The Mad Titan Thanos was intent upon wiping out half of all life in existence. In one universe, he succeeded. In one universe, he fought and defeated his enemies. The Avengers. But this is not the story I tell you today. Today, I behold the tale of what would happen if Thanos' existence took a part in the story of Middle Earth and the War of the Ring.

It began with the finding of the Stones

Two found by Elves; fairest and wisest of all beings

Two discovered by the Dwarves; renowned miners and tinkerers in the mountain halls

And one

One bound to Men; who, unlike the others, lusted for power

But they were all of them deceived; for another Stone was found

In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the dark lord Sauron forged in secret a Ring; a Ring of Power, a Ring of dominance

One Ring to rule them all

For Sauron had made this Ring from the lost Stone, and he used it for its power; pouring his very being within it

The free lands of Middle Earth fell to the power of the Ring, but there was resistance

In the final hour, an army of Men, Elves and Dwarves marched against the army of Mordor; and on the slopes of Mount Doom they fought for the freedom of the Universe

The Men fought with the might of their Stone; one which controlled Power

The Elves fought alongside with their Stones; and they controlled both Space and Time

The Dwarves were not to be unheard of; for they had Stones that shifted Reality and that of the Soul

Victory was near

But the will of Sauron could not be undone

The dark lord fought off the Free Peoples with his Ring, which was bound to unbreakable lengths; that of Mind

Elendil the king of Gondor fought valiantly against the dark lord, for his allies had fallen short behind him

But when Sauron broke the will of the King, his heir Isildur took up his father's sword, and with the Power and swiftness of Isildur, Sauron was defeated

Although Isildur could and would not destroy the Ring; it was powerful and had value, and thus he took it as an heirloom of his fallen brothers

But the Ring indeed had a Mind of its own

For it betrayed Isildur... to his death

For centuries the Ring lay at the bottom of the river Anduin, until by fate it was found by the Hobbit Smeagol

But the Mind of the Ring corrupted the halfling, and he became the creature Gollum

Gollum took the Ring unto the tunnels of the Misty Mountains, and there it consumed him

When the time came, the Ring abandoned Gollum

But something happened the Ring did not intend

For it was picked up by the most unlikely of creatures

A Hobbit; Bilbo Baggins of the Shire

Bilbo brought the Ring to the Shire, and by will and way the wizard Gandalf discovered that this Ring was the One

Bilbo's heir Frodo offered to carry this burden, for such is the might of the Hobbits

Accompanied by the companions Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, Frodo set out for Rivendell

For Home was behind... But the World? Ahead