The Lord of the Rings: Books vs. Movies

[Cofey]

*EDIT: Redone to match the format of the other entries.*

There are plenty of books I like, but none have ever had as big an effect on me as Tolkien's works, most especially The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. So I've decided to offer an analysis of The Lord of the Rings, both the books and films, for anyone that cares to read them, comparing the two versions, and expressing where I think Peter Jackson succeeded and where he failed miserably. I'm going to break this up into six sections, one for each book.

For those who don't know, The Lord of the Rings was originally written as one book. Tolkien separated the story into six parts, called Books I-VI, in places where the plot takes some major changes. Later on, the publisher forced Tolkien to divide his book into a trilogy. Books I and II became The Fellowship of the Ring, Books III and IV became The Two Towers, and Books V and VI became The Return of the King.

I might as well state here that I think it is foolish to try to cover the whole story in three movies. It may seem like too much, but I think six movies would be absolutely necessary. In this sense Peter Jackson was doomed from the start. Of course, no movie, no matter how incredible, no matter how true to the story line, could ever do justice to its literary counterpart; but Peter Jackson's movies didn't even come close. They had the potential to be amazing, and they fell way short of the mark.

So, with all that out of the way, it's time to get this thing started.

WARNING: Major spoilers in all subsequent posts!

Book I

Chapter I: A Long Expected Party
Book I begins with the days leading up to the eleventy-first birthday of Bilbo Baggins, and the 33rd of his heir and second cousin once removed, Frodo Baggins. In Hobbiton and the Shire, people gave presents away on their birthdays instead of receiving them. Since Bilbo was turning a very curious age, and Frodo was coming of age on the same day, and since Bilbo's immense wealth had such a reputation in the Shire, everyone was waiting very anxiously for the day of the Party.

The most important thing to note in this chapter is Bilbo's sudden dissapearance. After dinner Bilbo gave his customary speech. But at the end of it, he announced that he was leaving the Shire forever...then he stepped down and dissapeared with a flash, to the amazement of everyone.

Now Gandalf and Frodo were both in on Bilbo's little joke. It was Gandalf who supplied the bright flash at Bilbo's dissapearance. Gandalf thought it wise that Bilbo kept the Ring secret for so long, and he wanted to provide the inhabitants some sort of explanation for what had happened. Now, instead of being overly suspicious of Bilbo, they had come up with the idea that Gandalf had spirited him away, and was in league with Frodo to steal Bilbo's money. A seemingly unimportant detail, but it is actually very important in maintaining the secrecy of the Ring.

The scene in Bag End was done almost perfectly, where Gandalf convinces Bilbo to give up the Ring. It even kept much of the same dialog from the book, which I was very happy about. After much trouble Gandalf got Bilbo to give it up. It is only now that Gandalf begins to suspect anything about the Ring, and he still knows absolutely nothing for sure.

Bilbo took off across country with a few dwarves, and we won't see him again until Book II. Frodo became the master of Bag End, and Gandalf took his leave early the next day. Gandalf had planned on staying to help clean up, but his suspicions about the Ring prompted him to leave immediately.

Chapter 2: The Shadow of the Past
It was some years later that Gandalf came back to Bag End to check up on Frodo. He came and went every so often from then on, and then there came another long absence. When he returned this time, he had full knowledge of what Frodo carried; he had been studying and investigating all this long time, and now he was finally sure.

So he told Frodo all he knew concerning the Ring's history: it's forging in the Second Age, the Last Alliance that overthrew Sauron, and how Isildur claimed and later lost the Ring. And there history had left it, and nobody knew what became of it after Isildur's death. All thought that it had washed down the river Anduin to the sea, for that is where Isildur fell. But Gandalf had now found out the truth of the matter.

It was a hobbit named Smeagol that found the Ring in Anduin, near to where Isildur was slain. Smeagol as I'm sure most of you know became Gollum. He told Frodo the story of Gollum up until Bilbo's encounter with the creature during his own adventure. Bilbo found the Ring in Gollum's cave, and so it passed on to Frodo.

Now Frodo had made up his mind to leave the Shire, for the Enemy had heard of his country and new the name Baggins. Gandalf gave him the travelling name "Underhill." Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's gardener, had overheard the whole conversation while working outside, and so Gandalf decided that Sam should go with Frodo. Frodo made up his mind to leave that September, on the birthday of Bilbo and himself. Gandalf said that he would return to the Shire by that day at the latest, then took his leave of Frodo.

Chapter 3: Three Is Company
To be as brief as I can, Frodo sold Bag End to his relatives, the Sackville-Bagginses, and bought a house in Crickhollow in Buckland, near to where he grew up. It would seem credible, him moving back to his old country, and he didn't want to arouse suspicion by just up and leaving.

Gandalf didn't show up, and the night after the birthday, Frodo, Sam, and Frodo's kinsman Peregrin (or Pippin) Took took to the road. Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry), another of Frodo's kinsman, and his friend Fredegar Bolger (Fatty) had left earlier and were to wait at Crickhollow for Frodo.

Frodo went for a little walk down the road before setting out, and overheard a conversation between Sam's father and some other strange person, inquiring about Mr. Baggins. Frodo became very afraid, although he didn't know why, but Mr. Gamgee had thought Frodo already left, and directed the stranger to Buckland.

Frodo and company travelled through the Shire at an easy pace. One day on the road, they heard a horse coming from behind. Frodo felt uneasy and made them hide on the side of the road. There they saw their first glimpse of a Black Rider. It soon left them though. Later on that night, they encountered another, and it was coming right for them. Just before it discovered the hobbits though, it retreated, because of singing coming up the road behind.

The singing was coming from a band of High Elves, led by Gildor Inglorion. Why this was left out of the film I'll never know; Gildor is very important to the story. Anyway, they spent the night with Gildor and his folk. Gildor was upset by the tidings that Gandalf was missing, and warned Frodo that the Black Riders were servants of the Enemy. He also sent messages far and wide to all the Elves in that land, warning that Frodo was in trouble. This saved Frodo's life in Book II, which is the main reason why Gildor is so important, but we'll see that later on.

Chapter 4: A Short Cut to Mushrooms
The next day the companions awake all alone; Gildor had left. They are afraid to take the road after his warning and decide to cut across country. This proves very difficult for them, but saves them in the end. Passing through brambles, all cut and bruised, they look back and see a Black Rider on the hill they had come from. The Rider couldn't pass through the brambles, so they were safe for now.

While walking through the woods of the Shire later on that day, they hear a long wailing scream, answered by others. The Black Riders were speaking to each other across the Shire. This fills them with dread, but they manage to continue on without being discovered. They accidentally come across the fields of Farmer Maggot, a friend of Pippin, and stay at his house for the afternoon.

It turns out that a Rider had come to Maggot's only a little while earlier, and offered him gold for information on Mr. Baggins (not necessarily Frodo mind you; they don't have a first name, but probably think the first owner, Bilbo, still has the Ring).

Frodo and his friends stay for dinner, and afterwards Maggot brings them to the ferry they are making for in one of his carts. When they get there they hear a hooves on the road ahead, but it turns out to be Merry, who was getting anxious because they hadn't arrived yet. Maggot leaves them, and they turn towards the ferry.

Chapter 5: A Conspiracy Unmasked
They take the ferry across the Buckland River, and when they get to the other side, they see a black shape back on the other landing: a Rider who had just missed them. The Rider would have to go around some miles before he could cross the river at the Brandywine Bridge, so as far as they know the companions are safe for the moment.

At Crickhollow, Merry, Pippin, Fatty, and Sam unmask their conspiracy. They had been spying and eavesdropping for some time, trying to figure out what Frodo was up to - and Sam was their chief collector of information. Frodo was actually relieved that his friends were so adamant about joining him, and so they made up their minds to leave before dawn the next day.

His companions had already made all of the necessary preparations for their trip. Fatty would stay at Crickhollow and keep up the pretence that Frodo was still living their for as long as he could, and the others would journey through the Old Forest.

Chapter 6: The Old Forest
Early the next morning the five hobbits got up and walked across the fields to a shed where they mounted their ponies, and Merry led a baggage pony beside them. Fatty turned back at the entrance to the Forest. The Old Forest was a very strange place according to Hobbit legend, and the trees were said to shift around.

By the afternoon they came to a bald hill in the middle of the forest. They could see the line of the Withywindle steaming in the east, the very heart of the forest from which all the strangeness seemed to come. But try as they might to find another way, the trees always forced them towards the Withywindle.

In the late afternoon they had reached the river which they had tried so hard to avoid. Something in the air had made them all very sleepy. Merry and Pippin fell asleep against a great willow tree, and Frodo slept on its roots with his feet dangling in the stream. Sam was uneasy and went for a walk to keep from falling asleep.

Soon he heard a crack and a splash: Frodo was being drowned under a root of the tree, Pippin had dissapeared within the trunk, and Merry was half in and half out, being slowly pulled in. Sam got Frodo out of the water and they tried setting the tree on fire, but had to put it out when the willow began to squeeze Merry. Not knowing what else to do, Frodo began running and shouting for help.

This is where Tom Bombadil comes in. We never find out exactly who or what Tom is. He is the Master. He controls all things within the borders he set for himself, and nothing can harm him there. He sings more than he talks, and he dances and hops along as much as he walks. He is a very amusing and intriguing character.

Frodo ran into Tom as he was on his way home from picking lillies for his wife, Goldberry. Seeing what happened, Tom saved Merry and Pippin from Old Man Willow by singing to the tree, and invited the Hobbits back to his house for dinner.

Chapter 7:In the House of Tom Bombadil
The Hobbits stayed with Tom and Goldberry that night and the next. While there, Frodo had a vision in his sleep, the second I believe, in this novel. He has a couple more throughout the books. In this vision, Frodo saw a tall figure standing on top of a tower in the middle of a ring of stone. He heard wolves howling and harsh voices below. Then an eagle came and brought the figure on the tower away. This is a bit of foreshadowing, as you will see in Book II.

One other curious thing worth mentioning: at one point Tom put the Ring on, but he didn't dissapear. Such things have no power over Tom Bombadil. He is the Master, and no other magic has any effect on him.

Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs
The Hobbits journeyed over the hills past Tom's house, the Barrow-Downs. They slept the afternoon away, not meaning to fall asleep at all, and woke up in a fog. Long story short, they were kidnapped. Frodo sang a song Tom taught them at his house, to call Tom to their aid while they were still in his borders.

Tom came and defeated the Barrow and saved the Hobbits, and gave to them swords out of the horde, golden blades forged in Numenor. He rode with them to the road and set them towards Bree.

Chapter 9: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
They come to the Prancing Pony, an inn in the village of Bree. Merry goes out for a walk and the other go to the common room. There Frodo meets Strider, a Ranger and a dangerous looking man. Meanwhile, Pippin is giving an account of Bilbo's farewell speech to the locals.

Not wanting him to mention the dissapearance and alert anyone who may be hunting him, Frodo jumps on the table and starts singing a song that Bilbo wrote: a much longer version of Hey-Diddle-Diddle. The crowd loves it and asks for a second time. When he gets to "The cow jumped over the Moon" he leaps in the air and comes crashing down. Jerking his hands out to brake the fall, he accidentally slips on the Ring. Nobody is satisfied with his account that he just crawled away quickly after his fall, and they all begin to distrust him and his friends.

I also want to point out that the whole "shadow world" Peter Jackson created when Frodo put the Ring on is COMPLETE BULLSHIT!!!!! There was NO gigantic flaming eyeball spanning his whole field of vision, there was NO purple shadow world, there were NO black, unidentifiable figures. At two points that I can remember in the book, Tolkien mentions that sight becomes somewhat dim while wearing the Ring, and hearing becomes sharpened. He NEVER said that the world turned into a purple haze with a giant talking flaming eyeball. Utter rubbish. What the fuck were you thinking?????

Ugh. So anyway, after this happens they notice a suspicious looking southerner leave the common room. We'll find out in a little while that he was keeping his eyes out for Frodo and company, and in the Return of the King it is revealed that he was a spy of Saruman's from Isengard.

During Frodo's first talk with Strider he agreed to meet with him privately back in his parlor later on, and after his antics in the common room he agreed to have another private chat with Barliman Butterbur (the innkeeper), who seemed to have remembered something very important.

Chapter 10: Strider
Strider follows the hobbits back to their parlor, and begins his talk with Frodo. He asks leave of Frodo to take him along on the road ahead, saying he knows of the Black Riders and can take the hobbits on paths unknown to most people. Frodo has doubts about Strider at first, and Sam outright rejects him as a scoundrel and a trouble maker. However, Frodo does seem to want to trust him.

Just then Butterbur comes in. It turns out he has a letter for Frodo from Gandalf himself, dated midyear's day, which in the Shire calendar falls between June and July as a sort of holiday. The letter is very late in coming, for it warns Frodo that Gandalf has learned of the Riders, and urges Frodo to set out immediately and not wait for the wizard. Butterbur was supposed to have sent it the day after Gandalf left it, and perhaps Frodo would then have arrived at Rivendell with little or no trouble.

