LOTR: The War of the Rohirrim

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The film opens as the voice of Eowyn (Miranda Otto) narrates the story. Nearly 200 years before the tale of the One Ring, there lived Hera (Gaia Wise), daughter of Helm (Brian Cox), king of Rohan and leader of the Rohirrim. Eowyn notes that Hera was brave and strong, but there would be no tales told of her by the time the legend of the Ring begins.

The kingdom is visited by Dunlendings, led by Lord Freca (Shaun Dooley). His son, Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), was childhood friends with Hera. Hera joins Helm and her brothers, Haleth (Benjamin Wainwright) and Hama (Yazdan Qafouri) as they gather to meet with the Dunlendings. Freca expresses displeasure that Hera is to be married to a lord of Gondor and suggests an alliance between Dunland and Rohan to assert control over Gondor. Wulf even makes a formal proposal to Hera on the spot. However, Helm knows that this is a play on Freca’s part for his throne, and he refuses to allow the union.

Freca challenges Helm, leading to them stepping outside for a duel. Freca gets three hits in while speaking foul of Hera. With one powerful punch, Helm strikes Freca so hard that he kills him instantly. Wulf becomes enraged at his father’s death and attempts to retaliate, but Helm banishes Wulf and the Dunlendings from Rohan. Wulf swears revenge, while Hera watches in sadness as her former friend leaves with hatred.

Years pass, and nobody in Rohan has heard from Wulf. Hera goes out riding with her cousin Frealaf (Laurence Ubong Williams) and finds the rotted corpses of horses, as well as that of a Southron warrior. A large mumak (giant elephant creature) emerges from the woods, appearing feral and infected with something, then charges after Hera and Frealaf. Hera lures it away from other people and has it follow her and her horse into the woods. She goes by the river and fires an arrow, knowing it will awaken a Watcher in the Water. The mumak comes out from the trees and tries to get Hera, but the Watcher grabs it with its tentacles and devours it before sinking back into the water. Moments later, Hera is captured by General Targg (Michael Wildman).

Hera is taken to Isengard, where she finds that Wulf is now High Lord of the Dunlendings. He is still out for revenge against Helm and all of Rohan. Hera tries to offer him marriage to change his mind, but he knows it would not be because she wants to do it, so he rejects her offer and says that the boy she once knew is gone. Before anything else happens, Hera is rescued by Frealaf and her aunt Olwyn (Lorraine Ashbourne).

When they return to Rohan, Helm comes down on Frealaf for letting Hera get captured. After Frealaf suggests that they flee to the Hornburg for fear of an attack from the Dunlendings, Helm calls him a coward and banishes him. Frealaf takes his army to Dunharrow.

Helm prepares for battle alongside Lord Thorne (Jude Akuwudike) while Hera and Olwyn are taking shelter with Old Pennicruik (Janine Duvitski). While going through notes, Hera discovers a note with a Dunlending seal for Lord Thorne, revealing he is a traitor leading Helm into a trap. Olwyn goes to get the people in the city of Edoras evacuated since Wulf and his men are heading toward the city. Hama and his forces manage to hold off some of the Dunlendings, but Wulf kills Hama with an arrow through the neck before most of his men are killed as well, and Helm is hit with several arrows.

Hera rejoins her father as they retreat to a safe distance. They find Wulf and Targg coming in with Haleth as their prisoner. Helm surrenders and opts to give his life for his son’s life. Even at Targg’s suggestion that he spare Haleth, Wulf refuses and only wants Helm to suffer, so he slashes Haleth’s throat, devastating his father and sister. Wulf and his men proceed to take siege over Hornburg and begin an endless winter.

Helm goes into a coma after the death of his sons. In his grief and anger, he becomes a wraith that tears through men like paper and eats what’s left of them. Hera later goes out looking for her father and comes upon orcs who are gathering rings for their master (Sauron). She is spotted by one of the larger orcs, who try to attack her, but they are caught and killed by Helm. He expresses remorse to Hera for what he has become.

Helm prepares for Wulf’s forces to go after him once they learn of what he is now. He keeps Hera safely guarded while he goes outside in the bitter cold, pummeling enemies with one punch (earning him the name “Hammerhand”) until the morning comes, when Helm is frozen to death, standing in defiance. Hera holds a funeral for her father.

Hera climbs a mountain to find one of the Great Eagles to seek help in the fight against Wulf. She gives it her father’s armor to deliver to Frealaf. Meanwhile, Targg tells Wulf that he has nothing left to conquer and that the Rohirrim are just starving refugees. Wulf refuses to listen and plans to storm the Hornburg after dropping his tower to create a bridge.

Hera catches up to Wulf and challenges him to a combat to keep him and his forces from heading to the Hornburg. Although Targg discourages Wulf from taking the bait, Wulf still won’t listen and proceeds to fight Hera. The Rohirrim are led through a secret passageway made by the Dunlendings to safety, while Frealaf arrives in Helm’s armor and makes the villains believe that Helm’s wraith has come to slaughter them, forcing them to retreat.

With his forces depleted, Wulf tries to order his remaining men to attack, but Targg tries to urge him against it. He even calls Wulf a coward in agreement with Hera, so Wulf kills Targg. He fights Hera until she disarms him. Although she has him at her mercy, Wulf attempts to make one last attack against her. Hera loses her sword, so Olwyn tosses her a shield. After she disarms Wulf, she uses the shield to choke him to death. The rest of his forces are gone, and the Rohirrim safely come out of hiding, their long winter now over.

The valley of Hornburg is renamed Helm’s Deep after its rightful king. Frealaf becomes the new king since Hera has chosen to have her own adventures instead of taking the throne. Frealaf is approached by the new keeper of Isengard: Saruman (archival dialogue from Christopher Lee).

Hera prepares to go off on a mission, but is joined by Olwyn, who wants to be by Hera’s side no matter what. Hera tells her that she is meeting with Gandalf in regards to the situation with the rings. As they ride off, Eowyn’s voice closes her narration by saying that Hera remained wild and free until the end of her days.

Centuries before the legend of the One Ring, there lived Hera, daughter of King Helm of Rohan. She is proposed to by Wulf, son of Lord Freca of the Dunlendings, as well as her own childhood friend, in Freca's hopes of forming a supposed alliance with Rohan. Helm knows this is just a ploy to usurp him for the throne, so the two engage in a duel where Helm kills Freca with one punch. Wulf is banished from Rohan, and he swears revenge against Helm.

Years later, Wulf becomes High Lord of the Dunlendings and leads an attack against Rohan. Helm's sons Hama and Haleth are killed by Wulf, leading to Helm becoming a grief-stricken wraith that tears through Wulf's men. Wulf leads a siege against the Hornburg where the Rohirrim have retreated, leading to a long winter for them. Helm is frozen to death fighting Wulf's men to the end.

Hera gets help from the Great Eagles and her cousin Frealaf to aid in the fight against Wulf since he plans to conquer what's left of the Hornburg. Hera battles Wulf, while Frealaf uses Helm's armor to scare off Wulf's forces. Hera has Wulf at her mercy, but when he refuses to surrender, she chokes him to death with a shield.

Frealaf becomes the new king of Rohan and starts to work with Saruman, while Hera and her aunt Olwyn head off to meet Gandalf over a matter involving orcs and rings.