What a contest Middle-earth March Madness 2020 is shaping up to be! Almost 5,500 people voted in Round One, and there were some very close contests. Last night, for the first time in Middle-earth March Madness history, we had a LIVE results show, and we’ll be continuing that whenever we can, throughout the contest. For those who weren’t able to tune in, let’s take a look at some of the Round One results.
Starting with the Tearjerkers bracket, the closest battle played out on Pelennor Fields. There were fewer than 200 votes between Theoden’s death, and Pippin finding Merry; but the death of the King ultimately won through to Round Two. The second tightest contest in this bracket was between Bilbo’s farewell to the dwarves in The Battle of Five Armies, and Sam finding Frodo in Cirith Ungol in The Return of the King. In the end, it was The Hobbit scene which won the duel, by 230 votes. The surprise (for me, anyway) in this category was the significant margin (almost 800 votes) by which The Return of the King‘s ‘You bow to no one’ moment beat the Grey Havens scene at the end of that movie.
Moving on to the Laughter gathering, we find the biggest victory of Round One: Pippin’s ‘What about second breakfast?’ took 90% of the vote, with only 500 voters expressing a preference for PJ’s Corsair cameo. Most of the pairings in this bracket were fairly easy wins, the only close(ish) call being between Gandalf’s ‘Fool of a Took!’ remark in the mines of Moria, with 59%, to 41% for Bilbo’s faint after reading the contract in An Unexpected Journey. Another personal comment from me: the one part in all six movies which is guaranteed always to make me laugh is Gandalf’s ‘In fact, it’s better if you don’t speak at all’ to Pippin outside Meduseld; but more than two thirds of voters disagree with me, and preferred Gimli’s ‘Toss me’ aside to Aragorn.
In the Scenic group, as beautiful as the Shire is, Frodo and Sam’s journey through it in The Fellowship of the Ring was no match for the lighting of the beacons; the Return of the King scene took 85% of the vote in that match up. The Shire was defeated again, but this time only by 52% to 48%, with Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn’s run through Rohan in The Two Towers vanquishing Gandalf’s first arrival in Hobbiton in The Fellowship of the Ring. I’m taking a moment to lament one of my own very favourite scenes, the ‘Dare we risk a little more light?’ moment in the great hall of Moria; it has fallen in Round One, conquered by the Fellowship’s first glimpse of Rivendell.
And finally those dramatic moments… It is perhaps not surprising that the widest margin in the Drama/Action bracket was between the first seed and the bottom seed; Eowyn vs the Witch King beat Gandalf escaping Orthanc on an eagle by 4,415 votes to 917. The closest fight in this category was (also perhaps not surprisingly) between seeds 8 and 9; Gollum’s fall into the Cracks of Doom beat Bilbo’s first sighting of Smaug by 55% to 45%.
Here’s how things look as we go into Round Two:
So Round Two begins! You have until 10pm ET Sunday 5th April, to vote in this Round. Don’t delay! Click here to go to the survey. We’ll have a LIVE results show starting at 9.50pm ET on Sunday evening; as ever, you’ll be able to find that on our facebook page. Results will also be posted here on Monday 6th in the morning; and then on to Round Three!
What do you think of the results so far? Any of your favourites already defeated? Which scene are you hoping will go all the way to become 2020’s Champion? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Let battle resume!
It seems that the theme of ‘Scenes from Peter Jackson’s movies’ is a popular one; over 4200 people have voted in Middle-earth March Madness 2020 so far! And Round One still has a day to go! Let’s have a look at how things are playing out…
There are several close fights underway in the Tearjerkers bracket. How to choose between Theoden’s death, and the moment when Pippin finds Merry on Pelennor Fields? Or between Sam’s heroic scenes: when he carries Frodo on Mount Doom, or when he tells us all, ‘There’s some good in this world…’? It’s a tough decision for sure, and right now they are neck and neck.
In the Scenic group, it’s a close call between Gandalf’s first arrival in the Shire in The Fellowship of the Ring, and the sweeping vista as Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn run through Rohan in The Two Towers. I know which one gets my personal vote (I’m a sucker for the humble beauty of the Shire), but which way will YOU vote?
Finally, which dramatic moment do you prefer: when Gollum, clutching his Precious, falls into the Cracks of Doom, or when Bilbo first sees Smaug in the second Hobbit movie? This pairing is running very close just now; make sure your vote is included!
Here’s a reminder of the Round One bracket:
(Don’t worry if some of those seem a little unclear; when you go to the actual survey to vote, you’ll see a longer description to help you place the scene. We just had to fit succinct summaries on the bracket image!)
