In the extended edition, they talk to Saruman in his tower, why was this cut out from the theatrical release? It's such a necessary scene. [Because it disrupted the flow of events. Saruman's the enemy from film 2 - spending several minutes at the beginning of film 3 dealing with him accomplishes nothing. He provides no critical information and we don't need to see his death scene - the Ents have him contained at the end of film 2 and that's it for him. Ultimately, while it's a good scene, it's not required for the overall plot and takes up time that could be better used.]

Faramir and the Rangers captured Frodo, Sam, and Gollum in Ithilien. They marched overland to the outskirts of Osgiliath."Osgiliath burns." There they were freed by Faramir after the Nazgul attack. But when Faramir spoke with Gandalf and Pippen in Minas Tirith, he said he saw Frodo and Sam in Ithilien not two days hence. Weren't they just in Osgiliath? [Yes, but as Osgiliath is on the border to Ithilien and Frodo & co. went in that direction, it would be natural for Faramir to give that answer to Gandalf when Gandalf wanted to know where they were. Faramir also knew that it would take them more than two days to cross Ithilien, so that is where they would be at the time he spoke to Gandalf.]

When Aragorn is giving his speech at the Black Gate, just after he says, "This day we fight!", it zooms up a little bit on someone who looks ALOT like Gamling. But I've been told multiple times that Gamling dies at Pellenor fields, so why is he at the Black Gate, assuming it's him? In addition to this, who is Grimbold? And where's a good shot of his face? [Well, the simple answer to the first part is that it's not Gamling - there is a resemblance, but it's somebody different. Grimbold is one of Theoden's captains, leading one of the Rohirrim groups during their charge at the Pelennor Fields. He hails from the Westfold, and can be seen at the gathering at Dunharrow, he can be seen there, informing Theoden that he has brought around 500 men. He's not particularly clear in that shot, but it's the best one I've found that's definitely identifiable as him.]

At Minas Tirith when the Witch-King destroyed Gandalf's staff and was then distracted by the Rohan army. Why didn't he just quickly kill Gandalf before going off. [Even without his staff, Gandalf is not going to be a pushover - the Witch-King isn't going to be able to simply take Gandalf out by snapping his fingers. Better to simply inconvenience Gandalf by taking his staff out, then return to the battle, rather than taking on the risk of a serious one-on-one fight while the main battle below is still undecided, particularly as his opponents have just had some substantial reinforcements show up.]

I have heard that in ROTK Extended, there will be a scene with Ghan-buri-Ghan, chief of the Woses, helping the Riders Of Rohan reach Pelennor through the Druadan Forest - as noted in the book. I have also heard that Ghan will be played by New Zealand entertainer Wi Kuki Kaa - who also had a small part in the Worzel Gummidge Down Under TV special. Is any of this true? [There is no such scene in the extended version of RotK, and as such, Wi Kuki Kaa does not appear in the film.]

At the Last Alliance battle, how did the Men and Elves get into Mordor? [The Black Gates across Cirith Gorgol had been destroyed and repaired at several times in the 2nd and 3rd Ages. The Army of Men and Elves (and other creatures) marched past the Gates into Mordor and beseiged Sauron at Barad-dur.]

