THE POWER OF MERCY 9 and Mercy. These terms are crucial and carry power of their own. “The pity of Bilbo,” as Gandalf says, “may rule the fate of many.” In The Two Towers, Frodo eventually gets his chance to show Gollum the same mercy Bilbo did when he and Sam encounter him in the pass of Emyn Muil on their journey to Mordor. Like Bilbo, they find themselves lost, going the wrong way again and again. Gollum has been tracking them the whole time, and Frodo is ready now to kill him, to do what Bilbo did not. But he remembers the conversation he had with Gandalf, and he looks at Gollum and says, “Poor wretch! He has done us no harm. … For now that I see him, I do pity him.” Frodo’s heart is changed, just as Bilbo’s was, and it is Frodo who comes to learn about Gollum, talk with him and understand his past, as a fellow Ringbearer. He is the first one to call Gollum by his old name: Smeagol. He even begs Captain Faramir to show mercy when they are intercepted by the Ithilien Rangers near Osgiliath in Gondor. He has a second chance to hand out judgment to Gollum and still, he declines. “The creature is wretched and hungry, and unaware of his danger,” he tells Faramir. “And Gandalf, your Mithrandir, he would have bidden you not to slay him for that reason, and for others.” Frodo defends the helpless and advocates for his safety, even if Gollum is still undeserving. Samwise the Brave—and Just Even Sam, the character Tolkien listed as the greatest hero of the story, struggles with showing Gollum mercy in The Return of the King. In the end, however, he also achieves a change of heart. While before, he was unable to recognize the bond between Frodo and Gollum through their shared experience of the Ring’s hold, now he understands how his original lack of mercy toward the creature endangered them all: Sam’s hand wavered. His mind was hot with wrath and the memory of evil. It would be just to slay this treacherous, murderous creature, just and many times deserved; and also it seemed the only safe thing to do. But deep in his heart there was something that restrained him: he could
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