Question: 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?
Chosen answer: 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.
Question: 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?
Answer: 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.
Question: 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.
Answer: 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.
Question: At the Last Alliance battle, how did the Men and Elves get into Mordor?
Answer: 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.
Question: 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?
Answer: 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.
Question: 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).
Answer: Joe Letteri is also credited for visual effects supervisor.
Question: Who were the Army of the Dead and why do they hate everyone?
Answer: 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.
Question: Did Frodo ever tell Gandalf and the others that it was really Gollum who (accidentally) destroyed the Ring?
Answer: 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.
Question: 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.
Answer: 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.
Question: 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?
Answer: 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.
Question: 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.
Question: What exactly is a Witch King - where did it come from and why is it there?
Answer: 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.
Question: Who built the 'winding stair' and why would they build it?
Answer: 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.
Question: What did Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli plan to do when they got to Isengard? Did they know Merry and Pippin were there? Did they even know Isengard was in ruins?
Answer: As seen in the Extended Edition, their primary reason is to talk to Saruman and to find out what he knows. While they would know by that point that the Ents are up to something - the appearance of the Huorns at Helm's Deep (Two Towers Extended) would tell them that - it's not likely that they'd actually know that the Ents had attacked Isengard. They might strongly suspect that something had happened there, but it's not likely that they actually knew for certain.
Question: In the Fellowship it shows Isildur dead in the water from some arrows and then the Ring falling into the water. In the RotK it shows Deagol picking up the Ring in the water. Where exactly is this?
Answer: This takes place in an area referred to as the Gladden Fields, which is where the Gladden River meets the Great River Anduin (the river that the Fellowship travel on by boat), some distance to the north of Galadriel's realm of Lorien.
Question: Why didn't the elves let everyone go to the undying lands? That way no one would die from Mordor's armies. In fact everyone would be happy there.
Question: In the UK Extended DVD, Aragorn's rousing speech at the black gate seems to finish a little differently. The line, 'This day we fight' sounds different to me from what I remember from the cinema and as I don't own the theatrical version I can't check. Can anyone confirm my suspicions and if so, why did they change it?
Answer: It's not different from the theatrical cut, but a significantly different take on the line was used in the trailer.
Answer: 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.
Tailkinker ★