The letter also mentions Strider, saying he is a friend of Gandalf's and knows of their journey. Strider reveals himself as Aragorn, son of Arathorn, as Gandalf's letter says, and so gains the hobbits' trust. Frodo then agrees to bring Strider along, and they are to depart early in the morning so as to go unmarked.

Before handing over the letter, Butterbur sent out a hobbit in his service named Nob to look for Merry, who had been gone a long time now. After some more words with Strider Nob and Merry come bursting in the room.

During his walk Merry saw a Black Rider in the village, and followed it over towards Bill Ferny's house, a man in league with the southerner from Isengard. When Nob came down that way, he saw two figures stooping over something in the road and trying to lift it. Nob gave a shout, and when he ran over Merry was lying there, in a sort of daze: the Black Breath was on him, but luckily he wasn't exposed to it for very long.

By Strider's advice, they slept on the parlor floor that night, and Strider sat by the door all night, seeming not to sleep at all. In their bedroom they dressed up the beds with bolsters and pillows to make them look occupied.

Chapter 11: A Knife in the Dark
In the beginning of this chapter we go back to check in on Fatty Bolger for a little while. While the hobbits are asleep in the inn at Bree, Fatty peers out the front door at Crickhollow. Three Black Riders are there waiting to ambush the house. Just before dawn, they break in, but just at that moment the Horn-call of Buckland sounded: Fatty had run out the back door at first glimpse of the Riders and ran to sound the alarm. The Riders retreated, seeing the Ring had left the Shire.

Meanwhile, back in Bree, the hobbits' beds were attacked that night and the ponies escaped, so they had to start later than they hoped, and were forced to buy a baggage pony from Bill Ferny. It was a weak and starved beast, but it was the only one in the village.

The kept the road for some time, since their going had now been watched by the entire village from the streets. Once Strider was sure they weren't being marked, he went off into the wild, but still often doubled back to confuse their tracks.

They journeyed through the Midgewater Marshes through the next few days to Weathertop. There in the Second Age was the tower of Amon Sul, used in the wars against the Witch-King of Angmar, now the Lord of the Nazgul. While in the Marshes one night Frodo and Aragorn saw bright flashes of light towards Weathertop. We find out later that Gandalf had been there fighting off the Nazgul.

After the Marshes the group had to cross the road again. They crept towards Weathertop while keeping out of sight of the road as much as possible. Once at Weathertop they found a small dell and made camp. Aragorn, Merry, and Frodo climbed to the summit and found a sign left by Gandalf that he had indeed been there only a few days before. They also noticed the Enemy on the road below.

That night the camp is attacked by five Ringwraiths. Frodo immediately puts on the Ring, and the forms of the Nazgul become clear: five tall men, one with a kingly crown. The Witch-King, the Lord of the Nazgul, came forward, and Frodo stabbed at his foot. The Ringwraith then stabbed Frodo's left shoulder. Aragorn fought the Enemy off, and Frodo removed the Ring and slipped into unconciousness.

Chapter 12: Flight to the Ford
To be brief, the travellers left Weathertop the next day, with Frodo on the baggage pony and the other's sharing the rest of the gear. They eventually come to the spot where Bilbo encountered the hill trolls in his adventure, and eat lunch there. When they come to the Last Bridge (so called because it is the last bridge a traveller crosses before the Ford of Bruinen and the land of Elrond), Aragorn finds an Elven stone laying there, a sign that the Enemy is not present, and they cross in safety.

Continuing further on, they meet up with an Elf on their way. Glorfindel, a High Elf and friend of Aragorn, came riding up from behind. He was ordered out to look for the travellers when Elrond received Gildor's message. Of course, most of you didn't know that because Gildor wasn't in the film. You'll come to see that Peter Jackson has a knack for leaving out the most crucial parts of the story.

Gildor presses the travellers onward through the night. They travel very fast and very far under his guidance, because he knows that five of the Nine are behind them and are hunting for the Ring. Finally they reach a tunnel and the last open mile before the Ford of Bruinen, where the road crosses the river Loudwater: this is the last stretch before Rivendell.

Frodo is now riding on Glorfindel's horse, Asfaloth. As they exit the tunnel the travellers are aware of horses behind them. Five Riders come hurling at them. At a word from Glorfindel the horse darts off, while the others hurry off the road. Asfaloth is madly galloping, and then the other four Riders appear from the side of the road near the River. Frodo, sure that he is about to be caught, closes his eyes, but the Elf's horse proves faster than those of the Nine. Frodo finds himself at the top of the further bank, with the Nine on the other side of the River. The Ringwraiths fear the water and do not advance yet.

Now we come to THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of Book I. It was naturally left out of the film, and that makes me very mad. WHY DID YOU DO THIS JACKSON? WHY DID YOU OMIT EVERY ONE OF THE BOOK'S MOST IMPORTANT PARTS?????

Quite frankly, it's very insulting as a fan of Tolkien's work, that he would even CONSIDER removing such and important piece of the story. I've translated some of it here:

“Suddenly the foremost Rider spurred his horse forward. It checked at the water and reared up. With a great effort Frodo sat upright and brandished his sword.
‘Go back!’ he cried. ‘Go back to the Land of Mordor, and follow me no more!’ His voice sounded thin and shrill in his own ears. The Riders halted, but Frodo had not the power of Bombadil. His enemies laughed at him with a harsh and chilling laughter. ‘Come back! Come back!’ they called. ‘To Mordor we will take you!’
‘Go back!’ he whispered.
‘The Ring! The Ring!’ they cried with deadly voices; and immediately their leader urged his horse forward into the water, followed closely by two others.
‘By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair,’ said Frodo with a last effort, lifting up his sword, ‘you shall have neither the Ring nor me!’”

This last line was bolded because it is easily the most powerful and important line in Book I of The Fellowship of the Ring. What follows in the book is this: the Lord of the Nazgul holds up his hand and Frodo’s Barrow sword is destroyed. This is when the flood is unleashed. It comes roaring down upon them as white riders on white horses, and consumes them.

After the first three are gone, Glorfindel leads the others up from behind with fire, and Frodo sees them “in the grey mist:” Frodo’s wound is drawing him into the world of the Ringwraiths. He now sees Glorfindel as he really is: a High Elf, shining dazzlingly bright amid the shadows of his companions. It is Glorfindel, High Elf of the West, his full might released in his fury, which sends the Ringwraiths into a mad panic. Their horses dart into the river in terror and are drowned. Frodo then falls off his horse and is knocked out, and thus ends Book I.

And what of all this happened in the movie? None of it! The most important part in all of Book I, and it was just omitted as if it were less important than the added scenes Peter Jackson threw in there. You know, Strider hitting Pippin in the head with an apple, Merry and Pippin stealing vegetables from Farmer Maggot and falling near a pile of shit, that sort of thing. Apparently there was time enough for those scenes, but the more important ones had to be omitted. How utterly insulting.

Well, I'll let you decide whether or not you agree. If you liked the movies but haven't read the books, I urge you to do so. If you liked the films even just a little bit, try the books out. They are infinitely better. I hope you will continue to read my little "rant reviews" and see for yourselves just why Peter Jackson's films are nothing more than overrated piles of garbage, and why I have come to loathe them.

[aerofan113]

Peter Jackson is a brilliant man. No other director in hollywood could have pulled of such an epic film in the manner that he did. He both did the books justice and even added an entirly new fanbas and brought to light the greatness of the books. Anytime you remake anything you want to do somethings your own way. I STILL hail Return of the King as the greatest movie of all time. That might be bacause the first time i ever got laid i was watching this movie with my girlfriend. Seriously though, The battle of Minias Tirith was just fucking awesome and I still get chills watching it. Its one of those films that makes you wanna play the vidoe game afterward and just live it. I enjoyed the movies more but I totally respect htose who liked the books more. I think the one thing that both partys have in common is that we both think that LOTR was more than worthy of all the hype it got.

[Cofey]

Aero, I do respect your opinion...but have you read the books? Of course there are other directors who could have done a better job. He himself could have done a much better job. That's my whole point: as great as you think the movies are, they had the potential to be a hundred times better.

As far as movies go, they were fantastic. That much I'll grant him; they were cinematic masterpieces. As far as transferring the story from book to movie goes, they were abyssmal.

Wait until I get to TTT. That was the worst of the trilogy. Jackson totally, completely, 100% fucked up the characters of Theoden and Faramir. It would have been better if he left Faramir out completely than make the changes he did. But that's for another day.

Btw, sorry if I seem angry at you, I'm really not. I just get kind of agitated when talking about this.

[Alpha Rioja]

As one who has read the books more than 20 times each including the histories of middle earth and the silmarillion as well as Biographies on tolkiens life I look at LOTR as more of a hobby than a past time. In this I agree with Gollum. The fact is Jackson could have done a better job and actually did scew the movies into a totally different perspective.
As movies they are excellent. Some of the best I have seen and it was done in epic proportions. However coming as one who considers the Tolkien Books as the line of absolute, I have to come to the conclusion that in fact Jackson did not do as good as he could have done in the movie. He cut out parts that needed to be there and even took the liberty as Gollum says to change the personality of some of the important characters. Faramir is an excellent example. He was supposed to be on who wanted to be as the "Kings of Old" making wise choices and acting upon them. He was no boromir ready to please his father, looking for his own gain. However the movie in fact switched the character of Boromir right on into the character of Faramir. In the eyes of an avid fan this would be unacceptable and at first viewing of the movie it left an unsatisfactory taste in my mouth. However like I said before I thoroughly enjoy the movies but I can only enjoy them as that. Only movies. Not as Tolkiens work of art but that of Jackson.
Congratulations to Jackson but more so congratulations to Tolkien.

[Greg]

IMO the Lord of the Rings is th best book to movie conversion I've seen. The movies don't do that great of a job but they still do really well.

[plebben]

I gotta say i only wish the could do a movie out of Silmarillion.
But i guess its too many stories and too many characters.
The mythologys is just so fucking awesome.

[Cofey]

^Yeah that would be pretty awesome. Of course they can't do the entire book, not in one movie, but they could do different parts of it. Like "Of Turin Turambar" or "Of Beren and Luthien." I think the story of Beren and the Silmaril would be awesome on screen.

[Cofey]

I don't know if anyone is bothering to read these, but it's something I have to do anyway, so I'm going to continue here with Book II. If you haven't seen the movies or read the books I should warn you that there are big spoilers here and in all of the posts that will follow.
I figured this would be easier if I break it down by chapter this time, so here we go.

Book II

Chapter 1: Many Meetings
Frodo awakes in Rivendell, and there meets Gandalf. Now in the book Gandalf left his long absence still unexplained until the Council of Elrond, so I’ll deal with that there. All Frodo knew for now was that Gandalf was held prisoner.

So Frodo got up and went to a great feast in the house of Elrond. There for the first time we are introduced to Arwen; Frodo sees her sitting at a table, and for three paragraphs Tolkien describes her beauty and queen-like appearance, and a very little of her history. And that’s all the mention of her for now. Frodo also meets Gloin at dinner and spends some time talking with him about the Lonely Mountain and Dale.

After dinner they go to the Hall of Fire, where Frodo meets Bilbo again. Now the dinner and the Hall of Fire were not in the movie, but that doesn’t bother me. What is a little irritating is that Jackson made another stupid change here, one that was unnecessary and made no difference in his movie: Bilbo tells Frodo in the Hall of Fire that he went back to Dale, then returned to live at Rivendell. But in the movie Bilbo never made it to Dale. I don’t know what the point of changing that was.

Chapter 2: The Council of Elrond
Peter Jackson made Elrond out to be a complete dickhead in the movie, which is totally unlike his character in the book. I also think Hugo Weaving was a bad choice to play the character, but that’s just personal opinion. At the Council, Frodo finally finds out why Gandalf had not returned to the Shire. There were slight changes made in the movie involving Gandalf’s visit to Isengard, but they can be overlooked. I would have liked to see “Saruman of Many Colours.” However I don’t mind the fight with Gandalf and Saruman or the breeding pits for the Uruk-hai because, while they weren’t mentioned in the book, they did add something to a relatively quiet part of the story. The one change that cannot be overlooked, though, is the palantir.

It wasn’t until the very end of Book III that we found out exactly how Mordor and Isengard were communicating. This riddle deliberately remained unanswered until after the overthrow of Saruman, and if done correctly would have appeared for the first time at the very end of Jackson’s second film. But instead he introduced it in the first, which was a critical mistake. I won’t go into any more detail here because this post is going to be long enough, but read the book if you want to find out more.

No let’s go back to the Council. The remainder of the Council was done very well I thought, aside from some bad acting by Mr. Weaving. Nothing more to say here.

Chapter 3: The Ring Goes South
In the beginning of chapter 3 Bilbo gives to Frodo his mithril armour and Sting. Very shortly afterwards the Fellowship leaves Rivendell, journeying south through Dunland towards Caradhras and the Redhorn Gate. Caradhras was done well with one exception: nowhere in any of the three books is the attack on Caradhras attributed to Saruman. Gimli mentions several times that it is the wrath of the mountain beating down upon them, and the Dark Lord is mentioned once also. These are the only possible explanations we are given. Saruman is nowhere mentioned here.

