The Lord Of The Ring: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Fellowship
9. Sam Became The Mayor Of The Shire
After the events of The Return of the King, the four hobbits travelled back to their homeland of the Shire. Although Peter Jackson omitted it from his films, the hobbits are set with the task of defeating a cruel overlord named Sharkey.
This character turns out to be a desperate Saruman, who after his defeat gathered a rabble of ruffians and half-orcs to take control of the Shire. It all gets pretty tragic; Saruman's henchmen destroy the countryside and force the hobbits to build workhouses; Bilbo's party tree is cut down; and Bag End is so vandalised its almost unrecognisable. They essentially turn the Shire into a police state. To top it off, it's heavily implied that Gríma Wormtongue killed and ate one of Frodo's relatives. Yeah, it gets heavy.
But our heroic little hobbits raise a rebellion. With Merry and Pippin leading the fight, they overthrow Saruman and kill his henchmen. It then becomes Sam's task to help restore the Shire to its original beauty. He plants a Malorn tree from Lothlórien where the Party Tree once stood, and conducts much of the reconstruction work. Eventually he's elected Mayor for seven consecutive terms - not bad for a former gardener.