! The answer is Captain Jack Sparrow. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is the earnest blacksmith, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is the squid-faced sea villain, and Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is the cursed rival. It was Depp’s Sparrow — modeled partly on Keith Richards — who earned the Oscar nod.

07

Jim Henson’s 1986 musical fantasy Labyrinth features a teenage Jennifer Connelly navigating a maze to rescue her baby brother from the flamboyant, wild-haired Goblin King Jareth. Which rock legend played Jareth?




✓ Correct! David Bowie played Jareth, writing and performing the film’s songs including “Magic Dance” and “As the World Falls Down.” Tim Curry famously played the demon Darkness in another Ridley Scott fantasy, Legend (also 1985-86). Jagger and Sting are rock icons but never donned Jareth’s glittering cape and wild wig.

✗ Not quite! The answer is David Bowie. Tim Curry played the towering devil Darkness in the rival fantasy Legend around the same time. Bowie not only starred as Jareth the Goblin King but composed and sang the soundtrack — “Magic Dance” remains the film’s signature number.

08

In the 1984 classic The NeverEnding Story, the young warrior Atreyu journeys across the dying realm of Fantasia and befriends a furry, dog-faced luckdragon who carries him through the skies. What is the luckdragon’s name?




✓ Correct! Falkor (Falkor the luckdragon) is the friendly, scale-and-fur covered dragon who aids Atreyu and Bastian. Artax is Atreyu’s horse, lost heartbreakingly in the Swamp of Sadness; Gmork is the wolf-like servant of The Nothing; and Bastian is the real-world boy reading the story who is ultimately drawn into it.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Falkor. Artax is Atreyu’s beloved horse (the Swamp of Sadness scene scarred a generation), Gmork is the menacing wolf-beast serving The Nothing, and Bastian is the bullied boy reading the book. Falkor is the soaring luckdragon — one of fantasy cinema’s most cherished creatures.

The Grimoire Closes · Quest Complete
Your Fantasy Rank

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Archmage of the Silver Screen — or still lost in the labyrinth?

The Lord of the Rings has endured the test of time, thanks to its complex characters and the many iconic quotes that have come from quite a few of them. Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn was one of the fantasy movies’ main players, always inspiring those around him. That was exactly what he was doing with this quote that perfectly sums up what the best fantasy franchise is all about.

Aragorn’s “There Is Always Hope” Quote Defines The Lord Of The Rings Franchise

Credit: New Line Cinema via MovieStillsDB

The Aragorn quote in question comes from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the second movie in the high fantasy trilogy, which was released in theaters on December 18, 2002. Set before the Battle of Helm’s Deep, Aragorn turns to the young Haleth, who is visibly nervous as everyone around him prepares for the coming fight. He tells Aragorn of the men’s fears that they will not survive the night and that fighting is hopeless. This is where Mortensen’s character comes in with the perfect piece of wisdom. Aragorn turns to Haleth and says, “There is always hope.”

Not only are those reassuring words for the young man at a difficult time, but that quote pretty much defines the entire The Lord of the Rings franchise. After all, both the movies and the original Tolkien story are about characters facing insurmountable odds. In fact, as a whole, The Lord of the Rings franchise always keeps coming back to the concept of true good versus evil, with characters sometimes getting lost along the way only to find their way and prevail at the end.

Like Aragorn mentions, there is always something worth believing in on Middle-earth, even now in Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, where Galadriel and others keep holding on to the idea that they can beat Sauron.

Aragorn Is Set To Return To The Lord Of The Rings Soon

Jamie Dornan in The Fall TV show
Jamie Dornan in The Fall TV show

Now, 24 years after Aragorn’s simple, yet franchise-defining line, the fan-favorite character gets ready to make his long-awaited return to the big screen. However, it will not be with Mortensen in the role. The 67-year-old actor has made way for Fifty Shades of Grey franchise star Jamie Dornan to take on the role of Strider/Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which will be released in theaters on December 17, 2027.

This will follow a different period in the character’s life, as Aragorn was still going by Strider and living as a ranger in the wilderness, with The Hunt for Gollum mostly set between the events of The Hobbit trilogy and Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies. As such, with this new actor and role for Aragorn, so could come exciting lines that further cement the character as one of those who helped define The Lord of the Rings franchise.

The Lord of the Rings Franchise Poster with Gold Words Resembling a Ring

Cast

Norman Bird, Anthony Daniels, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Morfydd Clark, Mike Wood, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Sara Zwangobani, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lenny Henry, Brian Cox, Shaun Dooley, Miranda Otto, Bilal Hasna, Benjamin Wainwright, Luke Pasqualino, Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, John Hurt

Created by

J.R.R. Tolkien




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