38. Shelob's Lair
[Gollum and Frodo crest the stairs. Gollum motions Frodo to enter a tunnel.]
Gollum: "There."
Frodo: "What is this place?"
Gollum: "Master must go inside the tunnel."
Frodo: "Now that I'm here, I don't think I want to."
Gollum (impatiently): "It's the only way! Go in or go back."
Frodo: "I cannot go back."
[Frodo and Gollum enter the tunnel.]
Frodo: "What's that smell?"
Gollum: "Orcses filth. Orcses come in here sometimes."
[Gollum scurries ahead.]
Gollum: "Hurry!"
[Frodo loses track of his guide.]
Frodo: "Sméagol?"
Gollum (off screen): "Over here!"
[Frodo's hand lands in a web.]
Frodo: "Ahh! It's sticky! What is it?"
Gollum (off screen): "You will see. Oh yes, you will see."
Frodo: "Sméagol? Sméagol? Sméagol!"
[Frodo is left alone.]
Frodo (to himself): "Sam."
[Frodo steps on a skeleton, and sees other dead animals hanging, wrapped in webs. He begins to run.]
[Sam, crying, jogs down the stair.]
[He slips and falls down the final steps. On the ground, he looks up and sees the Lembas. He grabs the bread and crushes it angrily.]
[Sam turns and looks up the stairs, then begins climbing.]
[Frodo runs and falls into a clump of webs and bones.]
Frodo: "Ah! Ah!"
Galadriel (voiceover): "And you, Frodo Baggins, I give you the Light of Eärendil, our most beloved star. May it be a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out."
[Frodo fumbles in his pockets. He pulls out the phial of Galadriel.]
[Frodo holds up the phial.]
Frodo: "Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!" (Hail Eärendil brightest of the Stars!)
[Frodo turns to see something large moving behind him. It is a giant spider.]
Frodo: "Ugh!"
[Frodo holds up the light to the spider, who is taken aback by its glow.]
[Frodo runs, and is chased. Frodo holds off the spider with the phial.]
[Frodo becomes tangled in a spiderweb. The web holds him spread-eagle off, the ground.]
[Frodo looks back at the dead bodies ensnared in the webs.]
[Gollum emerges from behind a rock, watching Frodo with glee.]
Gollum: "Naughty little fly, why does it cry? Caught in a web! Soon you'll be eaten."
[Shelob the spider approaches. Frodo cuts his way out of the web with his sword.]
[Gollum shrieks and runs. Frodo frees himself, but drops Sting.]
[He runs out of the lair (by way of a hole too small for Shelob to enter) and falls down, exhausted.]
Gollum: "Got away, did it, precious! Not this time! Not this time!"
[Gollum pounces on Frodo. Frodo and Gollum fight. Gollum tries to take the Ring from Frodo.]
Frodo: "No!"
[Frodo, now enraged, starts to choke Gollum.]
Gollum: "It wasn't us! It wasn't us! Sméagol wouldn't hurt Master! We promised!"
[Frodo's anger dissipates. He stops choking Gollum.]
Gollum: "You must believe us. It was the Precious! The Precious made us do it!"
[Frodo releases Gollum and stands, looking weary.]
Frodo: "I have to destroy It, Sméagol. I have to destroy It for both our sakes."
[Gollum grows angry.]
Gollum: "No!"
[Gollum attacks Frodo. Frodo flips Gollum over and watches as he falls over a cliff.]
Gollum: "Ah!"
[Frodo stands, exhausted and alone.]
Frodo: "I'm so sorry, Sam. So sorry."
[Frodo collapses. He appears in a lush green glen.]
Galadriel (voiceover): "This task was appointed to you, Frodo of the Shire. If you do not find a way, no one will."
[Galadriel pulls Frodo up to his feet.]
[Frodo rises and sets back on the path to Cirith Ungol.]
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