The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ending explained

What happens

Frodo claims the Ring at Mount Doom, but Gollum bites it from his hand and falls into the fire with it. Sauron's power collapses. Aragorn is crowned, and Frodo, still wounded in spirit, sails away with Gandalf, Bilbo and the elves.

The last image

Sam closes his front door in the Shire and sits down with his family, home at last.

What it says

Victory here costs something. Frodo cannot simply return to ordinary life, so the long farewells mark the end of an age. The film wants you to sit with that loss, and with the quiet reward of home.