Also, after the defeat on Caradhras, it is Gandalf who suggests traveling through Moria, not Frodo. This is a very important detail, because as you know Gandalf fell into the chasm in Moria. But Gandalf brought this doom upon himself, and Frodo had nothing to do with the decision.

The attack by the wolves on the Company was also left out, much to my disappointment. I understand you can’t keep absolutely everything in a movie, but I would have liked to see it.

Chapter 4: A Journey in the Dark
Nothing really to complain about here. Some minor alterations again, but overall a good job.

Chapter 5: The Bridge of Khazad-dum
Only one alteration that I feel is worth mentioning here: the battle with the troll. It didn’t happen. The Company was assailed by orcs in the Chamber of Mazarbul, and there was a troll outside in the hallway, but it never attacked the company; Frodo stabbed it in the foot and it retreated. It was a giant Uruk that speared Frodo in the shoulder.

Chapter 6: Lothlorien
The assault by the orcs at night was left out, which I felt was pretty important. Also, the hill of Cerin Amroth was left out.

Chapter 7: The Mirror of Galadriel
Ok, Galadriel is another one of those characters that Jackson just utterly ruined. It’s one of those alterations that make me want to gouge my eyes out. She seemed so…I don’t know how to describe it…bitchy in the movie. Well maybe not bitchy, but a bit too evil, especially for the Queen of the Eldar in Middle Earth. The scene at the mirror where she turns into some kind of glowing beast thing, well that’s just downright awful. This is how that scene was supposed to go (Frodo speaks first):

“‘I will give you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for me.’
Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. ‘Wise the Lady Galadriel may be,’ she said, ‘yet here she ahs met her match in courtesy. Gently are you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting. You begin to see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer. For many long years I had pondered what I might do, should the Great Ring come into my hands, and behold! it was brought within my grasp. The evil that was devised long ago works on in many ways, whether Sauron himself stands or falls. Would not that have been a noble deed to set to the credit of his Ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest?
‘And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! IN place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!
She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
‘I pass the test,’ she said. ‘I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.’”

This is not the portrayal we see of her in the movie. Especially note the bolded part: for she laughed afterwards, and was “shrunken.” That’s important. She never really meant to take the Ring from Frodo, and she was able to master her desire and even laugh about it afterwards. In the movie we get the impression that she really will cave, and try to take the Ring from the Bearer. This goes against everything her character is supposed to represent. A terrible job PJ.

Chapter 8: Farewell to Lorien

In this chapter Celeborn and Galadriel bring gifts to each member of the company and set them off in the boats. Note for later purposes that this is where they receive their Elven cloaks and rope and the lembas. Also, Galadriel gives Sam a small box filled with earth from her garden. This plays an important part in the very end of Book VI.

Chapter 9: The Great River

This chapter just recounts the journey of the Fellowship down Anduin from Lorien to Rauros and Tol Brandir. This is when Aragorn confirms to Frodo that Gollum is indeed following the company. Frodo had suspected since Moria that this was so, but only now do we know for sure. Also, I must say that Peter Jackson did an excellent job on the Argonath. I was very pleased.

Chapter 10: The Breaking of the Fellowship

Ok, there are a few changes here that I want to discuss. Firstly, Aragorn laying out his plans in the movie to journey from the north down to Mordor. Where the fuck did Jackson come up with that? They hadn’t even decided whether they were going first to Mordor or Gondor yet. Aragorn did say this in the book however: that if Frodo decided to set out straight for Mordor, he would go himself with Frodo, Sam, and Gimli, and Legolas if he so desired. The others were to go to Minas Tirith with Boromir.

Aragorn never approached Frodo at the summit of Amon Hen, as in the movie. What happened is this: after Boromir tried to take the Ring, Frodo ran to the top. Note this, we’re coming back to it in a minute. When Boromir told the rest of the Company what happened, they all ran off: Gimli and Legolas together, Aragorn following Sam, and Boromir following Merry and Pippin. We’re coming back to this too, sorry for skipping around.

Ok, so after Frodo escaped from Boromir he ran to the top of Amon Hen, the Seat of Seeing. He looked all around the land, and everywhere saw the signs of war, and he began to despair. Then, still wearing the ring mind you, he beheld Barad-dur, far away in Mordor. At this point Sauron became aware of Frodo’s gaze and began searching for him eagerly. Just before Sauron had him pinned Frodo removed the ring; we find out later that Gandalf was there challenging Sauron and assisting Frodo. It was then that Frodo screwed himself up to go to Mordor; he had mastered his fears for now and knew the job must be done as quickly as may be. So he ran back to the lawn of Parth Galen where the boats and gear were.

Now when everyone ran off to look for Frodo, Aragorn went after Samwise. He overtook and passed Sam, then Sam stopped to think. He knew Frodo better than anyone, and soon realized that Frodo would try to slip off alone. He ran back to Parth Galen and found a boat slipping into the water by itself. This part was done well in the movie. The death of Boromir will be discussed in its proper place in Book III.

On the plus side for this chapter, the scene with Frodo and Boromir was done very well.

Thus ends The Fellowship of the Ring. Overall a decent job, although it could have been much, much better. It is however the best of the three in my opinion. I’ll have Book III up as soon as I can, but it may take a while as there will be a lot to say to the discredit of Mr. Jackson.

[Cofey]

Now I’ll start on The Two Towers. The title of the book refers to Orthanc, as all of the events of Book III deal with Isengard, and Minas Ithil, NOT Barad-dur. Book IV deals with Minas Ithil, and Tolkien himself said that these were The Two Towers. I don’t understand why Peter Jackson had to change that.

Book III

Chapter 1: The Departure of Boromir
In the beginning of this chapter we pick up with Aragorn again. He is running up to the summit of Amon Hen to sit in the Seat of Seeing. When he arrives he hears the horn of Boromir blowing in the woods below.
Aragorn finds Boromir lying beside a tree with many arrow wounds. His horn is cloven in two. Before Boromir dies he repents of his evil in trying to take the Ring and thus dies. Peter Jackson did an excellent job conveying this scene. The chapter ends with the funeral boat of Boromir departing over Rauros and the Three Hunters beginning their long chase over Rohan.

Chapter 2: The Riders of Rohan
Well, first of all I want to say the portrayal of Rohan in the movie was pretty bad. It looked like a huge jumbled field of hills and boulders. That’s not what Rohan is supposed to be like at all. Rohan, for the majority of the area the Three Hunters crossed, was a bare, flat plain. Further out in the fields were the river Entwash and a cluster of hills, but it certainly was no boulder field.
Nothing much to say until the approaching of the Riders. Now the Hunters had crossed about 135 miles in less than four days, traveling on foot, when at last they were aware of the Riders of Rohan. The meeting of the Hunters and Eomer was done fairly well, but Jackson (not surprisingly) left out the single most important part of that meeting:

“Aragorn threw back his cloak. The elven-sheath glittered as he grasped it, and the bright blade of Anduril shone like a sudden flame as he swept it out. ‘Elendil!’ he cried. ‘I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, Dunedan, the heir of Isildur Elendil’s son of Gondor. Here is the Sword that was Broken and is forged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!’”

Such powerful writing, and such an awesome scene. So why the fuck was it left out? I still can’t come up with a good answer, other than Peter Jackson is just plain ignorant.

Eomer gave to the Hunters two horses, Hasufel for Aragorn and Arod for Legolas and Gimli. They then rode to the eaves of the Forest of Fangorn, following the trail of the orcs, who under the shadows of the forest were destroyed by the Riders of Rohan. Finding no trace of the Hobbits in the gathering dusk, the Hunters made camp for the night and awaited the dawn.

At the end of this chapter PJ left out another important part: the encounter with Saruman. The Three Hunters met Saruman at the edge of Fangorn Forest, though he spoke no word to them, and vanished as quickly as he had appeared. We don’t know right away that it was indeed Saruman, although Gimli refused to accept any other explanation. Later we see that it might have been Gandalf, but Gandalf himself refutes this possibility.

Chapter 3: The Uruk-Hai
Here the book starts to jump around a bit. We’re now backtracking about four days to the death of Boromir again. We pick up here with an account of what happened to Merry and Pippin between that time and the time when the Hunters reach Fangorn. The most important thing to know going on from here is that as Pippin lay down while the orcs were fighting amongst themselves that first night, he was able to cut the bonds around his hands with the knife of his slain guard. He put them back on himself loosely so the orcs wouldn’t notice. Thus it was that he was able to escape with Merry after the Riders of Rohan besieged the orcs. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

During the run across Rohan Pippin managed to run out of the line of orcs to the side for only a split second. He was able to drop the brooch of his elven cloak on the grass then, for anyone to see who might be following. Thus when the Hunters passed by that spot they found a sign that one at least of the Hobbits still lived.

Now we come to the battle of the Riders and the orcs. The Riders had surrounded the orcs on the plane near to the eaves of the Forest. I won’t go into too much detail about the battle, but I will say that the orc guards became distracted when the Riders were harrying the outskirts of their camp, and left Merry and Pippin unwatched for a brief moment. In this moment an orc captain, Grishnakh, grabbed the Hobbits and ran off with them, hoping to keep whatever reward was to be given for himself. Long story short, he was killed by a Rider who didn’t see the Hobbits in their elven cloaks, and Merry and Pippin were able to escape into Fangorn.

Chapter 4: Treebeard
So Merry and Pippin made their way deeper into the Forest, and there they met Treebeard the Ent, the oldest living creature in the world. Treebeard then took them to one of his Enthouses – NOT to Gandalf. Merry and Pippin didn’t find out that Gandalf had returned until after the storming of Isengard. This is yet another one of those absolutely stupid changes made that makes no sense whatsoever. For if Treebeard and Gandalf had indeed met up, wouldn’t Gandalf had given him some sort of counsel? Wouldn’t they have made some plans together to aid in the approaching war with Isengard? It makes no sense whatsoever to put Gandalf in that scene. What the fuck were you thinking?

So anyway…..:realmad…..the next day Treebeard brought the Hobbits to Entmoot, a gathering of Ents. The moot lasted two or three days, in which time the Hobbits became acquainted with another ent named Bregalad, or Quickbeam in the common speech. Here is yet another extremely important bit that Jackson messed up (what’s the tally up to now on this horrible excuse for a movie?): TREEBEARD AND THE ENTS DECIDED RIGHT AWAY AND ON THEIR OWN THAT THEY WOULD STORM ISENGARD AND OVERTHROW SARUMAN. And I cannot stress that enough. In fact, they came to that decision rather hastily, for Ents. WHY OH WHY did PJ alter this at all?????? IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!! *takes a deep breath* Ok, I’ll try to calm down. But this really pisses me off. This was so important in so many fundamental ways, not the least of which was the very defining of the character of Treebeard and the entire race of the Ents. Treebeard was done so well in this movie up until that point. Peter Jackson utterly ruined a character that was very dear to me, and one that I was fonder of than many others that arguably had more important roles in the novel.

bleh

Chapter 5: The White Rider
While the Entmoot was going on the Three Hunters came to the very shelf in the wood where Merry and Pippin had met Treebeard. Here the Hunters also met a new friend: Gandalf the White, returned from death, sent back to aid Middle-Earth until the War of the Ring was over, for good or ill. I guess there’s nothing worth complaining about in this chapter. Gandalf gave the Hunters tidings of Merry and Pippin, and led them out of Fangorn and over the fields of Rohan towards Meduseld.

Chapter 6: The King of the Golden Hall
I feel another wave of anger coming on….bear with me here people. In the early morning Gandalf and the Hunters rode up to Edoras, the chief city of Rohan, where was Meduseld, the dwelling of King Theoden. All went well enough until they reached the door of Meduseld. Then Jackson managed to brutally maim another wonderful and important character, and utterly destroy another chapter of Tolkien’s novel.

First of all, and I don’t want to dwell on this but just mention it, the overall appearance of the Golden Hall was terrible. Way to not even try buddy. Inside of Meduseld there were no knights or guards; the companions met only Theoden and his niece Eowyn, and the King’s counselor Grima Wormtongue. There was no fight in Meduseld, and to even think of such a thing happening is absolutely absurd. Again: WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING??????????????? WON’T SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH THIS MAN’S HEAD WHEN HE WROTE THIS ABYSSMAL SCREENPLAY?????

Ok, now on to Theoden. *warning: anger level reaching highly critical levels* I will pay the sum of $100 million to every single person who shows me where in the The Two Towers it said that Theoden was a possessed old hag with pale sickly skin and a ragged old beard, and some fucking wizard in his head, who can barely fucking speak….GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I FUCKING HATE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Upon [the dais in the middle of the hall] sat a man so bent with age that he seemed almost a dwarf; but his white hair was long and thick and fell in great braids from beneath a thin golden circlet set upon his brow. In the centre upon his forehead shone a single white diamond. His beard was laid like snow upon his knees; but his eyes still burned with a bright light, glinting as he gazed at the strangers.”

A little further on:

“Slowly the old man rose to his feet, leaning heavily upon a short black staff with a handle of white bone; and now the strangers saw that, bent though he was, he was still tall and must in youth have been high and proud indeed.”

Let’s talk about this a bit shall we? Good. A man so bent with age. Bent with age, hmmm…but not with fucking possession and sickness, he was fucking old!!!!! Or at least, he had aged prematurely from lying idle for so long.
His hair was thick and fell in braids like snow upon his lap. It wasn’t scanty and grey like some old bum on the street corners of New York fucking City!!!
They saw he was still tall and must have been very proud and high in his youth. Do you get that AT ALL from Jackson’s steaming pile of fly infested horse shit….I mean movie!? Please, please please please somebody tell me that you’re starting to understand why I can’t watch these movies anymore. I get scolded for putting down the movies, and you seem to all think that he did a great book to movie translation (after all, he won the Oscar for it and we all know that means it must be true). But now do you at least begin to understand why I detest them so much??? Please somebody say yes.

Theoden’s character was so unbelievably and so totally destroyed in this one scene alone (and in others to follow, although not so much as here perhaps). The words of Wormtongue indeed brought evil upon the old man, and may have helped in the premature aging, but he was not under any circumstances being possessed. He was fully and completely aware of everything that was going on, only his counsel reflected the advice of Wormtongue, which came from Saruman, rather than his own wisdom.

“…[Theoden] looked at Gandalf and smiled and as he did so many lines of care were smoothed away and did not return.”

Wait a minute…I thought Gandalf magically cast Saruman out of Theoden’s body to heal him? You mean that was all complete and utter bullshit? Oh wow. Who’d have thought it?

Boy, I forgot how much Jackson really dicked this chapter over. Here’s yet another horrible mistake. THEODEN DID NOT SHUN THE IDEA OF GOING TO WAR, INDEED HE COUNSELED THAT THE ROHIRRIM SHOULD RIDE TO OPEN WAR AT THE FORDS OF ISEN. In the movie, it took all of Aragorn’s and Gandalf’s convincing to make the pile of shit that was supposed to be Theoden ride out to war. Another trait that goes COMPLETELY against what the actual character was like.

So in the book, Theoden left Eowyn in charge of all that wouldn’t ride to war, mostly the women and children and old. They journeyed to their hidden refuge and Dunharrow. The rest of the Rohirrim, along with Gandalf (to whom Theoden had now freely given Shadowfax) and the Three Hunters, and Theoden himself, rode off to war. Wormtongue had fled over the plains after Theoden was healed.

Chapter 7: Helm’s Deep
The riders rode towards the Fords of Isen, meeting NO CHALLENGE on the way. That whole scene with the wolf and with the loss of Aragorn was total bullshit (big surprise). And the wargs looked fucking terrible. They were WOLVES, not weird looking dogs with pig-like noses. Peter Jackson, WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING???

As the host approached Helm’s Deep, they found that the battle at the Fords was already going ill and all who could were fleeing to the Deep. So the host turned aside at dusk and made their way towards the fortress. Why in the movie did Aragorn think it a bad idea to go to Helm’s Deep? I think he said something along the lines of “They flee to the hills when they should ride out to war.” Aragorn never said any such thing in the book. He knew that if they rode out to open war they would have been crushed.

A quick note: there were indeed women and children in the Glittering Caves of Aglarond behind the Deep, but they were mostly folk of the Westfold; for as I’ve already said the people of Edoras were safe in Dunharrow and DID NOT MAKE THE JOURNEY TO HELM’S DEEP.

It is also important to note that Gandalf rode off towards the Fords before the host reached the Deep, that Eomer was already with Theoden when they reached the fortress, and so was Aragorn, and that Gandalf went simply to help in the battle at the Fords, not to retrieve Eomer, because he was already fucking there. Also, contrary to the character in the movie, Theoden NEVER EVER EVER spoke ANY words of contempt or anger towards Gondor, and spoke ALWAYS of riding to the aid of Minas Tirith as soon as his own lands were clear. It doesn’t make sense. WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING???

The battle of Helm’s Deep went well enough I suppose. Nothing worth complaining about, just stupid added things that made little difference and were placed in the film more for effect than anything else.

By dawn the battle was going ill for Rohan, so Theoden and Aragorn rode out from the Hornburg with a host of men, trampling and slaying all in their path. At that very moment they all noticed for the first time that a forest had appeared on the other side of the armies of Isengard, blocking out part of their escape. The other way of escape was blocked by Gandalf, who in that very hour returned with Erkenbrand, a captain of the Rohirrim, and another host of men. Trapped between to hosts of enemies and having nothing else to do, the orcs all fled into the forest, and not one of them ever left it alive. The men of Dunland that remained gave themselves up to their enemies.

Chapter 8: The Road to Isengard
After the Battle of Helm’s Deep was one, Gandalf and Theoden led a host of 20 riders, along with Eomer, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, westwards towards Isengard. The movie ended right after Helm’s Deep, and the entire trip to Isengard was left out. It was added in the beginning of The Return of the King, but as usual it was done very poorly.

However, nothing really too important happens in this chapter. The host comes to Isengard, and there they find the place completely laid waste, and Merry and Pippin sitting on a pile of rubble at the door. The Hunters go to talk with the Hobbits while Gandalf and the rest of the host ride around to the north end of Isengard to take counsel with Treebeard.

Chapter 9: Flotsam and Jetsam
This chapter wasn’t technically in the movie, but it can be forgiven, because it basically was in the movie. I know that doesn’t make any sense. Ok, well the Three Hunters spend time talking with the Hobbits of all that had happened to each since the Fellowship was broken at Parth Galen. Since we already know all this anyway, its omission isn’t that big of a deal.

In this chapter Merry and Pippin also reveal what happened between the Entmoot and that morning, which Jackson showed in the film as it was actually happening rather than as a flashback. I suppose for cinema this is ok, but you must realize that as the host of riders approached Isengard, they didn’t know what was going to happen. They had no clue whatsoever, and neither does the reader until now, that Isengard was destroyed. This is also the same reason that Tolkien backtracked to Merry and Pippin’s journey with the orcs after the Hunters had already crossed Rohan: he wants to leave the reader with a few mysteries and surprises, and that can really only be done by the use of flashbacks. In any event, for not having flashbacks in the film I forgive him.

And I’d just like to say that the storming of Isengard was one scene in the movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was supposed to occur at night, and there were a few slight omissions, but overall a job very well done. Also worth noting is that after Isengard was destroyed Wormtongue returned and entered the tower by leave of Treebeard.

Chapter 10: The Voice of Saruman
If you haven’t seen the extended version of The Return of the King, then you haven’t seen this scene….but in all honesty, you’re better off. This was without a doubt the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT part of all of The Two Towers. Isn’t it funny how he ALWAYS manages to screw up the most important parts? It’s a bit funny. And it’s very angering.

Again, I’m going to try to only go into as much detail as is needed to convey my point, other wise this thing would be a novel in and of itself. After Gandalf had spoken to Treebeard and all were refreshed, the host of the Rohirrim and the remainder of the Fellowship met up again and journeyed to the front door of Orthanc. There Gandalf went forward, along with Aragorn, Merry and Pippin, Gimli, and Legolas, so that all of the Free Peoples were represented at the parley. Theoden and Eomer also came, because Saruman had obviously caused them many damages and grievances.

In the book Saruman still wore his many-coloured cloak, if you remember me mentioning it at the Council of Elrond in Book II. His voice had a magical power, and all who heard it, save the very wise or strong of heart, were swayed by it, and longed to do as it said. So the Riders at several points in the conversation with Saruman almost gave in. But Theoden, Eomer, Aragorn, and of course Gandalf were not deceived. So after some bitter words with the King Saruman turned towards Gandalf.

In the movie Saruman was standing all the way at the top of Orthanc, but in the book he was only a little way above on a balcony. I’d like to relay some of the conversation between Saruman and Gandalf, because as I said it is the most important part of The Two Towers without question, and because Peter Jackson did a terrible job of portraying the whole mood of the scene. Here Saruman speaks first:

“‘Are we not both members of a high and ancient order, most excellent in Middle-earth? Our friendship would profit us both alike. Much we could still accomplish together, to heal the disorders of the world. Let us understand one another, and dismiss from thought these lesser folk! Let them wait on our decisions! For the common good I am willing to redress the past, and to receive you. Will you not consult with me? Will you not come up?’”

Here the Riders almost despair, thinking Gandalf will abandon them.

“Then Gandalf laughed. The fantasy vanished like a puff of smoke.
‘Saruman, Saruman!’ said Gandalf still laughing. ‘Saruman, you missed your path in life. You should have been the king’s jester and earned your bread, and stripes too, by mimicking his counsellors. Ah me!’ he paused, getting the better of his mirth. ‘Understand one another? I fear I am beyond your comprehension . But you, Saruman, I understand now too well…..Will you not come down?’”

Here Saruman grows angry, but Gandalf gives him a last chance to repent. He asks Saruman to surrender the keys of Orthanc, and his staff, to be returned later if his behavior merits them.

“Saruman’s face grew livid, twisted with rage, and a red light was kindled in his eyes. He laughed wildly. ‘Later!’ he cried, and his voice rose to a scream. ‘Later! Yes, when you also have the Keys of Barad-dur itself, I suppose; and the crowns of seven kings, and the rods of the Five Wizards, and have purchased yourself a pair of boots many sizes larger than those that you wear now. A modest plan. Hardly one in which my help is needed! I have other things to do. Do not be a fool. If you wish to treat with me, while you have a chance, go away, and come back when you are sober! And leave behind these cut-throats and small rag-tag that dangle at your tail! Good day!’ He turned and swiftly left the balcony.
‘Come back Saruman!’ said Gandalf in a commanding voice. To the amazement of the others, Saruman turned again, and as if dragged against his will, he came slowly back to the iron rail, leaning on it, breathing hard. His face was lined and shrunken. His hand clutched his heavy black staff like a claw.
‘I did not give you leave to go,’ said Gandalf sternly. ‘I have not finished. You have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable. You might still have turned away from folly and evil, and have been of service. But you choose to stay and gnaw the ends of your old plots. Stay then! But I warn you, you will not easily come out again. Not unless the dark hands of the East stretch out to take you. Saruman!’ he cried, and his voice grew in power and authority. ‘Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.’
He raised his hand and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice. ‘Saruman, your staff is broken.’ There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman’s hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf’s feet. ‘Go!’ said Gandalf. With a cry Saruman fell back and crawled away.”

I’ve read that part too many times to count, and it still give me chills every fucking time. That’s amazing writing right there. Gandalf reveals some of his power and authority now, and has complete control over Saruman. It’s fucking brilliant, that’s what it is. At this, Wormtongue throws down a glass globe from a higher window, which hits the rail of the balcony and crashes down the stair. Pippin picks it up just before it rolls into a pool and brings it to Gandalf. Saruman, contrary to what happens in the movie, does NOT die here, but retreats back into Orthanc, utterly defeated. The host departs from Isengard, and Treebeard promises that the Ents will watch over Saruman and Isengard. This turns out to be very important later, but little is said of what I am referring to even in the novel. We’ll come back to it in The Return of the King.

[i]Chapter 11: The Palantir
The plan as of right now is for the host to ride back to Helm’s Deep and rest for a day, then ride to Edoras for the Muster of Rohan. Oh yeah, I should’ve mentioned this earlier: before leaving Meduseld Theoden ordered a muster to meet several nights later. While his army was fighting in the Deep and treating with Saruman, many other folk of the country came to the muster at Edoras. We’ll return to that in The Return of the King.

At nighttime they made their camp. Pippin was itching for another look in the glass globe that he had picked up at Isengard. He sneaked over to Gandalf as he lay asleep and replaced the globe that he was touching with a stone. Then he went away and looked into it.

Suddenly he gave a loud cry and woke the whole camp. It is only now, at this very moment, that Gandalf became sure that the globe was indeed one of the palantiri, the seeing stones of Numenor, given to the Numenoreans by the elves of Valinor in the Second Age. It is at this point that we finally find out just how Isengard was communicating with Barad-dur. In the movies we knew in The Fellowship of the Ring – again, a stupid change that didn’t make any sense.

So anyway, here’s the passage in which Pippin describes what he saw in the palantir; note there is no mention of Minas Tirith or the White Tree in his description, contrary to Jackson’s film:

“‘I saw a dark sky, and tall battlements,’ he said. ‘And tiny stars. It seemed very far away and long ago, yet hard and clear. Then the stars went in and out – they were cut off by things with wings. Very big, I think, really; but in the glass they looked like bats wheeling round the tower. I thought there were nine of them. One began to fly straight towards me, getting bigger and bigger. It had a horrible – no, no! I can’t say.
‘I tried to get away, because I thought it would fly out; but when it had covered all the globe, it disappeared. Then he came. He did not speak so that I could hear words. He just looked, and I understood.
‘“So you have come back? Why have you neglected to report for so long?”
‘I did not answer. He said: “Who are you?” I still did not answer, but it hurt me horribly; and he pressed me, so I said: “A hobbit.”
‘Then suddenly he seemed to see me, and he laughed at me. It was cruel. It was like being stabbed with knives. I struggled. But he said: “Wait a moment! We shall meet again soon. Tell Saruman that this dainty is not for him. I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Sa just that!”
‘Then he gloated over me. I felt I was falling to pieces. No, no! I can’t say any more. I don’t remember anything else.’”

The tower he described is, of course, Barad-dur, and He referred to Sauron. Here we are presented with our first proof that Sauron is a physical being, not a giant flaming eyeball. We’ll get one more a little later on. Nowhere in any of the books does it say anything about a gigantic fireball on top of the Barad-dur. Sauron was of the same order as Gandalf and Saruman, and like them could take a physical body, though he was no longer fair to look upon.

Here ends Book III. I have finals for the next week and a half, so I don't know when I'll get around to Book IV.

[Crow]

the books where better than the films, not to say the films weren't great though....but there's so much more to the books

[Vishus]

Was there even such a thing as a movie better than the book? Its a joke to ask such a thing. Also since it is a movie it makes sense not to add everything and not to do things the way it was in the book.

[Cofey]

^That's true Vishus, but only to a certain extent. Have you read my comparisons? There are so many scenes and characterizations that are fundamental to the entire mood and plot of the story that Jackson screwed around with. Making book to movie alterations in unavoidable, and some of them I don't mind, as I have stated above. But some are just unforgivable as far as the story goes.

Read what I wrote about Theoden. Almost everything Theoden does in the movie is a complete contradiction of the way he acts in the book. His entire personality was changed. That's a huge deal. That's not a standard modification made to spice the movie up a bit - it's called defeating the sole purpose of the character's existence. This is true to a far greater extent with the character of Faramir, which I will cover in the next segment.

And those are just two character examples. There were so many modifications made to such fundamental story elements, it just defeats the whole purpose of even including them.

[Cofey]

Before I begin this next segment I want to spend some time talking about Gollum, as he plays a very important part in this book. Gollum is my favorite character in The Lord of the Rings (if you couldn’t tell by my username). This may seem like an odd choice but it’s not without reason. Actually I first fell in love with him as a child watching the animated Rankin & Bass version of The Hobbit…I thought he was a really cool creature.

But it goes beyond that. His character is very unique. The entire time he tracks the Company from Moria on, his sole intent is to reclaim the Ring. But after his taming by Frodo, a real change does come upon him. He starts to revert back into his true self, Sméagol. He never makes it all the way, but he comes very, very close. And he has a great love and respect for Frodo that isn’t so apparent watching the films. Of course, part of him hates Frodo as the bearer of the Precious, which he is always trying to win back, but Frodo is the first person in all of Gollum’s miserable life who has shown him real love and mercy.

Frodo is the first person Gollum has ever met who understands somewhat of the torture he is put through every second of every day. Frodo is the reason Gollum almost repents even at the very end of his wicked plans. There was never much hope of his cure, but Frodo always saw the little hope there was and ran with it…he wouldn’t give up on Gollum. Frodo knew, being the Ring-bearer, that to give up on Gollum would be to give up on himself. And although he loathed Gollum, he pitied him very much, and I think was fond of him in his own way. It is a very curious, but very important relationship.

Book IV

Chapter 1: The Taming of Sméagol
We flashback to a couple of days after the breaking of the Fellowship. Book IV follows Frodo and Sam from the bare hills of the Emyn Muil, over the Dead Marshes to the Black Gate, and then on to Cirith Ungol, the Spider’s Pass.

In the beginning Frodo and Sam are lost in the hills and keep going in circles…although they are slowly and steadily making their way eastward. After some difficulty the climb down a cliff using a coil of Elven rope that Sam brought from the boats. At one point, a Nazgul flies overhead and Frodo loses his vision, and when the rope is dropped in front of him he regains it…this just shows some of the power of the Elves. I think it’s a cool scene.

They reach the bottom of the cliff and are nearing the edges of the Emyn Muil, but cannot find a passage out because of a long trench barring their way. So they start walking along between the feet of the hills they just left and the trench. At night they see Gollum climbing down a wall headfirst, and spider-like as the book says (Gollum is compared to a spider on a couple of different occasions throughout the book, as well as a frog because of the way he leaps and swims). This spider reference can be viewed as a sort of foreshadowing of the incident with Shelob…but there I’m getting ahead of myself.

Long story short they tame Gollum, who swears by the Ring never to let the Enemy get the Precious, and to serve the Master of the Precious faithfully. Here Gollum starts to become more docile, speaking more properly, saying “I” instead of “we” and ceasing to say “gollum” for a while. This is an important change: Frodo was able to master the vile creature. Frodo is the only one (aside from Bilbo) who truly understands something of Gollum’s mind. Gollum hates the Ring, as Gandalf told Frodo long ago, but he is drawn to it. He is a miserably, pitiable creature. His uncontrollable lust for the Ring will conquer even his worst fears, and will lead him to betrayal. A very important bit of foreshadowing here (Frodo is speaking):

“One Ring to rule them all and in the Darkness bind them.

Would you commit your promise to that, Sméagol? It will hold you. But it is more treacherous than you are. It may twist your words. Beware!”

So Gollum leads them off by night (he will not willingly walk by the light of sun or moon), over the trench by a “secret” way he knows, and out into the marshes beyond.

Chapter 2: The Passage of the Marshes
In the beginning of this chapter Frodo and Sam are, for the first time, left totally at the will of Gollum, and for the first time Gollum proves himself to them. Sam let Frodo sleep during the day while he watched, but unable to keep awake himself he dozed off as well. Gollum proved true here by not attempting to seize the Ring or cause any harm to the hobbits while they slept. This is pretty important and I feel it should have been shown in the film.

Other than that there really isn’t much to mention about this journey, other than Gollum faithfully leading the hobbits across the Dead Marshes without betraying them. Two or three times a Nazgul passes overhead as well, which greatly scares Gollum, so that he won’t move until Frodo commands him angrily.

After the Marshes comes the desert that lies in front of the Gates of Mordor. It is a grey, dry, barren land, filled with ash and slag, the “vomit of the earth” I believe is the phrase Tolkien uses. Here there is an extremely important scene which SURPRISE! Jackson left out of his movie (there was a scene similar to the original but it didn’t really capture the feeling of it, and was portrayed as rather comical, which isn’t really right…also, he left it till Ithilien for some reason).

Sam wakens to see Gollum sitting over Frodo, who is asleep. Gollum is holding a debate with Sméagol. Gollum is getting very anxious, because every step closer to Mordor increases the risk of the Enemy reclaiming the Ring, something Gollum swore to never let happen. Note that, although Tolkien doesn’t say so until after the debate is over, every time Gollum speaks a green light gleams in his eyes, and his hand stretches out to grab Frodo. Every time Sméagol speaks, his arm jerks back and the green light turned to a pale light. Here also we see something of Sméagol’s love for Frodo that I mentioned in the beginning. Sméagol speaks first:

“‘Sméagol promised,’ said the first thought.
‘Yes, yes precious,’ came the answer, ‘we promised: to save our Precious, not to let Him have it – never. But it’s going to Him, yes, nearer every step. What’s the hobbit going to do with it, we wonders, yes we wonders.’
‘I don’t know. I can’t help it. Master’s got it. Sméagol promised to help the master.’
‘Yes, yes, to help the master: the master of the Precious. But if we was master, then we could help ourselfs, yes, and still keep promises.’
‘But Sméagol said he would be very very good. Nice hobbit! He took cruel rope off Sméagol’s leg. He speaks nicely to me.’
‘Very very good, eh my precious? Let’s be good, good as fish, sweet one, but to ourselfs. Not hurt the nice hobbit, of course, no, no.’
‘But the precious holds the promise,’ the voice of Sméagol objected.
‘Then take it,’ said the other, ‘and let’s hold it ourselfs! Then we shall be master, gollum! Make the other hobbit, the nasty suspicious hobbit, make him crawl, yes, gollum!’
‘But not the nice hobbit?’
‘Oh no, not if it doesn’t please us. Still he’s a Baggins, my precious, yes, a Baggins. A Baggins stole it. He found it and he said nothing, nothing. We hates Bagginses.’
‘No, not this Baggins.’
‘Yes, every Baggins. All peoples that keep the Precious. We must have it!’
‘But He’ll see, He’ll know. He’ll take it from us!’
‘He sees. He knows. He heard us make silly promises – against His orders, yes. Must take it. The Wraiths are searching. Must take it.’
‘Not for Him!’
‘No sweet one. See my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Sméagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the Sea. Most Precious Gollum! Must have it. We wants it, we wants it, we wants it!’
‘But there’s two of them. They’ll wake too quick and kill us,’ whined Sméagol in a last effort. ‘Not now. Not yet.’
‘We wants it! But’ – and here there was a long pause, as if a new thought had wakened. ‘Not yet eh? Perhaps not. She might help. She might, yes.’
‘No, no! Not that way!’ wailed Sméagol.
‘Yes! We wants it! We wants it!’”

Here Gollum gets the upper hand and reaches out with both arms to strangle Frodo. Sam pretends to wake up at this point (he had heard the whole debate), but keeps secret everything he heard from both Gollum and Frodo. “Him” obviously refers to the Dark Lord as Sam rightly guesses, but he doesn’t know who “She” is. Gollum now has his plan ready. He thinks he has a way to get the Precious back without breaking his promise, for he won’t be the one to hurt the Master. But once the Master is dead, he’ll take the Ring from his leftover bones and garments. Sméagol doesn’t want Frodo to die, but the lust of Gollum is too overpowering for his weak will.

Chapter 3: The Black Gate is Closed
In only a short time later the travelers reached the Morannon, the Black Gate that is the main entrance to Mordor. It consists of an enormous wall with two lesser gates on the sides and one greater gate in the middle. On either end of the wall was a tower, the Towers of the Teeth, also called the Teeth of Mordor. It doesn’t take them long to see that there is no hope this way. As Tolkien put it, “Nobody could pass through the Teeth of Mordor and not feel their bite.” Although they could not be seen, there were countless guards of orcs and who knows what else lying just inside the wall.

The Towers of the Teeth and the Black Gate, like many other towers and structures now under the control of Sauron, were built by the men of old Gondor after Sauron’s first overthrow in the Second Age. Their purpose was to be watchtowers over the land of Mordor, to prevent if possible the return or escape of any of the Enemy’s servants, and to have full warning if Sauron himself should attempt to return. After long years of war and toil however, they were abandoned and eventually taken by Sauron’s forces. Other structures mentioned that suffered the same fate include Cirith Ungol, and Minas Ithil, the sister city of Minas Anor (Minas Tirith), that later became known as Minas Morgul.

When it becomes obvious that Frodo still intends to enter Mordor (and this is after all the only way in that Frodo knows of), Gollum tells them of a secret path he once knew, over the Mountains of Shadow that guarded the eastern borders of Mordor. He admits it may be watched, but says their hopes of entering Mordor are much greater by this “secret road.” Frodo agrees to follow Gollum, although Sam is plainly very upset by this. That Frodo trusts Gollum here is very important. Frodo sees hope for this creature, however small. Gollum led them faithfully through the marshes, and on more than one occasion both Frodo and Sam slept together, and Gollum had not hurt them. Frodo doesn’t entirely trust Gollum, but he’s beginning to more and more. Sam still doesn’t mention the debate in the dead lands, where Gollum almost strangled Frodo.

Chapter 4: Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Here we are approaching one of the major crimes of Peter Jackson’s films – the brutal destruction of the character of Faramir. The travelers journey south from the Black Gate towards the land of Ithilien, on the borders of the Mountains of Shadow (Ephel Duath). There they camp during the day, and Sam decides to cook a proper meal. He has Sméagol catch him some rabbits and makes a stew. The cooking fire catches on some dead plants and starts smoking. Suddenly Sam and Frodo are surrounded by four men who saw the fire. Gollum is nowhere to be found. The leader of the men reveals himself as Faramir, captain of Gondor. The men of Ithilien are waiting to ambush a group of Haradrim marching up the road to swell the might of Mordor.

After the skirmish the men of Gondor are victorious; and to Sam’s delight he got to see an Oliphaunt (also called a mumak by the men of Gondor, plural mumakil) a creature out of Shire stories. Sam goes back to sleep, under the guard of Mablung and Damrod of Gondor.

Chapter 5: The Window on the West
When he awakes, he is in a ring of men, and Frodo is conversing with Faramir in the middle, as if on trial. Here Faramir reveals that he is the brother of Boromir, and tells Frodo that Boromir has been found dead floating down Anduin. Frodo proves he was a friend of Boromir when he recalls for Faramir that Boromir carried a horn with him, and so he gains Faramir’s trust. At the news of Boromir’s death however, Frodo is filled with dread, thinking that if such a valiant and strong man were killed, the rest of the Company surely was destroyed. Faramir kills that fear however; for if they were all dead, who arranged Boromir in the funeral boat? Of course, we already know what befell the rest of the Fellowship at this point.

I will not recall the rest of the debate between Frodo and Faramir, for it would be long. But I must make note of something here. Faramir always leaves the matter of the Ring alone. Of course, he doesn’t know about the Ring, but he suspects Frodo is carrying some dangerous heirloom. He is at NO POINT tempted to take it from Frodo or hinder Frodo’s journey. He only offers help and protection.

Jackson’s depiction of Faramir goes totally and completely against the grain of the true character. Faramir would NEVER attempt to seize the Ring from Frodo, and as for kidnapping him….WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!?!?!?!?!? Jackson utterly defeated the purpose of one of the most important characters in the novel. Faramir was never looking for power and honor for himself. Rather he was like the men of Numenor, looking for the glory of his city to be returned and a life of peace. Being wise, he knew that that could not be attained unless through war, but he did not wish for war nor even like it at all. The changes Jackson made to the character of Faramir make less than no sense. They detract from the story rather than add to it. He ruined the entirety of Book IV from this point onwards. It would have been better if he left Faramir out altogether, and had Frodo and Sam go straight from the Black Gate to Minas Morgul. This is undoubtedly the worst change he made to the story. How dare you do this to Tolkien’s masterpiece?

*Sigh* Faramir has Frodo and Sam blindfolded, and leads them to a secret cave called Henneth Annun. There he learns the truth of Frodo’s quest, but DOES NOT SUCCUMB TO THE DESIRE OF THE RING!!!!!! He let’s Frodo be.
“Not if I found it on the highway would I take it.” Faramir did not wish for such victories, as I have said above. HE DID NOT FUCKING KIDNAP FRODO!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK MAN????????????

Here also Faramir learns that Gollum is under Frodo’s care, and that Gollum had borne the Ring himself. This of course amazes Faramir, to think such a wretched creature could have possessed so great and mighty an heirloom of legend.

Chapter 6:The Forbidden Pool
Sam wakes in the middle of the night to see Frodo following Faramir out of the cave. They are the only ones awake in the cave. Sam follows them up the stairs and discovers from the talk that Gollum has come to Henneth Annun, to the Forbidden Pool, and his penalty is death. But Frodo convinces Faramir that it would be unjust to shoot him, and reminds Faramir that Gollum is under Frodo’s care. Faramir allows Frodo to go down to Gollum. Frodo feels somewhat wretched himself, because he’s leading Gollum into a trap. Frodo knows it’s the only way to save Gollum’s life, but Gollum doesn’t know that. Again, Frodo feels pity for the creature. I can’t repeat enough how important this is.

Faramir’s men capture Gollum, and Frodo takes him under his care. For punishment, Faramir says that Gollum may travel through Ithilien with Frodo, but if he’s ever found there alone he will be killed. Also, he lays this curse on Gollum: that if he should ever be unfaithful to his master, death shall find him swiftly.

It is here that Gollum finally reveals the name of the pass he is leading Frodo and Sam to. Its name is Cirith Ungol, which in the common speech means the Spider’s Pass. Faramir warns Frodo strongly against this path and against Gollum, though he has never heard of Cirith Ungol himself before now.

Chapter 7: Journey to the Cross-Roads
Faramir provided Frodo and Sam with more food: some dried fruit and bread, and salted meat. He also gave to them iron-shod walking sticks for their journey. Frodo again shows affection for Gollum in the beginning of this chapter. Faramir decrees that Frodo and Sam can walk without blindfolds, but Gollum cannot. To show that there is no harm meant, Frodo decides all three will walk blindfold, and Frodo’s eyes are bound first.

They are led further into Ithilien, and Faramir leaves them in Gollum’s care once again. Note that the scene in Osgiliath never happened! You know why? Because Faramir never kidnapped Frodo! And to have Frodo actually OFFERING the Ring to the Nazgul!? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING? Frodo would NEVER have done that. NO Ringbearer would. That goes completely against everything we know about the Ring’s corruptive and lustful power. We already know what would happen if Frodo were confronted by a Nazgul…..BECAUSE IT HAPPENED BACK ON WEATHERTOP! Frodo slipped the Ring on and attacked the Ringwraith for trying to steal the Ring from him. It just doesn’t make any fucking sense.

PETER JACKSON DID A HUGE DISSERVICE TO TOLKIEN’S BOOKS BY EDITING IN SOMETHING THAT COULD NEVER HAVE POSSILBY HAPPENED IN TOLKIEN’S WORLD.

Good job buddy.

So…..now Gollum led the hobbits to the Cross-Roads. During their journey thence in Ithilien, the Great Darkness began: another HUGELY important part of the novel that was completely left out of the movies. WHY!?!?!?!?!?!? Ugh…so during the Darkness, everything was…..well dark. Sauron sent vast fumes and smokes into the sky from Orodruin (Mount Doom), and covered all the southern lands of Middle Earth with them.

Jackson also left out the headless statue of the king, but that doesn’t surprise me. He seems to miss every really significant and important detail, dwelling on less important events and making up his own that detract from the story.

Chapter 8: The Stairs of Cirith Ungol
I’m going to try to be as brief as I can in finishing up, because I’ve already delayed the posting of this long enough. The rest of The Two Towers from here on out was omitted from the movie and added to The Return of the King, so keep that in mind as you’re reading this.

The hobbits and Gollum reach Minas Morgul, and no huge green pillar of light shot into the sky except in Peter Jackson’s mind. They began climbing the mountains on the north side of the valley when the Morgul host issued forth from the gates of the Tower or Sorcery.

They continue their journey up two very long flights of steep stairs, and rest before attempting the cave that lies ahead.

Note: At NO POINT did Frodo EVER leave Samwise. WHAT THE FUCK????? WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE MOTHER FUCK!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? !?!?!?!?!?!?!? WHY DID HE HAVE FRODO TELL SAM TO GO HOME????? FRODO WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!! AND WHY DID SAM ACTUALLY LISTEN???? SAM WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!!! Remember at the very end of Book II when Frodo was leaving the company, and Sam nearly drowned himself trying to follow Frodo without a boat? DO YOU THINK NOW THAT HE WAS ON THE VERY SHOULDERS OF THE MOUNTAINS OF SHADOW THAT HE WOULD ABANDON FRODO?????? FUCK NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now we have come to one of my favorite, yet one of the saddest parts of the novel. It is also one of the most important parts of the whole novel, which you’ll understand after reading it. Being one of the most important parts, it was naturally left out of the movies.

What to know when reading this: Gollum had disappeared for a while, and the hobbits fell asleep together, with Frodo’s head in Sam’s lap. What we find out a little later, but you should probably know now, is that Gollum has visited Shelob while he was away, to finalize his plan. He is going to betray Frodo, but keep his promise by allowing Shelob to do the hurting while he waits for the Ring to be tossed aside with the clothes and bones. In this scene, Gollum comes just a hair away from repenting. His love for Frodo, even at the very moment he’s been scheming and planning for, almost turns him wholly over to good and repentance. It is a very, very sad scene.

“And so Gollum found them hours later, when he returned, crawling and creeping down the path out of the gloom ahead. Sam sat propped against the stone, his head dropping sideways and his breathing heavy. In his lap lay Frodo’s head, drowned deep in sleep; upon his white forehead lay one of Sam’s brown hands, and the other lay softly upon his master’s breast. Peace was in both their faces.
Gollum looked at them. A strange expression passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him, and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass, shaking his head, as if engaged in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo’s knee – but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing.
But at that touch Frodo stirred and cried out softly in his sleep, and immediately Sam was wide awake. The first thing he saw was gollum – ‘pawing at master,’ as he thought.
‘Hey you!’ he said roughly. ‘What are you up to?’
‘Nothing, nothing,’ said Gollum softly. ‘Nice Master!’
‘I daresay,’ said Sam. ‘But where have you been to – sneaking off and sneaking back, you old villain?’
Gollum withdrew himself, and a green glint flickered under his heavy lids. Almost spider-like he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes. The fleeting moment had passed, beyond recall.”

There is a lot to take in in these few short paragraphs. First of all, it should be very easy for anybody who is familiar with the story at all to see just how important this part is. Just look how close Gollum comes to repenting. He looks back up the path and shakes his head; it’s so obvious how much pain he is in. We know he is planning to betray Frodo, but he’s doing it completely against his own will. He loves Frodo, but the Ring has such a hold on him that it will drive him to betray the one person in all his long miserable life who ever openly showed affection towards him.

Note also the spider reference. This is blatant foreshadowing, as anybody who knows what’s coming next can see. Just before this encounter he had been paying homage to Shelob, the last remaining child of Ungoliant, an ancient evil creature in spider form during the First Age of the world.

Lastly, Tolkien writes that the short moment in which Gollum had reverted back to an old, weary, lonely hobbit had passed “beyond recall.” Sam did that to him. Gollum was, of course, not friendly with Sam, and Sam felt the same way about Gollum. This feeling of love and friendship was finally starting to go right into Gollum’s heart, almost driving the evil totally away; and right at that moment, Sam’s suspicions and hatred of the creature recalled the evil back. Sméagol was finally gone for good.

Chapter 9: Shelob’s Lair
They enter the tunnel (FRODO AND SAM TOGETHER) *deep breath* and find that it is pitch black and the air is heavy and stifling. They soon lose Gollum, and eventually come to a fork in the road. They find the left path blocked so they take the right. Before long they are stopped dead by a huge spider web crossing their path. Shelob comes up from behind. Here Jackson leaves out yet another simply amazing scene, because he has no skill at translating a story to film. In the hobbits’ despair, Frodo’s resolve gets the best of him, and he marches straight down to meet Shelob head on. “He” refers to Frodo:

“‘Galadriel!’ he called…The eyes halted…he took the Phial [of Galadriel] in his left hand, and with his right hand drew his sword. Sting flashed out, and the sharp elven-blade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flicked. Then holding the star aloft and the bright sword advanced, Frodo, hobbit of the Shire, walked steadily down to meet the eyes.”

That is fucking brilliant. I don’t know how else to describe it. Shelob turns and runs in fear….from a small hobbit of the Shire. I love Sam’s reaction too: “Stars and glory! But the Elves would make a song of that, if ever they heard of it!”

Frodo and Sam turn and run, slashing the web down with Sting. Frodo gives his Phial to Samwise while he cuts the web, and when they are free he takes off running and yelling out of excitement to be out of the stifling hole. Sam follows reluctantly, feeling uneasy. He sees Shelob crawl out of another exit from the cave and run after Frodo. Then Sam is attacked from behind by Gollum.

Sam manages to beat Gollum off, breaking his walking stick on Gollum’s back. He runs after Shelob, who had already reached Frodo.

Chapter 10: The Choices of Master Samwise
Long story short, Sam severely wounds Shelob. It’s a brilliant scene but I won’t go into detail. It was done well enough in the film. He takes the Ring, thinking Frodo is dead, and now recalls his vision in the Mirror of Galadriel, of Frodo lying asleep, as he thought, under a cliff. Not asleep, as he now sees, but dead.

Sam puts the Ring on and finds his sight dimmed and his hearing sharpened. It is then that he first hears Orcs from the tower of Cirith Ungol coming down the road ahead, and more coming up from Minas Morgul behind. They find Frodo and take him back to Shelob’s tunnel. Sam follows behind, listening to the two captains, Shagrat from the tower and Gorbag from Minas Morgul, quarreling over the prisoner and exchanging news.

They Orcs take the road in the cave which Sam and Frodo had found blocked, and Sam manages to climb over the blockade. He then guesses that this road is a tunnel to the tower’s under-gate, blocked off to prevent any attack from Shelob. He learns from the talk of Shagrat and Gorbag that Frodo isn’t dead, only poisoned by Shelob, and that he will soon wake. Also, the Orcs are not to harm him at all – the Dark Lord wants all spies kept perfectly, and full report brought of everything that they carry. So you see, it is very, very important that Sam took the Ring, otherwise the Quest would have ended right there.

Sam also gathers that the Orc captains are uneasy; they guess rightly that Frodo had a companion, because Frodo was laid properly as if for a funeral with Sam’s sword and Faramir’s walking stick beside him, and also because of the defeat of Shelob. Gorbag suspects a great Elf warrior is loose in Shagrat’s territory and is very nervous. But when Sam hears Frodo is still alive, anger rages within him. He charges at the gates too late, and crashes into them while they are closed, knocking himself unconscious on the bare floors of Shelob’s cave. And there we will leave him until Book VI.

[Cofey]

We’ve completed The Two Towers, now onto The Return of the King. In Book V, we pick up with Gandalf and Pippin again. If you remember, we left them riding off from the camp after the storm of Isengard, when Pippin looked into the Palantir and revealed himself to Sauron.

Book V does some jumping around, as did Book III, but this time it’s to a lesser extent. We pick up at nighttime on the day that Frodo and Sam left Henneth Annun. That is the evening of March 8th (all months have 30 days in the Shire calendar).

A brief note about the timelines, for those who care about such things: The greater part of The Return of the King covers a very brief space of time. We start on March 8th, and then backtrack to March 5th briefly. The Ring is destroyed on March 25th. The Return of the King ends on September 29th two years after the Ring’s destruction. For comparison, The Fellowship of the Ring begins in Shire Reckoning (S.R.) 3001 with Bilbo’s party, and ends on February 26th, S.R. 3019 with the breaking of the Fellowship. The Two Towers begins on that day, and ends on March 5th of the same year in Book III, and March 13th in Book IV.

