Question: Extended Edition: What is the point of the avalanche of skulls that the Army of the Dead throw down upon Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli? Surely the AOTD would want to keep Aragorn alive; he was the only way that they could break their curse. Or was the avalanche of skulls something that the AOTD were not responsible for? PS: I don't want any answers like "Peter Jackson put it there because it looked cool", I want answers that fit within the context of the film.
lionhead
7th Dec 2008
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
30th Oct 2017
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: Why doesn't Gandalf want Pippin to touch the crystal ball, whatever it's called? Does it give Sauron the ability to read minds?
Answer: In a word, yes. The palantÃr (as it is called) forms a mental link between itself and others like it, and a strong mind (such as Sauron) can manipulate weaker ones (as he did with Saruman and Denethor).
29th Dec 2018
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: Why was Merry's hand burned when he stabbed the back of the witch king's leg?
That's caused by his breath and I don't think he breathes from his leg.
How was Merry even able to stab the witch king's leg anyway? It's been said that no man can kill the witch king.
Going back to the books for more explanation: First: it wasn't a protection. It was a prophecy/prediction by Glorfindel a millennium earlier. Second: the weapon Merry had in the books was a barrow-blade recovered by Tom Bombadil while saving the Hobbits from the barrow wights and had been enchanted directly against the Witch King. Since the scene (and Tom) were not in the film, they went with a more specific interpretation. The Witch King was not killed by a man, but by a Hobbit and a woman.
Answer: Because of what the Witch King is made of, his blood (or whatever) burns the skin of a mortal. Maybe even being too close will cause burns.
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Chosen answer: With the last of the line of Isildur dead, there would be no one left to hold them to their oath and they'd be free to 'pass on.'
Phixius ★
The king would have no reason to believe that killing Aragorn would free him. He thought the line was broken. He was surprised that there was an heir left alive. Therefore, he would have believed that they were never going to pass on because there was nobody to free them. Immediately attempting to kill the last person that could free them seems like an odd conclusion to come to within minutes of meeting Aragorn. A possible reason is that the army was leaving, so the magic holding the skulls stopped.
The avalanche of skulls came after Aragorn revealed himself as the heir of Isildur. It was their way of saying no to his request.
lionhead