Recommended music: Lamb of God – Ghost Walking
It’s #TolkienThursday! Today, I’m sharing something from my Return of the King collection. Instead of a typical Lord of the Rings action figure, let’s check out the Weta Workshop miniature statue King of the Dead!
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the King of the Dead, or King of the Mountains, leads the Oathbreakers, a cursed army of ghosts who haunt the White Mountains.
During the Second Age, the King and his people swore a sacred oath to Isildur, the High King of Gondor, promising to fight against Sauron. When the time came, they broke their oath out of fear and chose to worship Sauron instead. As punishment, Isildur cursed them to wander as restless spirits until they kept their promise.
Thousands of years later, during the War of the Ring, Aragorn calls on the ghosts by traveling the dangerous Paths of the Dead. As Isildur’s heir, he carries the reforged sword Andúril to show his right to lead. The King of the Dead sees this and agrees to help.
Rather than fighting at Minas Tirith directly, as depicted in Peter Jackson’s Return of the King film, the RotK book has the King of the Dead follow Aragorn to Pelargir. There, he leads his ghostly army to ambush the Corsairs of Umbar. The ghosts frighten Sauron’s allies, letting Aragorn take the Black Ships and bring much-needed reinforcements to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
After the oath is fulfilled and Gondor is safe, Aragorn tells the ghosts their debt is paid. The King of the Dead bows, breaks his spear, and disappears with his army, finally at peace.
Wētā Workshop’s King of the Dead miniature statue stands about 7 inches tall. It captures the haunting look of the Dunharrow king without taking over your display. On its base, it is slightly taller than ToyBiz action figures, but the scale matches well.
The statue is made from tinted, translucent green polyresin, which really captures the ghostly look from the film. If you put it near a light or backlight it, the figure seems to glow from inside. This effect highlights its phantom feel and makes the old armor details stand out.
Like action figures, collectors of this particular statue should handle it with care. The statue uses a three-piece design connected by internal magnets. Some people have reported that the somewhat poseable sword arm is fragile and prone to bending or snapping if mishandled during unboxing. Thankfully, mine is still intact.
If you are looking for a highly detailed Middle-earth collectible with incredible shelf presence that blends in well with a 1/12 scale action figure collection, this miniature statue is an absolute winner—just mind the sword arm.
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