You have until 10pm ET tomorrow, Thursday 2nd April, to cast your Round One votes. Simply click here to go to the survey. We’ll then have a LIVE results show starting at 9.50pm ET on Thursday evening; you’ll be able to find that on our facebook page. Results will also be posted here on Friday 3rd in the morning, and then voting on Round Two will begin.
How many folks are rewatching the movies, to help you make your choices? Anyone fallen out with friends yet, over differences of opinion? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Take part, share liberally, and let’s make this a contest to remember!
Here we go! Middle-earth March Madness 2020 begins today!
This year we’re pitting against one another various scenes from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, in the categories of Tearjerkers, Scenic, Laughter, and Drama/Action. (Those listed are the moments as they appear in Peter Jackson’s movies; though you can of course feel free to reread the appropriate sections in the book and use your imagination, when making your choices!) Do you love the part when the Ents stride out to war? Or do you prefer Theoden’s stirring speech to the Riders of Rohan on the edge of Pelennor Fields? Which makes you laugh more: Pippin’s, ‘Great, where are we going?’ or Gandalf’s command to him that ‘it’s better if you don’t speak at all’? Take a look at all the magical moments vying to be 2020’s Champion:
(Don’t worry if some of those seem a little unclear; when you go to the actual survey to vote, you’ll see a longer description to help you place the scene. We just had to fit succinct summaries on the bracket image!)
So, how do you play along, I hear you ask? Simple! Click here to go to a survey, where you can vote in each of the battles in this first round. You only get to vote once, so choose wisely! Round One runs until 10pm ET on Thursday 2nd April; on Friday 3rd in the morning we will post results, with an updated bracket, and voting on Round Two will begin. So it continues until only two remain, with the Grand Final happening on April 14-15. Which scene will be declared the overall winner? YOU decide!
Maybe you need to revisit PJ’s films to weigh up all these stirring scenes – a perfect excuse for a marathon viewing! Maybe you want to lift your copies of the books down from the shelf, and read aloud certain moments, in the Professor’s own words. Discuss online with friends, have a remote viewing party, and make the case for your preferences. HOW you decide on your vote is up to you! We’ve given you four days for this first round, so you have plenty of time to ponder, and to savour all these magical moments in the realms of Middle-earth.
We hope you’ll share your opinions with us too: here in the comments, on the message boards, in the Facebook group, via Twitter (#memarchmadness), etc. Are there incidents you think should be on there, which we’ve omitted? Finding it hard to choose? Share your thoughts and dilemmas! Let’s virtually gather together in this time of social distancing, to enjoy these stories we love; and to engage in a bit of friendly dueling!
It’s a tradition going back some years: TheOneRing.net’s own version of March Madness! Each Spring, staffers at TORn draw up a table of characters (or something else – see more below) from Tolkien’s realms, and we ask you all to vote in each round, until we have an overall winner. This year is no exception! We all need things to do, and to think about, to keep us distracted in these days of social distancing; so we hope you’ll join us and play along for this year’s Middle-earth March Madness!
The fun begins on Monday, when we’ll post this year’s brackets, together with a link to a poll where you can place your votes. We’ll be posting articles about the various ‘battles’, and we hope you’ll join in and discuss on facebook and the message boards. Meanwhile, here’s a look back on some of the earlier contests.
We first created our own March Madness fun back in 2012, making this the 9th year of the contest. (What shall we do for our tenth, next year?) That year our four brackets consisted of various characters from Middle-earth, with the brackets named for Ralph Bakshi, Rankin Bass, the Tolkien family, and Peter Jackson. The final was between Aragorn and Samwise, with Sam coming out on top.
In 2013 and 2014 the brackets were simply named for different places, with a mix of characters in each bracket. 2013 saw The Shire, Erebor, Mordor and Angmar brackets, with a final showdown between Thorin (from the Mordor bracket) and Gandalf (from Angmar). It was a close contest, but the wizard ultimately came out on top. 2014’s brackets were named for Bag End, the Lonely Mountain, Erebor (yes the Lonely Mountain going by another name) and Mirkwood. The finalists came from the Bag End and Mirkwood categories, and were father and son: Thranduil took on Legolas. The fans were out in force for both these pretty elves, but Thranduil won in the end.
2015 saw the first year that combatants were divided by specific categories, with brackets being Lord of the Rings characters, Hobbit characters, Silmarillion characters, and ‘Others’ from the Professor’s writing. It also saw a first in a combatant being ‘disqualified’: Thranduil’s fans were so desperate to see him victorious again, they were bucking the system and voting multiple times. With Mirkwood’s ruler thrown out, the final saw Bilbo and Gandalf face off; and Gandalf was champion for the second time.
