something about needless tragedy when its effectively written and how it works SO well. boromir taking like seven arrows to the chest and continuing to fight and it doesnt save merry and pippin. the fact that merry and pippin were needlessly taken bc the uruks thought they had the ring, which they didnt. there are people in this war willingly sacrificing themselves to distract sauron from frodo and then there are people given no time to think through a plan, doing the best with the few seconds they have and dying with the hope that their actions will protect the people they love. and sometimes it doesnt. boromirs epic final stand did not actually matter, did not give the hobbits a chance to escape. but his final breaths were given with love nonetheless.
sometimes heroism is not in whether or not your actions actually save people, sometimes the glory is simply in the desperate and heartfelt trying