Continuity mistake: At Minas Tirith, when Gandalf knocks Denethor out with his staff and then shouts, "Prepare for battle!" the silver broach he wears on his cloak is backwards (not upside-down). Interestingly, his belt is actually on properly, and the background is also as it should be. (02:01:25)
Continuity mistake: When Shadowfax breaks down the door to the Tomb of the Stewards, in the shot facing Gandalf he grabs the guard's spear and points the blunt end towards Denethor on the pyre as Shadowfax rides forward. In the next shot from behind, never altering his tight grip, now the tip of the spear is pointed at Denethor as he charges forward. (02:02:10)
Continuity mistake: After entering the Tomb of the Stewards, Gandalf grabs the spear, charges forward and ahead of him stands Denethor on the pyre which is now engulfed in a tall blaze on the left side. Yet in the next shot as Gandalf reaches the pyre, only the tip of the fire is barely visible below the height of the pyre. Then in the next shot as Gandalf strikes Denethor, it is once again a high fiery mass. (02:02:10)
Continuity mistake: When the front hatch of the Orc's siege tower lands on the stone wall, smashing some points, in the next side shot the wall and its points differ. For example, when the door lands the nearest unsmashed point actually has a broken tip, but is the next side shot the tip is whole and pointy. (02:04:40)
Continuity mistake: When Éowyn and Merry ride, she says, "Take the reins." She holds her sword in her left hand and grabs an Orc blade with her right hand as they ride. In the next wide back shot, she holds the Orc blade in her left hand. Then the Orc blade is back in her right hand. There are discrepancies between the sword seen in Merry's close-ups and the wide shots as well. (02:06:15)
Continuity mistake: On the fields of Pelennor, Theoden yells, "Bring it down!" three times in succession. As Theoden yells the first, "Bring it down!" Gamling has the bow in his hand and lets loose an arrow, with particular soldiers around him. In the next shot, Theoden yells the second, "Bring it down!" Gamling now has a sword in his hand, with other people around him. (02:06:45)
Continuity mistake: On the fields of Pelennor, Éowyn throws the spear at the Mûmak's hind leg and in the wide shot her horse rears up. As she holds the reins, neither she nor Merry have a sword in their left hands. Yet, in the next close-up each of them hold swords in their left hands. (02:06:50)
Continuity mistake: When Theoden is dying, the Witch King says, "Feast on his flesh," and there is no Mumak behind Theoden. As soon as Eowyn appears there is a giant Mumak carcass lying behind Theoden. The beast is seen in a few shots, but in quite a few shots, even the birds-eye views, no Mumak is anywhere near Theoden. (02:09:05)
Continuity mistake: When King Theoden is lying under his horse, when Eowyn starts to battle the Witch King, he has spots of mud on his right cheek that are very clear. After Eowyn has slain the Witch King the spots on Theoden's face are now faint smudges. After he dies and she leans down to hug him, the spots are now as they appeared in the first shot. (02:09:20 - 02:15:45)
Continuity mistake: When Eowyn steps in front of Theoden to stop the fell beast from eating him, it tries to bite her but she jumps out of the way and cuts off its head, though her sword and arm should have been caught in the fell beast's mouth as she jumped out of the way. (02:09:25)
Continuity mistake: Just before Eowyn is about to strike the fell beast's neck with her sword, a huge gash running down the entire left side of its neck can be seen. When the scene cuts to a close-up of Eowyn, who is on the beast's right-hand side and is about to strike again, the gash is now only across the top of the neck and a few inches down the left side. (02:09:30)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the Witch King is choking Eowyn, saying, "Die now," you can plainly see that Eowyn's thick helmet strap is securely underneath her chin. It is drawn tight. In the shot where she claims, "I am no man," and whips off her helmet, in the close-up the strap is gone. (02:11:35)
Continuity mistake: Éowyn removes her helmet and declares, "I am no man!" In the shot of her stabbing the Witch King, her hair on both sides is in front of her shoulders. However in the shots preceding and following this one, the hair on her left side is tucked behind her shoulder. (02:11:50)
Continuity mistake: As Theoden lies trapped underneath the horse's body, there are many other bodies and armour lying all around him. During the entire scene, until Theoden's death, many of those bodies/armour change entirely or change positions. (02:14:10 - 02:16:10)
Continuity mistake: While Eowyn is with dying Theoden, after he says, "my body is broken" there is a black smudge over Eowyn's right eye in the next three shots, whereas it is not in the previous or following shots. (02:15:00)
Continuity mistake: In the poignant close-up, Theoden's last word is, "Éowyn," and he dies with his head towards his left, facing Éowyn, who then puts her face on the top of his chest. In the consecutive wide shot, with her head still resting on his chest, now his head is facing towards his right. She did not move his head. (02:16:05)
Continuity mistake: After the battle of the Pelennor fields, as the King of the Dead and his army disappear, in the shot behind Gimli and Aragorn, Gimli looks around at the disappearing army and holds his axe horizontally in his right hand. In the next shot from the front the axe is now on the ground and he is leaning on it. (02:17:00)
Continuity mistake: After the great battle in Pelennor fields when Pippin finds Merry under the Orc, Merry says, "I knew you'd find me," and you can see that Pippin has his hand under Merry's neck/head propping it up. Then, the shot pulls back to show both hobbits, and Merry says, "Are you going to leave me?" and now Pippin no longer has his hand under Merry's neck; he is sort of stroking his hair. (02:17:45)
Continuity mistake: Frodo is tied up in the Tower at Cirith Ungol and in the first few shots his wrists are tightly bound left over right. Yet after Gorbag threatens Shagrat, in the shot of Frodo as we see them fight behind him, Frodo's now bound right over left and in this shot his hair and webbing are completely different than the previous shot. The rope, its knots, his hair and webbing change throughout the shots. (02:18:20)
Continuity mistake: At Cirith Ungol, the white paint stripes on Gorbag's face change position, thickness and whiteness in the shots while in the tower and when he falls downstairs. (02:18:35 - 02:19:20)
Answer: Aragorn is 210 years old when he dies. Some of the early texts give his age at death as 190, but Tolkien eventually confirmed that 210 is the correct age.
Tailkinker ★