The Fate of Middle-earth

“We come now to the very brink, where hope and despair are akin. To waver is to fall. Let none now reject the counsels of Gandalf, whose long labours against Sauron come at last to their test.” – Aragorn, The Return of the King

While Frodo, Sam, and Gollum journeyed through the glades of Ithilien, Aragorn and his companions fought the battle of Helm’s Deep and rode to the wreck of Isengard to deal with the traitor, Saruman. After obtaining a Palantír from that encounter, Aragorn learned much of the Enemy’s movements, and now he and his companions must ride to the aid of Gondor while the Ring-bearer draws ever closer to Mount Doom…

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce The Return of the King, the final repackaged expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Experience the conclusion of the journey to destroy the One Ring in this epic expansion. This expansion contains six scenarios that recreate the adventures featured in the third part of the legendary The Lord of the Rings saga. In this box, you’ll also find over 60 hero and player cards, which can be used to build or enhance your decks for any The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game scenario or campaign.

Note: For longtime fans of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, this expansion combines all of the contents from The Flame of the West and The Mountain of Fire. If you already own those two expansions, you will not find any new cards or content in this product.

The Adventure Concludes

Just as with The Fellowship of the Ring Saga Expansion and The Two Towers Saga Expansion before it, this expansion comes with a plethora of new player cards to expand your deckbuilding options. Among those player cards are a handful of Fellowship sphere cards to enhance your Saga Expansion adventures.

Among these Fellowship cards is a new version of Frodo Baggins (The Return of the King Saga Expansion, 2) to serve as your Ring-bearer. Nearing the end of his long and arduous journey, Frodo has sacrificed much in his quest to destroy The One Ring (The Return of the King SE, 91). No longer able to use the ring to spend Fellowship resources for unique benefits, this version of Frodo can instead exhaust the One Ring to add a resource to any hero’s pool. This leaves his resources available for cards like Friend of Friends (The Return of the King SE, 24) and Orc Disguise (The Return of the King SE, 26), giving him new options for overcoming the challenges of Mordor.

Meanwhile, this expansion also comes with not one, but two different versions (The Return of the King SE, 1) of Aragorn (The Return of the King SE, 3) as a Fellowship sphere hero. Just like the version of Aragorn in The Two Towers Saga Expansion, these versions don’t count toward your hero limit, allowing your party to benefit from his potent abilities no matter what heroes you choose to use. Befitting his status as the heir to the throne of Gondor, either version of Aragorn can make use of the Banner of Elendil (The Return of the King SE, 25) to provide a party-wide buff to all of your other characters.

While the Fellowship sphere can’t be used outside of the scenarios from Saga Expansions, this expansion still provides plenty of other player cards that can be used for any scenario in the game. The Rohan hero Éomer (The Return of the King SE, 4) is a master of multitasking, able to quest and attack at the same time. Equip him with Guthwinë (The Return of the King SE, 10), and he can tear enemies to pieces while retrieving Rohan allies like Elfhelm (The Return of the King SE, 13) from your discard pile. Meanwhile Éomer’s sister, Éowyn (The Return of the King SE, 5) boasts high willpower for a Tactics hero and also reduces your starting threat by 3. Her willpower allows her to make great use of the Golden Shield (The Return of the King SE, 15) When the time comes, she can grant herself a whopping +9 bonus to her attack strength for the phase, allowing her to strike with such ferocity that even the mightiest of foes crumple beneath her blade. Shifting the focus from Rohan to Gondor, we have the hero Beregond (The Return of the King SE, 7), a stalwart warrior who boasts an impressive, unyielding defense. With his sentinel ability allowing him to leap to the defense of any player, Beregond can keep the party’s hit points and threat at healthy levels thanks to his inherent ability and high defense, especially if he utilizes a Desperate Defense (The Return of the King SE, 21). Combine that with the Livery of the Tower (The Return of the King SE, 20), and Beregond will be able to stand in defense of his allies until the very end.

The Mountain of Fire

As we mentioned earlier, the campaign of this expansion recreates the events and encounters of The Return of the King and picks up where The Two Towers Saga Expansion left off. The first scenario sees Aragorn and his companions traveling through The Paths of the Dead (The Return of the King SE, 28), searching for an Army of the Dead (The Return of the King SE, 30) to gain as a powerful ally (The Return of the King SE, 30). The Undead enemies of this scenario brandish the new “phantom” keyword, which converts all combat damage they would deal into threat, making them truly terrifying foes that put a time limit on your efforts to recruit them.

Each subsequent scenario continues the tale of The Return of the King. After gaining control of the Army of the Dead, Aragorn and his companions race to fend off  The Corsair Fleet (The Return of the King SE, 47) harrying Gondor’s coasts. There, they fend off various Umbar Pirate Crews (The Return of the King SE, 55) before traveling to Minas Tirith (The Return of the King SE, 68) to aid in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam continue their quest with the One Ring, which swiftly turns into a rescue mission when Frodo is captured and taken to the tower of Cirith Ungol. Sam, believing himself to be the Last of the Company (The Return of the King SE, 96), must fight his way through the tower to rescue his master. After escaping the tower, the two Hobbits are given brief reprieve from Sauron’s watchful eye as Aragorn draws the Enemy’s attention to The Black Gate (The Return of the King SE, 109), where they confront vile foes such as The Mouth of Sauron (The Return of the King SE, 116) and the Nazgûl of Mordor (The Return of the King SE, 117). Finally, at the end of it all, Frodo must pass through the barren lands of Mordor, under the ever-watchful gaze of The Lidless Eye (The Return of the King SE, 145), and cast the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, finally destroying it once and for all.

The End of the Journey

As the forces of good and evil clash and the fate of Middle-earth at stake, you and your allies must face the toughest battle yet in order to banish the darkness and bring peace to the world. Whether you missed the original release of The Flame of the West and/or The Mountain of Fire or are just now getting into The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, you can look forward to concluding your journey through this legendary saga when The Return of the King Saga Expansion arrives in October.

You can pre-order your own copy of The Return of the King Saga Expansion (MEC113en) at your local retailer or online through our webstore today!