The Ridiculous Lord Of The Rings Plot Hole That's Hotly Debated Online

Frodo Baggins destroying the one ring was an important adventure in many a person's life. Who can forget the pivotal moment in The Return of The King when Gollum, the monstrous hobbit that leads Frodo and Sam to Mordor, bites Frodo's finger off and falls into the hot embers of Mount Doom - destroying the one ring to rule them all.

While fans cheered in cinemas as Sauron and his armies were officially defeated, many were left awestruck by one small detail. As Gandalf, Aragon, Legolas, and Gimli look upon an erupting Mount Doom with relief we see the faces of Merry and Pippin, realising that Frodo and Sam didn't make it off the mountain. Before the tears have time to begin, our suffering is replaced with joy as, while Frodo and Sam huddle together on the edge of the mountain, we see a growing speck on the horizon, a saviour from afar, the eagles:

The majority of us turned our heads at this moment and accepted it for what it was - Frodo and Sam being miraculously saved. Not everyone was, or is, content with this story. Why would Frodo and Sam have walked all that way to Mordor if they could have been carried by the eagles?:

pic.twitter.com/SkkeDOSg5I

— dirtbag winemom (@floozyesq) March 28, 2018

The "Eagle Plot Hole" in Lord of the Rings.
Six year old: "Dad, why did the giant eagles, who rescue Frodo and Sam at Mount Doom, not just fly them there in the first place?"
Father: "Because...because if they did there wouldn't be three books of Lord of the Rings!" #LOTR pic.twitter.com/ZBTIIfAO02

— ewan morrison (@MrEwanMorrison) March 24, 2018

Consider that Lord of the Rings, which is considered one of the best cases of world building, is just about a long trip. People joke about 'why didn't they fly with the eagles down to Mordor?' Well, if they had done that the world wouldn't feel as real.

— Fredrik ?⚰️ (@_FredMalm) March 27, 2018

For those of you who think the eagles should have carried the ring to Mordor:

I think I can solve the biggest plot hole the Lord of the Rings. "Why don't the eagles take the ring?"
The eagle carrying the ring would be corrupted by it. The reason Frodo had the ring was because he wasn't powerful. The worst he could become was another Smeagol.

— Smartass Birb (@Smartass_Birb) March 5, 2018

I’ve had to defend the eagles being in Lord of the Rings, and explain why they can’t just fly them into Mordor, SO MANY TIMES!!! I am getting to the point that I kinda hate the eagles because they don’t defend themselves haha.

— Andy Calhoun (@andyinator_99) March 2, 2018

Of course, it's not the only plot hole fans noticed but we'll leave that for another day:

Just realised. People always say in Lord of the rings they should have got the eagles and flew the ring to mordor. How bout just get the Army of the dead to clear out mordor straight away? giving them a clear passage to mount doom? ?

— Sam (@BruinsArsenal) March 29, 2018

If you haven't been paying close attention to LOTR series or The Hobbit then you'll have forgotten the eagles play a big part in helping Bilbo, Frodo's uncle, and the dwarves from wolves and in the Battle of the Five Armies. If you're still thinking this is a massive plothole remember the birds only arrived once Sauron's eye fell. As the Tweet above notes, the eagles were in eyeshot of Sauron's giant stinking pink eye so if they'd come any closer to Mordor those ringwraith dragons would've absolutely gone to town on those poor feathered fools.

Also, the eagles played a huge part in the Lord Of The Rings book universe but their roles in the LOTR movies were greatly reduced. In The Two Towers, Gandalf summons an eagle to help him escape Sauron's tower so people assume that Gandalf can control the eagles and should have carried the ring to Mordor. It was impossible for him to carry the ring or the eagle as they would've become corrupted. A hobbit was the only option.

So was it poor screenwriting or self-explanatory? One thing's for sure: