Tales of the Shirelooks set to be one of 2025’s coziest games, with players able to create and customize their own hobbit character and lead a peaceful life in the settlement of Bywater. It will feature many standard cozy game elements such as cooking, decorating, gardening, and fishing. However,Tales of the Shirecould potentially break from the “cozy game” mold by featuring a plot inspired by an event late inThe Return of the King:the Scouring of the Shire.
What Is The Scouring Of The Shire In Lord of the Rings?
Late inThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,a greedy hobbit, Lotho Sackville-Baggins, takes control of the Shire and begins industrializing the formerly agriculture-focused community. However, the wizard Saruman, frustrated after his many defeats and wanting to hurt Gandalf in any way he can, deposes Lotho and takes over the Shire for himself. As the crime lord “Sharkey,” Saruman fills the Shire with ruffians and goblins, destroys much of its land, and kills many hobbits.
Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, experienced with war after their long journey, are able to rally the hobbits and defeat Saruman’s forces in an event known as “the Battle of Bywater.” Saruman himself is killed by his servant Grima, who is tired of being mistreated. Following this, peace and prosperity slowly returns to the Shire. The Scouring does not feature in theLord of the Ringsfilm trilogy, although a destroyed Shire is shown inGaladriel’s mirroras a “possible future” inThe Fellowship of the Ring.It is one of the most significant events from the books excluded in the films.
Tales of the ShireCould Include A Greed- And Industrialization-Centric Plot
Tales of the Shiretakes place afterthe events ofThe Hobbitbut beforeThe Lord of the Rings,so the Scouring itself is still far in the future. However, it could draw inspiration from the Scouring and include a plotline centered on someone who wants to control or industrialize the Shire, similar to Lotho, or someone from the outside who wants to take over the peaceful hobbit community, like Saruman eventually would. Including a reference to the Scouring of the Shire inTales of the Shirewould be particularly apt - the game is set in a village called Bywater, which shares a name with the battle that ultimately kicked out Saruman and his forces.
A Tales Of The Shire Antagonist Should Take Inspiration From Lotho
Although Lotho Sackville-Baggins is either a very young child or not born yet during the events ofTales of the Shire,the game could be well-served by featuring an antagonist similar to him. Lotho is the perfect villain for a hobbit-focused story - he is ambitious and desires wealth and property, particularlyBilbo Baggins' home of Bag End. Unsatisfied with his lot in life, Lotho begins selling Shire pipe-weed to humans and becomes very wealthy, eventually acquiring huge amounts of property which he begins to industrialize. He rules as a power-hungry figure, imprisoning anyone who speaks against him, until he is deposed by Saruman and killed by Grima.
Lotho is a dark representation of an ambitious hobbit, contrasting heroic figures like Bilbo and Frodo. A figure like him, who wants wealth and land and power within the Shire, could make an excellent opponent forTales of the Shire’sprotagonist to face. They could even be a member of the Sackville-Baggins family, asLotho’s parents, Otho and Lobelia, would be around during the time period covered inTales of the Shire -and could think of Bywater as the perfect place to make a land grab because they cannot have Bag End.
