«She should not die, so young and beautiful. At least, she should not die alone.»
Merry, at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, in «The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King» by J.R.R. Tolkien
A while ago I stumbled upon the tweet-reply by George Alexopoulos:
And I agree with him, Eowyn in «The Lord of the Rings» is not a woke character. She was a character in the story by J. R. R. Tolkien and is actually portrayed (mostly) accurately.
If that had been a woke story, she would have been a flawless «Marry-Sue» who killed the Nazghul without fear and without taking any relevant damage. Merry would have been a bumbling idiot (given he is male) and she would have saved him and the king (also portrayed as bumbling idiot). She would have been a typical Marvel character, as beautifully put in a YouTube video (sorry, forgot which one):
The Marvel Rules
1. A woman can never lose a fight to a man.
2. A woman can never lose an argument to a man.
3. A woman can never need help from a man.
4. A woman can never be less intelligent than a man
5. A woman can never be corrected by a man.
Source Unknown
Instead, she had fear. She was a fighter, trained to wield a sword, but not even close to the Nazghuls level of power or skill. She only survived because Merry did attack the Nazghul — who did not see any threat in the Hobbit. And because Merry’s blade could actually hurt him. She then killed the Nazghul and suffered for it.
And that is what makes the scene — and the overall story of «The Lord of the Rings» great. She conquered that fear. She paid a price. It makes the scene truer and more powerful than any of this woke «power fantasy» nonsense.
«Real» characters have flaws — that makes them human, and relatable.
