The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Question: We know that Saruman and his tower remain standing, despite the flood... so how did the Palantir end up in the water? Did Saruman throw it out of the tower?

rabid anarchist

Chosen answer: Saruman did throw the palantiri. It's a missing scene that will, hopefully, be edited back in for the Extended Edition.

cullothiel

Question: What is the little thing that flies in front of Gandalf's face right before the eagles come to the Black Gate?

Answer: It's a moth, the same (or of the same kind) as the one he sent from Orthanc to get the eagle to rescue him in the "Fellowship".

Ioreth

Question: What are the Eagles' purpose and where did they come from?

Answer: The Eagles live in Middle-Earth, generally in the high mountains. They act as the emissaries of Manwe, leader of the Valar (the local deity equivalents), and will intercede in events at his behest, or at the request of one of the Maiar (a race of spirits that includes Gandalf, Saruman and Sauron among their number).

Tailkinker

Question: What exactly is "Middle Earth"? Does it refer to a specific area of land/continent, or a period in time, such as the Middle Ages (but obviously thousands of years earlier), or to something completely different?

Answer: Middle-earth is usually represented as a single continent, but Tolkien's writings (and more specifically his Letters) suggest that Middle-earth is typically defined as that part of the world inhabited by mortal beings. This would mean that it includes the lands of Arda except for Aman and, perhaps the Empty Lands. The name does not refer to a specific time period, although some scholars have argued that Middle-earth represents "our" Earth from a period long ago.

Phil C.

Question: I know that when you are near the One Ring you are tempted and once you put it on then you become addicted/obsessed with it. Once you put the Ring on, as you move closer to Mordor and Mt. Doom then the temptation to have it becomes stronger, is this true?

Answer: It's not entirely the case - the Ring begins to work on you from the moment you start to possess it, and the temptation increases with the passage of time, until it becomes impossible to give up the Ring - it's notable that Bilbo is the only person ever to voluntarily give it up after owning it. Proximity to Mordor probably has only a minor effect - time, and probably the relative power of Sauron, are more relevant.

Tailkinker

Question: Why was Arwen dying? I know that Elrond said that the Evenstar was being overcome with the darkness, but why wouldn't other Elves, that were linked to Sauron or were closer to Mordor, be affected?

Answer: It's because she's chosen to become a mortal - her fate is now tied directly to the fate of humanity, and, in her case, due to her heritage, it manifests in a physical manner. If humanity falls, she dies.

Tailkinker

Question: Why exactly must Arwen become 'mortal' when she chooses to be with Aragorn? It's not because she didn't leave with the other elves, because Legolas didn't leave until after Aragorn died. Does it have anything to do with the necklace she gives him, as in the necklace was a source of her 'immortality', or was that just a symbol of her love?

Answer: The necklace is only a symbol of her love. She has the choice to make because she's partly human. Elrond, her father, is half-elven, and was therefore given the choice whether to be counted among the 'immortal' elves, or to be counted among mortal humans. He chose elvendom, but all his descendants ultimately have to make the same choice. Arwen loves Aragorn, a mortal, and chooses to live out a mortal lifespan at his side for that reason. Strictly speaking, there's nothing to say that she absolutely has to become mortal, but chooses to so that they will grow old together, which is a part of love, and so that she will not be left to live an elven lifespan without him after his death. Additionally, as a mortal she will experience the same afterlife as a man, instead of returning to Valinor like the elves. This will allow her to stay with Aragon even after death, while splitting her from her father and the elves.

Tailkinker

Question: Where can I find the music track in the trailer where Aragorn is saying "I see in your eyes the same fear" up to "This day, we fight"? Is it on the soundtrack?

Answer: Unfortunately, it's not on the soundtrack. The music in the latter half of the trailer was composed by Howard Shore and two collaborators (Simone Benyacar and Craig Stuart Garfinkle) specifically for that trailer. It's based on a track called "Epicalypse", which, in turn, is based on Howard Shore's "Gondor" theme.

Tailkinker

Question: I still don't know this but why EXACTLY are the elves leaving Middle Earth?

Answer: For various reasons. Because with the distruction of the One Ring the protective powers of the Three Rings of the Elves diminished, because their fate is not bound with that of Middle-Earth's which means they can take the straight road to the Undying Lands instead of having to remain in Middle-Earth until its end. Also, if they remained in Middle-Earth they would eventually diminish, so they left for the Undying Lands where they would be immortal (Elves are not immortal in Middle-Earth, they just age *very* slowly, but in any case slowly enough to be considered immortal by the race of Men).

Jester

Question: When the Witch King and the main orc are looking at Minas Tirith from Osgiliath, the Witch King says, "Do not stop the attack until the city is taken..." and so on, but I couldn't catch what the orc said after that, followed by the Witch King saying, "I will break him." What does he say?

Answer: He says "What of the white wizard?".

Azureth

Question: During the battle at Minas Tirith, what are those red dots that flash in the center of the screen? They appear when one of Gondor's catapults is fired, then when a couple of the orc's catapults are fired, also when the tower door is lowered for the orcs that attack Gandalf & Pippin.

Answer: The red dots you see are part of a really stupid scheme to foil internet piracy of movies. They are known as the CAPS code and were developed by Kodak. Lately they have been showing up more and more often in films. A good discussion can be seen at http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=162471 if you are interested in learning more.

Phil C.