I understand that most living Elves are really old by human standards and are immortal, but I have a few questions about the elf "life-cycle." First, ARWEN is the last Elf born but how old is she? Second, how do Elves reproduce and how often? Given their ages, wouldn't an elf child be a super-incredibly rare event such that most humans would never live long enough to see one? Third, when ARWEN weds ARAGORN, she has presumably given up her immortality. How does that work? Is it a biological change or a decision made by the gods - the ones who created the Undying Lands for the Elves? Fourth, would ARAGORN and ARWEN's son have merely human-like mortality or would he be somewhat superhuman - perhaps live longer? I am reminded of the half-god heroes of Greek mythology. I know Tolkien was fascinated by Norse mythology (dead Rohan Kings go to "their father's" like Vikings). Does Tolkien ever explain the elf life-cycle and the logistical problems associated with immortality? [Hmm, lot of questions. Okay, here goes. (1) Arwen was born in III 241, making her 2778 years old at the time of the War of the Ring. (2) Tolkien never really goes into Elven reproduction, but there's no indication that the basic mechanisms aren't pretty much the same as humans (after all, elves and humans have bred successfully on several occasions in the history of Middle-Earth, so it's fair to say that the plumbing presumably interconnects). Elves don't reproduce terribly often - in 2401 years of marriage, Elrond and his wife Celebrian only had three children. Celeborn and Galadriel only had the one child in at least six thousand years of marriage. Arwen is only six generations removed from the first elves who awoke at Cuivienen, eleven thousand years before the events of the films. So, yes, it's fair to say that elven children would be pretty rare, enough so that most humans would never have encountered one. (3) Arwen's family are not pure elves - without going into complex lineages, her father, Elrond, is roughly half-elven. Elrond's father and all his descendants were given the option by the Valar to choose whether to be counted among men or elves - Elrond chose elvendom, his brother, Elros, chose to be counted amongst men, founding a bloodline that would eventually lead to Aragorn. So, basically, it's a mystical thing. (4) Eldarion, Aragorn and Arwen's son, will have a normal lifespan for a human of his bloodline (i.e. about two hundred years). His mother's former status as an elf shouldn't have any effect. The elven lifecycle is basically the same as humans, just very, very elongated - despite the prevailing view to the contrary, elves are not actually immortal. While they live long enough that humans think of them that way, Tolkien stated that they do age, just incredibly slowly, making a natural death an eventual possibility for an elf (after tens of thousands of years). Plus, of course, they can be killed in combat or accidents, being arguably less resilient than a human in that respect. So, between that and the very slow population increase, there's no real problem with overpopulation or anything like that.]

In the Return of the King movie, after Arwen has a vision of her unborn son, she rides back to Rivendell to ask her father whether he saw a son in her future. He explains that he saw death. She argues that that is not a certainty and then asks him to reforge Narsil (Isildur's Sword) for Aragorn. She then sits down and drops the book she was holding. What book was she holding and what is its significance? [The book contained the exact information about the legend that she was pointing out to Elrond. When he balked, she sat dejectedly and let the book fall from weakened fingers.]

At the Academy Awards, LOTR won for Best Visual Effects for each of the 3 films. One of these recipients was Joe Letteri. Can someone please tell me what is he credited for? (e.g. Jim Rygiel was visual effects supervisor). [Joe Letteri is also credited for visual effects supervisor.]

Who were the Army of the Dead and why do they hate everyone? [During the War of the Last Alliance (the battle against Sauron shown in the prologue), the men who inhabited the White Mountains (those between Gondor and Rohan) swore an oath of allegiance to Isildur. When he called on them to fight, they refused, so Isildur cursed them to walk the paths of the Dead until they redeemed themselves. In time, they all died, but their spirits remained - they were unable to move on to whatever awaits men after their deaths. At the time of the War of the Ring, they've been in this state for three thousand years, which has left them with a deep hatred for the living. Only when Aragorn, Isildur's heir, comes to them and calls upon them to finally fulfil their original oath, are they finally able to move on.]

Did Frodo ever tell Gandalf and the others that it was really Gollum who (accidentally) destroyed the Ring? [He certainly would have told Gandalf about it. Whether he told the other members of the Fellowship is unclear, but the book details a meeting between them where they discuss their various adventures - it seems highly likely that he would have told them then, or allowed Sam to tell the tale for them both. Certainly his love for his compatriots would mean that he wouldn't lie to them about what happened.]

How does Gandalf break Saruman's staff? He just says 'Your staff is broken' and it shatters. Saruman is head wizard of the Istari, therefore more powerful than Gandalf. [All the power of the wizards come from the Valar, and it is they who take it away from Saruman, working through Gandalf. Besides, it was never clearly defined who was the most powerful of the two. Saruman was the leader, yes, but Gandalf had Narya (the Ring of Fire) from the start and was perceived by Cirdan as the wisest and truest. When Gandalf dies and returns as Gandalf the White he is given far more power than Saruman ever had, since his quest is nearing the end and he had been the only one to see it through.]

