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When the King Comes Back ( Brandy Hall ) by Dreamflower	3 Review(s)
Gryffinjack	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 12/24/2005
Very interesting, between the Great Smials version and this chapter of the Brandy Hall version, how you have all four of our hobbits telling what happened on the Quest almost immediately. And in such different styles! Of course, the one where we really get to relive the entire tale is Pippin's telling of it to his entire immediate family in the Great Smails version of this story, where we re-live so much of what he went through and feel his pain in the sections he purposely omits or glosses over. And now in here, we have Merry telling his father, but choosing not to tell his mother and let her find out from his father. Whereas Pippin omitted many things in front of his mother and sisters and told them to his father privately, Merry told his mother nothing and his father everything. While Pippin did not have a choice but to tell the tale in front of the entire family, Merry did. Judging by the reactions of the women in Pippin's family, Merry was right that it would have been extremely harrowing for his mum to hear, but it is something she needs to know about the world and about her son and so it is good that she will learn it from her husband. Then there is Sam. Sam, who although he tells of the events to his father, purposely leaves out how brave and vital his role was in the mission. Sam's omissions to his father seem to be not so much out of pain but out of discomfort at his own importance. This makes complete sense, given the Gamgee's social status and the way that Sam was raised. I am sure Sam left even more out when he told Rosie what happened. I loved how Frodo could tell Sam was talking about Elves by the lightness in Sam's voice. Lastly, we have Frodo. Frodo, who like Sam, despises telling of his own self-importance on the mission. Instead, and since he has no immediate family of his own, he makes sure that the Gaffer knows how brave and important his son was to the mission. Not only does this speak to Frodo's humility, but also to his generosity of spirit. "‘Dear Mother and Father, I’m off on an adventure with Frodo and Merry. I don’t know where we’re going or how long we’ll be gone. Give my love to the girls. Love, Pippin’." This note sounded just like one that the tweenage Pippin would have written! Thankfully, Pippin realised this note would never work and tossed it in the waste bin. Unfortunately, the Tooks are intelligent people and Paladin knew enough to look in his son's waste bin. That note sounded just like Pippin was being irresponsible and just running off on a jolly adventure without permission again instead of saying how important and different this time was. As if Paladin did not have enough cause to be extremely upset and distraught, this certainly added fuel to the fire, albeit unintentionally on Pippin's part. This was a very interesting chapter of comparisons. Well done! Author Reply: Here we see the beginnings of my fascination, my obsession, with the connections between these four. I wanted very much to show them having parallel experiences--not identical, but similar. As to the telling of their tale: it seemed to me that Merry and Pippin at least, would feel obliged to let their parents know what happened and why. I am afraid that I do not see the logic in fanfics where neither of them ever tell anyone, including close family, about what happened to them, or has them doing so only years later or under extreme duress. Some of these stories are good, but I am afraid that they call for a bit more suspension of disbelief than I have to normally put forth. But Frodo would have been more reticent about himself--not so much about Sam. And Sam would have wanted to tell Frodo's part in the story, knowing that Frodo would not. Yes, I'm afraid Pip's not the best letter writer in the world, and he should have been more careful of the contents of his wastebasket.

PIppinfan1988	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/22/2004
Awww, that's so nice of Frodo to tell the Gaffer about Sam--Samwise the Brave. I can't tell you how well written this is--and of course, so was Great Smials! Thanks for sharing! Pippinfan

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 3/22/2004
Loved Pippin's note in the waste basket! Also thought it was very touching that Frodo wanted to tell the Gaffer of Sam's bravery. This is all very good. Author Reply: Originally, I had Pippin actually leave the note; but the more I thought about it the more I realized he wouldn't really want to leave it. In these two stories I was trying to show ways in which the three cousins and Sam are connected to one another, even when they are not together.

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