The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers

General

Trivia

Images

Script

Extras

Watch Episode

"A Ladder to Heaven"

"The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers"

"The Death Camp of Tolerance"

"The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers"
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 13
Production no.	613
Original airdate	November 13, 2002
Episode chronology Previous Next "A Ladder to Heaven" "The Death Camp of Tolerance"
List of all South Park episodes

2-Time Featured Article Winner May 2013, December 2016

"The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers" is the thirteenth episode of Season Six, and the 92nd overall episode of South Park. It first aired on November 13, 2002.

Synopsis

The boys embark upon a mythical quest as they set out to return their copy of the "The Lord of the Rings" movie to their local video store.

Plot

Spoiler warning! Plot details follow.

Randy asks the boys, who are currently roleplaying in the style of The Lord of the Rings, to bring a borrowed copy of said movie to Butters' home. They accept the task eagerly and walk off to bring the tape to their destination. In the meantime, Randy sits down next to Sharon, revealing to her that Lord of the Rings was not the only movie he borrowed, but instead that he also borrowed a porn movie. They get into bed and put the tape into their video player, however, they soon notice that they are watching Lord of the Rings and not any porn. Randy immediately puts the pieces together and exclaims that the boys are now in possession of the "hottest porno ever made".

While Randy and Sharon are driving to the Stotch Residence, hoping that the kids have not yet arrived there, the boys hand over the alleged Lord of the Rings to Stephen and Linda, who then give it their son Butters. Since his parents are busy, Butters proceeds to watch the tape alone, not realizing he is not watching Lord of the Rings. On their way back to Stan's house the boys meet his parents, who, in an attempt to quietly resolve the incident without anyone noticing, order the boys to retrieve the tape they just gave to the Stotches, claiming it is haunted by "dark powers" and they must not watch it.

Not much later, the three arrive at the Stotch Residence again and take the movie out of the video player, much to Butters' disappointment. He tries to get the tape - "his precious" - back, even following the boys outside of his house. Butters asks if he is allowed to join them, with Kyle responding with the condition that he must play Lord of the Rings with them. Thinking that the porn tape he saw was the actual Lord of the Rings, Butters suddenly jumps at Kyle and tries to "make love" to his arm. Kyle shakes off Butters in disgust and they leave Butters behind.

While returning to Stan's house, the three encounter several Sixth Graders, who take the tape out of the boys' hands. At first they believe they got a copy of Lord of the Rings, however, as they open the box, they discover the porn inside of it, titled Back Door S**** 9. Immediately their attitude changes and they refuse to give the tape back to the boys, to which Cartman uses his staff to knock it out of the Sixth Grader Leader's hands. A chase begins and the kids hide behind a tree, barely managing to escape the sixth graders.

Since the boys have not yet arrived back home, Randy and Sharon are now visiting the Stotches nevertheless, confessing their mistake to Stephen and Linda. Realizing that their son must have been watching that porn tape, they rush downstairs to Butters, who is hiding behind a couch. He then comes out crawling on the floor, explaining how Stan and the others took "his precious" away to "watch it on their own". The parents assume the kids have hidden to watch the tape undisturbed. Randy and Sharon gather Kyle's parents and Cartman's mom Liane to meet up with them at their house. Gerald acts rather relaxed about the situation, till he finds out that the porn video in question is Back Door S**** 9. When Randy also admits his way of thinking that the movie would not really harm their kids, a fanatic Butters jumps against the window behind Randy, desperately craving for "his precious".

Contrary to the parents' believes however, the boys are still unaware that they are actually possessing a pornographic tape. To find out in what way the alleged Lord of the Rings is "cursed", they visit Clyde Donovan at his house, seeking the "High Elf of Pharagon". A meeting of various boys - all roleplaying like Stan, Kyle and Cartman - is then held in Tolkien's backyard. Tolkien, as the most powerful paladin, is tasked to watch the tape. After some time he returns, notably in his regular clothing instead of his roleplaying outfit, and refuses to elaborate on what he has just seen. He puts the tape back onto the table, announces he is not playing anymore and goes back inside. The remaining group is now convinced this copy of Lord of the Rings contains dark powers and must be returned to the place it came from - the Two Towers Video Store. A group is then formed to bring back the tape, the members being the three boys, Craig, Jimmy and the kindergartner Filmore.

While the boys begin heading to the video store, the kids' parents arrive at Tolkien's house, telling his parents Steve and Linda Black about the situation. They then discover Tolkien sitting at the middle of a huge table, staring without any expression. Randy tries to explain how sex is part of being in love, with Tolkien asking what is considered "making love", retelling what he had seen in the tape.

The "Fellowship of The Lord of the Rings" arrives at the border of the town Bailey, where suddenly a mass of sixth graders chases after them on their bikes. In an attempt to halt the sixth graders and give his companions more time, Jimmy turns around, blocking the street while trying to finish the sentence "You shall not pah-". His attempt however turns out to be futile and the sixth graders simply run down Jimmy with their bicycles, not slowing down at all. Believing that this chase is not winnable, Craig and Filmore turn around and separate from the group to instead play Harry Potter with other kids they have seen earlier - thus only Stan, Kyle and Cartman are remaining for completing the task. They soon follow Cartman's suggestion of crossing a nearby river, on the belief that sixth graders hate water. This way the boys manage to outrun them, however, they get lost in the woods soon after. Butters, who has been sneaking behind them all the time, then reveals himself and offers the group to lead them to the video store. At first he demands the porn tape in exchange, but then changes his mind when Stan threatens him.

Jimmy, still on the street, bruised from the sixth graders' vehicles, is then found by the parents. Unbothered by them mentioning a pornographic tape, he tells them—with some stuttering—that their plan is to return the tape at the video store. The parents immediately head to the Two Towers Store, simply leaving Jimmy behind. As the boys arrive at the video store and attempts to drop the tape into the drop box, Butters manages to grab it in time and runs away. Kyle chases after Butters and tries to separate him from the video tape. Seeing the horde of sixth graders coming towards them, Kyle simply throws the tape alongside Butters into the return drop box. The sixth graders prepares to beat up the boys, but gets turned away with the arrival of the boys' parents at the scene. The parents immediately gives the boys "context" to the porn, not knowing they did not watched it, with the boys turning dead silent and flabbergasted in reaction. As Stephen looks for his son, Butters is shown lying in the drop box, still clinging to the tape while happily exclaiming that he has retrieved "his precious".