22 Lord of the Rings Memes for Middle Earth Couples on a Journey to Mordor

According to the LOTR movies, Aragorn never wanted to be king. He hemmed and hawed about picking up the crown and pursuing his birthright to the land of Gondor, feeling the weight and shame of his ancestor, Isildur. Persuaded by the power of the One Ring, Isildur was a bit of a disappointment, to be sure, but once Aragorn son of Arathorn put his hand on the shards of Narsil, it was clear he was the rightful heir to the realm of Men.

In the books, it's less of a moral dilemma. Aragorn is pretty thrilled about becoming king. Like Simba singing and doing elaborate Broadway-style dance choreography, Aragorn just couldn't wait to be king. Stryder, the 80-something-year-old ranger was thrilled to leave his kindhearted mercenary days behind him, becoming the man he was always meant to be by the business end of an elven-forged sword.

We all have a little bit of Aragorn's self-doubt in us, but at the end of the day, when we're faced with the duty of kingliness or royal responsibilities, we got to step up and own our fate. For Aragorn's desire or ambition to become the king was never going to change the reality that he was the one true heir to Isildur.