Continuity mistake: When Éowyn whips off her helmet and stabs the Witch King, her hair is neatly parted, long and straight. Yet, as she crawls in pain, away from Gothmog, her hair is in nothing less than a total mess. Then when Éowyn, still injured, crawls to Theoden her hair is once again nice and tidy. (Extended Edition) (00:40:35 - 00:41:10)
Continuity mistake: After Arwen's vision, when an Elf escort says, "...we cannot delay.", in the close-up he faces her and his hair is behind his shoulders. In the next wide shot as Arwen begins to leave, the escort now turns to face her, his hair is in front of his shoulders and the neck/shoulder area of his cloak is different than the previous and following close-up. In the next close-up, his hair is behind his shoulders again. (00:28:20)
Continuity mistake: After falling near Frodo's body, Sam thrusts the Phial of Galadriel toward wounded Shelob as she recoils into her lair. In the shots behind Sam his hood is at his left shoulder, but in the shots from the front and in the overhead shot as he reaches Frodo's body, his hood is centered. (01:52:00)
Continuity mistake: When Aragorn enters Theoden's tent, there are two tables, one to the left and the other on the right, with a variety of items on them. The objects' positions or existence change throughout this scene. Including the gust of wind wide shot facing Aragorn and the overhead shot of Elrond carrying Andùril. (01:15:50)
Continuity mistake: In the battle of Pelennor fields, you can see that an Orc scratches the top of Aragorn's face with his blade, making blood form around Aragorn's forehead. In the next shot, all the blood is gone.
Continuity mistake: During the scene between Denethor and Pippin in the Main Hall at Minas Tirith, Denethor is eating and has a red mark running down his chin. There is a shot from Pippin's perspective showing the right side of Denethor's chin with the mark. The next shot is from Denethor's left with Pippin in the background, and Denethor turns towards the camera and the mark is gone. The shot is then returned to Pippin's perspective, and the mark has returned for the rest of the scene. (01:08:50)
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: Legolas' horse changes several times. Most notably in the sequence in which Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn enter, then follow the Paths of the Dead, the horse changes from dappled grey to pure white with a grey mane and back, between a number of shots. (01:20:30 - 01:24:15)
Continuity mistake: At Edoras, after Gandalf throws the blanket over the palantir, Pippin's hair is on the floor above his head. However, in the next shot, his hair is completely under his head.
Continuity mistake: When Aragorn shouts for Legolas, he turns to see the Mûmak heading towards him and the mountainside to the right of Minas Tirith is gone, though it should be visible at this angle, such as when earlier, as the Corsair ships arrive, that mountainside is visible in the wideshot facing Minas Tirith. (00:39:20 - 00:41:45)
Continuity mistake: During the "It will be spring soon" speech between Sam and Frodo on the slope of Mount Doom, notice that the light hits their faces differently based on the shot. If it is a wide angle shot, the light is on the right side of their faces/bodies. However, if the camera is in tight for a close-up, the light is shining from the left side.
Continuity mistake: Gandalf and Pippin walk to the prow of Minas Tirith, and while the wizard says, "Childless lords sat in aged halls, musing on heraldry..." the camera passes the two tall stones at the prow. The depth of the stones are the same at both the narrow top and wide bottom, they are irregularly shaped and the actual points are curved. The prow's short side stone walls meet the two front stones at their edges and part of the wall is broken. However, after Gandalf says, "The rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men," in the next shot facing Mordor, the stones are completely different. The two tall stones come to a perfect point, they are straight at all sides and the design of the stone differs. The wall is not broken and both sides jut out past the side edges of the two tall pointy stones. (Extended DVD.) (00:48:40)
Continuity mistake: After Aragorn's coronation, he and Arwen approach Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry. When they all bow to the Hobbits, in the close-ups the people surrounding the Hobbits are very close. However, in the overhead wide shot there is a large gap between the Hobbits and the crowd. (02:57:10)
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: At Minas Tirith, after injured Faramir is carried up, Denethor walks away and sees the Orc army for the first time. In the next shot when the Troll lifts the rock onto the catapult, this catapult is totally different in the close-up and following wide shot. (02:00:35)
Continuity mistake: As Pippin climbs to light the beacon, in the overhead wide shot the stacks of wood are seen on a double step platform at the top of the cliff. Where Pip climbs, there is a wide ledge above him leading to the platform, between the four columns. Yet, in the next close-up, there is barely any ledge between the cliff side and the double step platform on which the stacks of wood sits and the cliff side is also rockier in the close-up. (00:46:35)
Continuity mistake: When Aragorn beheads the mouth of Sauron, his left cheek is splashed with a fair amount of black blood which drips downward. In the very next shot of Aragorn's face, the amount of blood has been reduced to a few dried spots. (01:11:45)
Continuity mistake: While the Orcs attack Minas Tirith, the fix-it shop on one of the levels is seen in various shots and its look changes in consecutive shots. The bucket that hangs at the doorway is gone in the first shot, yet it's back four shots later and the rubble in front is vastly different in both shots, etc. (00:23:05)
Continuity mistake: When the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is wrapping up, you see Aragorn with some of his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. In the next shot (in the background you can see the Dead swarming up a mumak), his forehead has nothing on it.
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)
Answer: There are only five wizards. Saruman and Gandalf are heavily involved, as we see. Radagast, while not mentioned in the film, has a particular affinity with the birds and animals - it is he who sends the Eagles to the last battle, and to rescue Gandalf from Isengard. The final two, Alatar and Pallando, known as the Blue Wizards, went into the far eastern regions of Middle-Earth and never returned. Tolkien felt that they would ultimately have fallen from grace, much as Saruman did.
Tailkinker ★