Question: When Frodo and Sam are on the side of Mount Doom and Frodo can't walk anymore, Sam says something like, "I can't carry the ring, but I can carry you," and then picks Frodo up and starts carrying him. But really, why can't Sam just grab the ring and run into the mountain with it? It's only a short distance at that point. I understand about how Frodo was meant to be the ring bearer and all that, but Sam was the ring bearer while Frodo was captured, so why not again?

Krista

Chosen answer: Sam only managed to get the ring away from Frodo last time because Frodo was unconscious. While Frodo is exhausted, he's still going to fight back should Sam try to take the ring away, so it's just easier to let him keep the ring and carry him up the mountain.

Tailkinker

Question: I hear that elves live forever - if this is true how do they actually AGE? For example, Elrond is obviously older than legolas, but if they live forever how do they get older?

Answer: Elves do not live forever - it's a misconception that they're immortal. To quote Tolkien, "The Elves were sufficiently longeval to be called by Man 'immortal'. But they were not unageing or unwearying" (taken from his Letters, dated 1963). They do age, just extremely slowly, hence the appearance of older Elves, like Elrond, or the oldest Elf seen on screen, Cirdan the Shipwright, who appears receiving a ring in the Fellowship prologue, and leaves on the ship with the other Ringbearers.

Tailkinker

Question: When Aragorn is crowned at the ceremony, he sings a hymn in what I beleive is Elvish. What are the lyrics? I am currently reading The Lord of the Rings but it will be a while before I get to that part of the story.

furious1116

Chosen answer: The Elvish text is: "Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta." This translates as: "Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world." It is a Gondorian tradition, echoing the words of Aragorn's ancestor Elendil on his first arrival in Middle-earth, and shows that Aragorn has fully accepted his heritage and is at last willing to claim the kingship.

Ioreth

Question: The Witch King says "No man can kill me", and Eowyn replies "No man am I" when she kills him. Is the Witch King actually somehow protected against the attacks of males (or male humans, since a male hobbit hit him just fine) but not females, or was he just trash talking and she scored the payoff line? (With reference to the book if necessary).

Moose

Chosen answer: It was prophesied that no man would kill him. And seeing how prophecies often are very literal, no male being could strike him down. Merry managed to do so because his blade was Numenoréan, and forged in the early fights against the Witch-King and his kingdom in Angmar.

Twotall

Question: At one point in the movie, Pippin has to sing for Denethor. I've heard that while the music was composed by Billy Boyd, the lyrics were actually from the book. Does anybody know which song in the book they were taken from?

kendra jackson

Chosen answer: The song is called "A Walking Song." It's in Chapter three (Three is Company) of Book 1 in Fellowship of the Ring. Mainly they used the last stanza in the movie.

cullothiel

Question: Anybody know the words to the song Pippin sings at Minas Tirith?

Answer: As found on stlyrics.com: Home is behind The world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadow To the edge of night, Until the stars are all alight. Mist and shadow, Cloud and shape Hope shall fail All shall fade.

Shannon Rothe

Question: What is exactly this "Wilhelm scream"?

Answer: A series of short painful screams performed by an actor were recorded for the film "Distant Drums." The recording was archived into the studio's sound effects library and it was used in many of their films since. "Star Wars" Sound Designer Ben Burtt tracked down the scream recording. Ben has adopted the scream as sort of a personal sound signature, and has included it in many of the films he has worked on. Since then it has grown to be something of an "in-joke" in Hollywood among sound designers, who like to see how many films they can fit it into. A list of "Wilhelms" and where they appear can be found at http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm.html.

rabid anarchist

Question: When Frodo has been taken captive by the Orcs, and Sam kills three Orcs to get to him, for the first two he says "That's for Frodo." and "That's for the Shire.", but I couldn't make out what he says for the third. What is it?

Answer: And that's for my old Gaffer.

jle

Question: At the end of the movie, Frodo mentions something about the journey lasting 13 months. He then says his chest wound occurred four years ago to the day. If this is the case, why did he and the others wait 3 years to leave Middle Earth on the ship?

Answer: In the book it takes three years because the Hobbits are repairing the Shire (wrecked by Saruman in the book). In the movie it may have taken three years because the elves and Gandalf may have been attending to buisness in their lands (leaving for them would be a big event as Galadriel and Celeborn are the oldest elves still living in Middle Earth.)

Continuity mistake: As Sam lies sleeping, Gollum sprinkles lembas crumbs on Sam's right side. 1st shot, the grey blanket completely covers Sam as Gollum begins to sprinkle it. 2nd shot, the blanket is at Sam's shoulder with a just a bit of cloak and sleeve showing. 3rd shot, the blanket is completely covering Sam's shoulders as the lembas is shown only on the blanket. Then Sam stands and the blanket is now on the ground (as mentioned in another mistake, there are no crumbs at all when he stands). Later, when Gollum accuses Sam in the 'framing' shot, the lembas crumbs are shown on Sam's cloak even though it was the grey blanket Gollum sprinkled it on earlier. (01:02:05)

Super Grover

More mistakes in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Gimli: Certainty of death; small chance of success...what are we waiting for?

More quotes from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King trivia picture

Trivia: When Gandalf is talking about the gathering of the armies of Sauron, the next shot shows the Corsairs on a ship. Walking from right to left is Peter Jackson in a cameo as a Corsair pirate. In the extended version he is pierced in the chest by Legolas' arrow and dramatically dies. (00:38:30)

More trivia for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.