Book V

Chapter 1: Minas Tirith
This chapter was done very well in the movie with one small exception that I will discuss in a minute. But first I want to say that Minas Tirith was constructed beautifully in the movie. It was absolutely stunning. Good job PJ.

We pick up with Gandalf and Pippin, still riding across the fields of Rohan on Shadowfax, three nights after we left them. They have passed Edoras and are now in Anorien, the region north and west of Minas Tirith along the White Mountains. Here is Jackson’s big fuck up for this chapter: as they are riding, they see the beacons of Gondor already lit in the night. Gondor is not besieged yet, but they know it’s coming. Denethor, the steward of Gondor, ordered the beacons lit so that help may come before the siege. Again, IT GOES AGAINST HIS VERY CHARACTER TO REFUSE TO LIGHT THE BEACONS. THAT WHOLE SCENE WITH PIPPIN SCALING THE MOUNTAIN IS UTTER RUBBISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

So the next day they reach Minas Tirith. Pippin swears himself into service, and meets Beregond of the guard. When Beregond goes on duty in the afternoon, Pippin journeys to the only household of children in the city anymore, those children who are helping the healers and running errands during the war. I should also say here that there are no women in the city at this point either, except for the healers, and that all other women and children went into hiding in the southern areas of Gondor until the end of the War of the Ring.

At this house Pippin meets Beregond’s son Bergil, and they journey together to the gate to see the incoming of troops out of the south. I will not list the names of all the captains that arrived, but there were less than 3,000 soldiers to come to the aid of Minas Tirith. There might have been more but for the threat of the Corsairs of Umbar in the southern lands; much defense had to be left to hold the Corsairs off.

There is one very important character that comes in at this time, and that is the Prince Imrahil. He was completely left out of the movie, probably because he was very important to the story ;). Imrahil is the Prince of Dol Amroth in the south, along the coasts of the sea. He is, like Aragorn and the rest of the Dunedain, of Numenorean blood, and thus he is held very high among men. There are hints that he may also have some Elvish blood in him.

Here I will give a brief history of Numenor. This is very important, because this describes where Aragorn is descended from, and why he is so strong and honorable among men. At the end of the First Age, after the wars of the Elves and Morgoth had ended, the Valar (gods of Middle-Earth) created the island of Numenor for the men that had assisted the Elves in their wars. Now Earendil and his wife Elwing had two children, Elrond and Elros. Since Earendil was half elf and half man, and since he had reconciled the Elves and the Valar, it was given to all his family to choose what race to belong to. Elrond chose the Elves obviously, but his brother chose men. Earendil, if memory serves me correctly, wished to become man, but chose to remain an Elf for the sake of his wife. He now sails in the sky with the last silmaril, some of the light of which is in the phial of Galadriel. But I digress.

Elros became the king of Numenor where dwelt the most powerful, skillful, wise, and fair men in the world. They also had life beyond the years of mortal men, some living over 500 years. Aragorn turned 87 on the day he and his companions me t Gandalf again in Fangorn. He died at around 250.

In the Second Age Numenor fell because of the lies and treachery of Sauron; thus this war between Sauron and Aragorn is deeply rooted in history, as you should see. For Aragorn is descended from Valandil, the youngest son of Isildur son of Elendil. And Elendil, though not in line to be the king of Numenor, was descended from Elros Tar-Minyatur by direct line, and therefore he is of Numenorean royalty. Thus, by the will of the Valar, Elendil and his heirs have dominion over those in Middle-Earth, controlling Gondor in the south and Arnor in the north. For Elendil led “The Faithful” out of Numenor when its king fell into evil, and saved somewhat of its vast history and legacy to be carried out thence in Middle-Earth.

So, at the end of this chapter Pippin goes back to his room and falls asleep. In the middle of the night he wakes up to find Gandalf pacing the room. This chapter is ended in such an awesome way; too bad PJ didn’t think so.

“‘Hullo!’ said Pippin, poking his head round the curtain. ‘I thought you had forgotten all about me. I am glad to see you back. It has been a long day.’
‘But the night will be too short,’ said Gandalf. ‘I have come back here, for I must have a little peace, alone. You should sleep, in a bed while you still may. At the sunrise I shall take you to the Lord Denethor again. No, when the summons comes, not at sunrise. The Darkness has begun. There will be no dawn.’”

Chapter 2: The Passing of the Grey Company
Now we jump back to March 5th, the night that Gandalf rode off with Pippin. Theoden and company decide not to wait the night, as originally planned, but to ride on to Helm’s Deep right away. During the journey they are overtaken by a group of riders coming from behind. Here is another crucial part of the story that was left out.

The riders suspect some last trick from Saruman. But when ordered to halt, the leader of this band reveals himself as Halbarad Dunedan, and says that he is looking for Aragorn son of Arathorn in the land of Rohan. He is riding with a company of the Dunedain, and the sons of Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir. Why was this part left out? Probably because it was important to the story.

It turns out that the Dunedain were answering a summons that they thought came from Aragorn. It turns out that Galadriel had issued the summons. She had read the thoughts of all the Company during their first meeting in Lothlorien. This turns out to be a very important occurrence.

The next day they reach Helm’s Deep. Aragorn goes up into the Hornburg and remains there for most of the day, without taking sleep or rest. For here is yet another CRITICAL point in the story: Aragorn revealed himself to Sauron using the palantir of Orthanc, and challenged the Dark Lord in thought. He was even able to draw the palantir away from the gaze of Sauron and look whither he would.

This is SO SO SO important. This filled Sauron with absolute fear. He hated Aragorn, because he knew his lineage, and had not forgotten the sword that was broken, which robbed him of his precious Ring. Now he finally saw that the heir of Isildur did indeed still walk the earth, and was mighty in both body and mind, for he was able to defeat even Sauron in their “mind wrestling” (for lack of a better term). Sauron is now so filled with dread at what Aragorn might do by his own, or even worse wielding the One Ring, that he unleashes his assault upon Gondor early. Now you see why this is so critical – Sauron’s first assault, the one that was supposed to overthrow Gondor and win him the War of the Ring, was loosed too hastily, which turned to his ruin.

Ok, so long story short, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli ride off with the sons of Elrond and the Dunedain to Dunharrow where they stay the night in the company of Eowyn. Eowyn begs Aragorn to let her ride with them, but he refuses her. The next day the Grey Company takes the Paths of the Dead. When the come through to the other side they can see the Shadow Host of the dead following. Aragorn summons them to the Stone of Erech, which Isildur brought from the ruin of Numenor, to fulfill the oaths they broke in the Second Age of Middle-Earth.

During the first wars against Sauron in the Second Age, the King of the Dead swore allegiance to Gondor, but turned against them and fought for Sauron. When Sauron was defeated, Isildur put a curse on them, saying that their souls would not have rest until the oaths that they swore and broke were fulfilled. Since Aragorn is the heir of Isildur, he has the power to command them and hold their oath fulfilled. At the end of the chapter there is a brief mention of the Grey Company traveling through the southern lands of Gondor, followed closely by the Dead. We’ll get a full account of what happened later in the story.

Chapter 3: The Muster of Rohan
Now we go back two days to the day when the Grey Company rode from Helm’s Deep. Theoden rides with a host of men through the hills from Helm’s Deep to Dunharrow, and Merry rides beside him as his esquire. This host left the Deep before the Grey Company that day, for Aragorn had just come down from the Hornburg and was exhausted and needed some rest. Theoden reached Dunharrow on March 9th, two days after Aragorn. A little bit of foreshadowing here: on the path up to Theoden’s camp were statues, called pukel-men, of squat, almost caveman-like men. You’ll see what these are later, because Jackson omitted it from his film.

That night a rider arrives from Gondor bearing the Black Arrow, a summons to war. At NO POINT WHATSOEVER did Theoden even consider not sending aid to Minas Tirith. Theoden was a bold and true man, and he would never forsake an alliance like that. Jackson, WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?

The next day the Darkness was upon them. The errand rider of Gondor set out with a fresh horse, and Theoden’s forces rode to Meduseld, to the muster that he had commanded before leaving for Helm’s Deep. Merry begged and begged to ride with Theoden, but the king refused, and almost released Merry from service. Just before the host rode off though, a very young and small man invited Merry along on his horse, saying that such great heart should not be denied. Thus Merry rode out to war along with the young man named Dernhelm, in the eored of Elfhelm, captain of the Mark (an eored in Rohan was a company of riders).

Chapter 4: The Siege of Gondor
I will be brief here, as brief as I may, for now we are coming to the brink of war. This really is the best part of the novel; Frodo is left in the hands of the Enemy, with Sam lying unconscious in the very mountain paths of Mordor. Aragorn has taken the Paths of the Dead, and all of his friends think they will never see him again. Pippin, Hobbit of the Shire, is now a soldier in the soon to be besieged city of Minas Tirith, waiting as it seems for certain death. Merry is riding secretly in the host of Rohan, but thinking all along that the king was right: what could a small Hobbit do on horseback in such a huge battle? At this point, there is very, very little hope left for everyone.

And now we begin to see the madness of Denethor. Pippin received the arms and livery of the Tower Guard and was ordered to wait on the old Steward. Under the Darkness while Pippin is on leave and sitting once again with Beregond, Faramir returns to the city. Him and his men are being followed by the Nazgul. Here Gandalf once again saves the day, by fighting the Nazgul off and saving Faramir and the remaining men from the Ringwraiths.

As Faramir approaches the citadel, he notices Pippin, and starts at seeing a Halfling in his city, especially after his meeting with Frodo. Now Faramir, Gandalf, and Pippin go to meet with Denethor. There Faramir tells the others of his dealings in Ithilien, reporting to his father as a captain of Gondor would. Then he mentions his meeting with Frodo. Gandalf very anxiously listens to all that Faramir relays of this encounter, and you can imagine he is relieved, but also very worried at news that Frodo is alive and about to enter Mordor.

The next day, Faramir is sent back out to Osgiliath with some men to strengthen the garrison there. Osgiliath is taken by the same host that Frodo and Sam saw issue forth from Minas Ithil, and Faramir and his men come retreating back over the fields of Pelennor. Faramir is stricken down by a poisoned dart, and a sortie is released from the city led by Prince Imrahil and, of course, Gandalf.

Faramir now lies with a terrible fever in the tower. In this hour Denethor looks into a palantir that the stewards have kept secretly (though we don’t find out for sure that he has a palantir just yet). Now, seeing the death of his son is imminent and no hope for the battle, he decides to burn himself and Faramir alive. He releases Pippin from service, but Pippin refuses to be released, and rushes to find Gandalf.

Meanwhile, the siege has begun. The lower circle of the city is burning, and the enemies have flung the decapitated heads of those stricken down at Osgiliath and on the Pelennor into the city. Almost all of the guards on the wall have fled. Now the Morgul Captain sent forth Grond, a huge battering ram with the head of a wolf, named after the Hammer of Morgoth in the First Age of the world. Nobody has any hope that Rohan can come to their aid now.

In three strokes the Gates of Minas Tirith were destroyed. Now what happened? A bunch of trolls in armor and a whole host of orcs came pouring into the city right?

FUCK NO!!!!!

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IN ALL OF BOOK V!!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS???????? SOME OF THE MISTAKES I CAN FORGIVE, BUT JACKSON, HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY DO THIS?????????? YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE A FAN OF TOLKIEN’S WORKS!!! HOW CAN ANY FAN TAKE ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT PARTS OF ALL THREE BOOKS AND JUST DISREGARD IT???? WHY?????????????????????????

I am going to transcribe here the last paragraphs of this chapter, the few short and yet so important paragraphs that Peter Jackson left out. Why he did that I will never know, but that is by far the single worst mistake in all three films. How could you??? HOW COULD YOU?????

Please keep in mind when reading this that the Darkness has not yet lifted, and the southern world is still covered in shadow:

“In rode the Lord of the Nazgul. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgul, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.
All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dinen.
‘You cannot enter here,’ said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. ‘Go back to the abyss prepared fro you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!’
The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter.
‘Old fool!’ he said. ‘Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!’ And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade.
Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.
And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin’s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.”

Rohan had come beyond hope to the aid of Minas Tirith. Dawn was coming in the sky and the Darkness was inexplicably being driven away. Look at the power of these few paragraphs. There is so much in there. Look at the way Gandalf challenges the Rider, even though he knows that the Morgul Lord’s doom shall not fall by the hand of a man, and his ending is hidden from the wise. He is the first enemy ever to pass through the Gate, and as we see as the story progresses, the only one. Look at the way he defies Gandalf, completely unafraid. Gandalf, the strongest force of Gondor, stronger than any being in Middle-Earth save Sauron himself. And yet the Nazgul doesn’t flinch for a second.

Just read through that passage a couple of times. Feel how powerful and amazing the writing is. And then decide for yourself whether or not Jackson’s change was for the better.

I should point out that in the extended edition this scene is recreated; he has the Nazgul fly in on his steed in an upper court of the city. The scene is very sloppily and poorly done. It made me want to gouge my eyes out.

Chapter 5: The Ride of the Rohirrim
This chapter was almost entirely left out of the movie, but this is one of the omissions I’m willing to forgive PJ for. It would have been really cool to see the wild men, but time constraints would probably have demanded that this be left out, even if he didn’t add in all his bullshit conjured events to the film.

Merry awakens in the middle of the Rohirrim’s camp in the Druadan Forest, north of Minas Tirith. It is late at night on March 13th, the day before the Siege. Merry hears drums beating wildly in the woods, and sees some lights moving along in the woods. He follows them to a meeting of Theoden and Eomer with a chief of the Druadan, or wild men. His name is Ghan-buri-Ghan. Ghan and his folk are remnants of the men that the pukel-men statues were modeled after, if you remember me mentioning them a few chapters back.

Theoden learns from Ghan that his road to Minas Tirith is blocked by foes that had crossed Anduin at Cair Andros. Ghan and the wild men offer to lead Theoden and the Rohirrim by secret roads through the woods to Minas Tirith, around their enemies. In exchange, they only want Theoden and his riders to dispel the Darkness and Orcs, or gorgun as he calls them.

Ghan shows them back to the road after some time traveling, then he does something curious: in a bit of foreshadowing, he sniffs the air, and says that the wind is changing. Without another word he turns and runs back into the Darkness in the woods.

Theoden and his host reach the Rammas, the wall around the Pelennor fields, and slip inside through a breach in the wall. He orders his army into three main companies; Dernhelm, carrying Merry, slips away from Elfhelm’s group, where he is supposed to be, and creeps up to join Theoden’s. Another rider tells Theoden that he too now senses a change in the airs, and a sea-wind coming in. The assault is loosed.

“Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Eomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first eored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Theoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Orome the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.

Chapter 6: The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
This chapter is not very long compared with others, but there is a lot of information to take in here. I will only go over what I think is most important. Firstly, Theoden slew the leader of the Haradrim and broke his banner, a black snake upon a red field, “and the black serpent foundered.”

Next comes a scene I’m sure you are all familiar with, and I must say it was done almost perfectly. After Theoden slew the leader of the Haradrim, the Lord of the Nazgul descended from the sky and threw all into madness, and blotted out the sun, which had only just returned from the Great Darkness. Theoden’s horse Snowmane went mad and fell on top of Theoden, mortally wounding him. Merry lay on the ground with a blackness over his sight, and heard the voice of Dernhelm speaking; but the voice wasn’t that of Dernhelm, but some other familiar voice:

“‘Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!’
A cold voice answered: ‘Come not between the Nazgul and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shriveled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.’
A sword rang as it was drawn. ‘Dow what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.’
‘Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!’
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. ‘But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Eowyn I am, Eomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.’”

Eowyn decapitates the Nazgul’s steed in ONE stroke (not three, I don’t know why that was changed, seems pretty gay to me). The Nazgul attacks her with his mace and breaks her shield arm. Then Merry stabs up under his knee from behind. The Nazgul’s next shot over-aims, and Eowyn stabs him through the eyes. There is a great shriek that dies away to nothing, and she immediately falls down on his empty rags and his crown rolls away. His head does NOT implode, though that did make for good theater I suppose, and it didn’t bother me.

Merry goes and speaks to the king, then Eomer comes. Theoden hails him as King of the Mark, and tells him to bid farewell to Eowyn, dearer than daughter. He never knew before he died of what she did, or that she was lying right near him. A party is assembled to bring Theoden’s and Eowyn’s bodies from the field. Merry follows unnoticed.

The battle turns in the favor of Mordor later as the Corsairs of Umbar arrive up the Anduin, to the dismay of all the allies of Gondor. But then in the main ship of the fleet, a standard is unfurled: a White Tree, and seven stars about it, and a crown above. This was the standard of the House of Elendil (this part is so fucking awesome):

“Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur’s heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor; and the mirth of the Rohirrim was a torrent of laughter and a flashing of swords, and the joy and wonder of the City was a music of trumpets and a ringing of bells. But the hosts of Mordor were seized with bewilderment, and a great wizardry it seemed to them that their own ships should be filled with their foes; and a black dread fell on them, knowing that the tides of fate had turned against them and their doom was at hand.”

The battle lasted all that day, and many strong and renowned men were killed, including Aragorn’s kinsman Halbarad. But in the end Gondor was victorious and the hosts of Mordor were utterly defeated.

Chapter 7: The Pyre of Denethor
Flash back to the end of Chapter 4. Gandalf is about to ride out of the gate after the Black Rider, when Pippin comes and explains the madness of Denethor to him. Gandalf picks Pippin up and dashes back up the city to Rath Dinen. They find that somebody has slain the door warden to the hallows, and then that Beregond, hearing the news from Pippin, had forsaken his post and was fighting with the guards of the king on the very steps of the House of the Stewards. He had already killed two of them. Then Denethor himself came forth.

Long story short, Gandalf saves Faramir, Denethor reveals the palantir and burns himself alive while still clutching it, and they bring Faramir to the Houses of Healing. As they approach this area of the City, they here a loud wail, and Gandalf, with his high powers, observes all that has happened on the field, and proclaims the death of the Lord of the Nazgul.

Chapter 8: The Houses of Healing
Now we jump over to Merry as he is following Theoden into Minas Tirith. Don’t worry, this is the last timeline jump we make. Pippin finds Merry alone, wandering the streets, and brings him to the Houses of Healing. There is a sickness going around, caused by the Lord of the Nazgul, called the Black Breath. Merry, Eowyn, and Faramir have the three worst cases of it out of everyone, which is not surprising knowing what they went through.

Aragorn is reluctant to enter Minas Tirith before the war is over and he is crowned, but eventually he enters in disguise, and heals Merry, Eowyn, and Faramir. He then labors through the night healing many people of their hurts, and the word spreads quickly through the City that the King has come again. But the next morning, the banner of Dol Amroth is raised over the Tower of Ecthelion, and Aragorn and the Dunedain are camped on the field outside the City, and the people seem to think that maybe the coming of the King was just a dream.

Chapter 9: The Last Debate
Early the next day, Legolas and Gimli go up into the City, eager to see Merry and Pippin. There they meet the Prince Imrahil going down to the Captains’ debate. After some polite words, they part, and Legolas comments on Imrahil to Gimli:

“‘That is a fair lord and a great captain of men,’ said Legolas. ‘If Gondor has such men still in these days of fading, great must have been its glory in the days of its rising.’”

I like that quote; it just shows how powerful Gondor must once have been.

While the Captains are debating, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin go up on a wall of the City and talk about all that happened since their parting. We finally find out how it was that Aragorn came to Minas Tirith. Crossing south Gondor they came to Lamedon, and Aragorn commanded the Lord Angbor to muster all the strength he could and meet them at Pelargir.

At Pelargir the host met up with the forces of Umbar, and the Dead finally unleashed their power. Their main weapon was fear, but they killed a great number of men also. Many ships were burned and many slaves set free. Aragorn dismissed the Dead and held their oath fulfilled, and they went back to sleep in peace and never trouble the world again.

Aragorn placed a Dunedan captain and many men in each remaining ship, and took the biggest for himself, and thus they sailed and rowed up Anduin until they finally reached the Harlond to join the battle of the Pelennor.

Meanwhile, down on the field the Captains of the West debated. There were assembled Gandalf and Aragorn, and Imrahil and Eomer, and the sons of Elrond. Aragorn revealed then to Gandalf that he had indeed challenged Sauron in the palantir of Orthanc, as Gandalf had guessed. The Captains agreed that by force of arms they could not win the war, whether they waited to endure siege after siege, or whether they marched out to assault Mordor.

In the end, it is GANDALF, NOT ARAGORN who decides that they must take the latter course of action. They must call out all of Sauron’s hidden strength. They must continue to press him as Aragorn did by looking into the palantir. They must empty out Mordor, so that Frodo and Sam may travel a bit easier in the Black Land. They hoped that Sauron would think one of them has the Ring, and was coming to challenge the Dark Lord in a final battle to end the war. That was their hope. For there were many mighty men among them, men that could do Sauron terrible damage if they bore his Ring.

“And when they had reckoned up all their strength and taken thought for the journeys they should make and the roads they should choose, Imrahil suddenly laughed aloud.
‘Surely,’ he cried, ‘this is the greatest jest in all the history of Gondor: that we should ride with seven thousands, scarce as many as the vanguard of its army in the days of its power, to assail the mountains and the impenetrable gate of the Black Land! So might a child threaten a mail-clad knight with a bow of string and green willow! If the Dark Lord knows so much as you say, Mithrandir, will he not rather smile than fear, and with his little finger crush us like a fly that tries to sting him?’
‘No, he will try to trap the fly and take the sting,’ said Gandalf. ‘And there are names among us that are worth more than a thousand mail-clad knights apiece. No, he will not smile.’
‘Neither shall we,’ said Aragorn. ‘If this be jest, then it is too bitter for laughter. Nay, it is the last move in a great jeopardy, and for one side or the other it will bring the end of the game.’ Then he drew Anduril and held it up glittering in the sun. ‘You shall not be sheathed again until the last battle is fought,’ he said.”

I fucking love Gandalf.

Chapter 10: The Black Gate Opens
After two days they march forth. Pippin is in a company led by Beregond, but Merry is still too sick to go, much to his dislike. They cross Osgiliath, and come to the crossroads. There the statue of the king is washed and the head is put back in its rightful place. Every so often from this point on let blow the horns and proclaim the coming of the Lords of the West (which is later changed to the King Elessar). They burn the Morgul Vale and break the evil bridge and depart, leaving guards at the crossroads. Only once they are waylaid by a small group of Orcs, but expecting attack they had men on the side, who flanked and destroyed the ambushers. From then on they are followed by the eight remaining Nazgul in the air.

They come to the gate and arrange their company on two slag hills. Gandalf, Aragorn, Imrahil, Eomer, Elladan and Elrohir, Legolas and Gimli, and Pippin of the Shire ride to the Gate and blow the horns. From the gate comes the Mouth of Sauron, a character that was HORRIBLY portrayed in the extended movie. The Mouth of Sauron is the emissary of the Dark Tower. He is a man descended from the Black Numenoreans, those citizens of Numenor who listened to Sauron’s lies and treachery, and wished for immortality as the Elves had.

He came out with a bundle, containing Frodo’s mithril coat, his cloak from Lothlorien, and Sam’s Numenorean sword, which Tom Bombadil gave him on the Barrow-downs. Pippin started at the sight of these things, which pleased the evil emissary. He was willing to release this spy under these conditions: Gondor and its allies will swear oaths never to assail Sauron again, and shall withdraw past Anduin. All lands east of the Anduin shall be Sauron’s, and west to the Misty Mountains will be tributary, and men shall bear no weapons but will be free to govern themselves. They would also help rebuild Isengard, and he seems to think that he will be the new captain of Orthanc.

Gandalf rejects the terms, saying that they are much to demand for the exchange of one spy, that they should freely give what Sauron would otherwise have to fight to gain, and also saying that Sauron ever dealt in lies and deceit and would never keep these promises. But he does swipe the bundle from the foul Mouth of Sauron. Seeing the wrath of Gandalf the emissary fled in terror and let blow his horns, loosing the assault. There were drums and fire, and the hosts of Mordor came forth. Aragorn and the rest fled back to the hills.

On the left hill were Aragorn and Gandalf, and the banner of the Trees and Stars was raised. With them wee the sons of Elrond and the Dunedain. On the right were Rohan and Dol Amroth with their banners: a White Horse on a field of green, and a Silver Swan on blue. There also was Peregrin, son of Paladin, Hobbit of the Shire and Guard of the citadel of Minas Tirith.

As the assault hit, Pippin engaged in battle with a hill-troll of Gorgoroth. The troll had already smitten Beregond to the ground, and was reaching out to bite his throat and finish him off. The following is the end of Book V; it is a very sad ending, and was naturally left out of the movie, as 99% of the other really important parts were. Just so you know, Westernesse is another name for Numenor:

“Then Pippin stabbed upwards, and the written blade of Westernesse pierced through the hide and went deep into the vitals of the troll, and his black blood came gushing out. He toppled forward and came crashing down like a falling rock, burying those beneath him. Blackness and stench and crushing pain came upon Pippin, and his mind fell away into a great darkness.
‘So it ends as I guessed it would,’ his thought said, even as it fluttered away; and it laughed a little within him ere it fled, almost gay it seemed to be casting off at last all doubt and care and fear. And then even as it winged away into forgetfulness it heard voices, and they seemed to be crying in some forgotten world far above:
‘The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!’
For one moment more Pippin’s thought hovered. ‘Bilbo!’ It said. ‘But no! That came in his tale, long long ago. This is my tale, and it is ended now. Good-bye!’ And his thought fled far away and his eyes saw no more.”

[Cofey]

Bumping so this thread doesn't dissapear before I come back...this post will be edited upon my return.

These Italian keyboards are very odd
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