In 2016 we drew up brackets according to attributes: Beauty, Brains, Brawn, and Baddies. Ultimate Baddie Morgoth took on Galadriel in the final, where the elf maiden was triumphant, taking two thirds of the vote! 2017’s groupings divided characters into ‘Book Only’, ‘Movie Only’, ‘Wider Mythos’, and ‘Movie and Book’. A first this year was that we deliberately did not include past champions Gandalf, Galadriel, Samwise or Thranduil; also the divisions allowed many first time entrants, such as ‘Sebastian the Hedgehog’ and ‘The Fox’. The champion in 2017, appearing in his second final, was Aragorn.
2018 mixed things up by including characters from outside of Tolkien’s writings. This year, we had roles from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies, AND roles from other films, played by the same actors. This meant that was saw Lee Pace’s Ronan take on his Thranduil, as well as a show down between Count Dooku and Saruman. Middle-earth characters, however, were the ones who made it to the final, where Gollum beat Elrond.
And just last year, our contest became Middle-earth MAP March Madness, with all the entrants being locations: from The Shire, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Gondolin faced, but could not defeat, Rivendell in that final.
What will the categories be this year? All will be revealed on Monday! Or head on over to join TheOneRing.net’s Facebook group, The Worlds and Works of J.R.R. Tolkien, where you can get an early preview tomorrow. Let’s get ready to rumble!
Tomorrow is Tolkien Reading Day! And as so many of us are social distancing and staying at home right now, let’s get our copies down off the shelves and share some favourite paragraphs together. Farmer Giles, Roverandom, Father Christmas Letters, The Hobbit – whatever works by the Professor take your fancy, head on over to the message boards or the Facebook group, and post a passage for us all to enjoy.
Our good friends at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have put together an online kit to inspire you, including maps, trivia, and a complete list of Tolkien’s works. Check it out, here. Let’s escape together into the pages of a book by our favourite author!
And like that, it was over. March Madness is put to bed for another year; all that remains for us to do is announce our Grand Champion 2019.
We started back on March 19, with 64 locations facing off in four brackets: The Shire, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Each round saw some fairly close fights, and some strange pairings (Lonely Mountain vs Misty Mountains! Bag End taking on Hobbiton!). In the very first round, what some say are Tolkien’s ‘two towers’ (Barad-dur and Isengard) faced off. The only battle which matched one found in the Professor’s books was in Round 2, when Fangorn Forest marched to Isengard. Alas, my personal favourite (the Green Dragon, naturally!) fell in Round 3.
Of our two finalists, both started off with pretty easy journeys through the rounds. Early on, Numenor gave Gondolin the biggest challenge, but even they could only take 40% against the elvish city. In the fourth round, however, Gondolin faced tougher competition, and just narrowly defeated the other very strong contender from the Silmarillion bracket, Valinor. And in the Final Four, Gondolin again had a hard time of it, securing victory by just 3% over the Lonely Mountain!
Rivendell, on the other hand, pretty much cruised through; even against Lothlorien, Elrond’s home in the valley was still able to take two thirds of the vote. Did that make Rivendell the favourite in the epic final?
The votes have been counted, and the margin between the two locations was just about 15%. Without further ado, we can reveal this year’s Middle-earth Map March Madness Grand Champion:
Yes, as the early rounds would seem to indicate, Rivendell was the firm favourite. They will be singing tra-la-la-lally there down in the valley to celebrate, no doubt!
Many thanks to all of you who played along, voted, and commented. We always enjoy seeing folks taking part in our version of March Madness, and reading what you have to say. Let us know what you thought of this year’s theme in the comments below, or on Facebook. We hope you’ll join the fun again next year!
In 2013 and 2014 the brackets were simply named for different places, with a mix of characters in each bracket. 2013 saw The Shire, Erebor, Mordor and Angmar brackets, with a final showdown between Thorin (from the Mordor bracket) and Gandalf (from Angmar). It was a close contest, but the wizard ultimately came out on top. 2014’s brackets were named for Bag End, the Lonely Mountain, Erebor (yes the Lonely Mountain going by another name) and Mirkwood. The finalists came from the Bag End and Mirkwood categories, and were father and son: Thranduil took on Legolas. The fans were out in force for both these pretty elves, but Thranduil won in the end.
2015 saw the first year that combatants were divided by specific categories, with brackets being Lord of the Rings characters, Hobbit characters, Silmarillion characters, and ‘Others’ from the Professor’s writing. It also saw a first in a combatant being ‘disqualified’: Thranduil’s fans were so desperate to see him victorious again, they were bucking the system and voting multiple times. With Mirkwood’s ruler thrown out, the final saw Bilbo and Gandalf face off; and Gandalf was champion for the second time.