I was startled by the authentic-appearing emotion on Hugo Weaving's face at the coronation scene when he told Arwen to "Go to him." Is he that good an actor, was there a real emotion running through the scene, or was he simply exhausted by the whole thing? [According to commentary, they reshot this part of the scene and these particular shots were done in pickups, long after the shoot in New Zealand ended, so exhaustion had nothing to do with it. Hugo Weaving is simply a good actor, receiving direction from a good director.]

Why don't they get one or more orcs to guard the crack of mount doom? Surely they could have spared a couple of orcs just in case someone managed to get through? [Guard it from who? One of the premises of the whole plot is that Sauron simply cannot believe that someone would want to destroy the ring rather than use it themself. That's why the plan succeeded, and that's the only reason it succeeded. The loss of the ring forced Sauron to make his move early (i.e. sending out his armies sooner than he would have wanted) to stop whoever was using the ring (the only possibility in his mind) from gaining too much power. So who would want to go into Mt. Doom? Besides the fact they'd have to get INTO Mordor first (something which Sauron would have laughed at anyway) they could do nothing there anyway, unless they were there to destroy the ring, which is something Sauron didn't even consider. It'd just be an utter waste of man (orc?)power.]

Where can i find a website showing the map of Middle Earth, and preferably one that shows the path of all the fellowship thoughout the movies? [The most popular and complete site I've seen is theonering.net. It contains detailed information about the books and films, and includes extensive material on Middle Earth. It also happens to be Peter Jackson's favorite fansite for the films.]

When Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn are leaving the troops to go summon that ghost army in the mountain, all of the troops and even Eowyn think he is abandoning them. Why does he not explain where he is going? If he would have told them that he was going to summon a great army to help it would have done a lot for their morale. What does the book say about this? [The Dead who live under the mountain are feared and hated by pretty much everyone - note Aragorn's reaction when Elrond first suggests recruiting them. The Rohirrim will be well aware of all the tales - if Aragorn were to tell them what his mission was, they'd likely consider him to be insane. Better for them to think that one of their leaders has to go on some unspecified mission than for them to think that he's actually nuts. Besides, Aragorn has no idea whether the Dead will actually choose to fight - he seems reasonably convinced at first that they won't, and he's not likely to be alone in that opinion - most of the Rohirrim would probably consider him to be a fool for even contemplating it - also not exactly great for morale.]

Why did Mordor attack Middle Earth at this specific time? .Why did the battles and fighting all start at a certain time in middle earth. Since their world has been going on for thousands of years you'd think that something specific happened to make them fight. [Sauron has been probing for weaknesses for hundreds of years. But Denethor's emotional unbalance, the addition of Saruman as an ally, the distraction of Theoden of Rohan, and the increase in the number of Mordor orcs seemed to be a winning combination.]

What exactly is a Witch King - where did it come from and why is it there? [The Witch-King is a name given to the Lord of the Nazgul, leader of the kings corrupted by the Nine Rings. The title "Witch-King of Angmar" refers to a time in the middle of the Third Age, around 1500 years before the War of the Ring, when he founded the northern kingdom of Angmar to oppose the kingdoms of the north, which were populated by Aragorn's ancestors. The specific title "Witch-King" alludes to the fact that the Nazgul leader was a powerful sorceror - whether he was before he fell to darkness, or whether he learned his skills from Sauron is unclear. What his mortal name was is unknown.]

When Gandalf is resurrected he says "I had been sent back, until my task is completed". What is this 'task'? [To advise and guide the races of Middle-Earth in their fight against the powers of evil.]

Who built the 'winding stair' and why would they build it? [Tolkien never addresses the question of who built it - one candidate would be the Gondorians, who were responsible for the construction of both the Tower of Cirith Ungol and Minas Morgul (then named Minas Ithil). The stair could have been used as a stealthy method of moving between the two, although the presence of Shelob, who was present before either was built, would complicate matters. Probably the most likely candidate would be Sauron's forces, at some point during the Second Age, as a method of moving between the two passes through the mountains.]