yes maybe on occasion i consider about the fact that sam and frodo could possibly have a codependent relationship after the quest. maybe i think about how when you spend an entire year with someone, the most difficult year of your life, in which you experienced one traumatic event after another, and they were there for you the whole time, you might become bonded in an unhealthy manner. perhaps i ponder how this would have affected their relationship in the years after, between their return and when frodo leaves for the undying lands, balancing everyday life and the extreme trauma that refuses to leave. of course we focus on frodo’s traumatic experiences and his ptsd after, but what of sam? he is always depicted as dependable, the rock, the foundation for frodo to latch on to. but i think they were each other’s rocks, taking turns breaking and healing and breaking together, all the while sam maintaining a wife and large family and the responsibility of being in a leadership role and frodo wrestling with the consequences of the ring and his responsibility as a baggins. what did this do to them? how do you even begin to imagine the kind of bond they may have forged in that time? sam may hold his responsibilities wonderfully, but what of the times when he cannot hold on anymore? what becomes of them when they are both too hurt to depend on one another? they are both forever changed, not only frodo. in different ways, with different paths, but both scarred. and they need each other, until there is nothing left to hold on to and frodo must depart, leaving sam without his foundation. he may have his family, but rosie didn’t experience the things sam did, rosie doesn’t have the perspective to even console sam through something that complicated. whether you believe sam and frodo are romantic, platonic, or a secret third thing, you have to admit that something happened and their souls have been bonded in the strongest way possible, and i believe that frodo’s departure to the undying lands probably left sam wondering if, when, and where he could continue living.