Question: What is the reason for Aragorn falling off the cliff? Most people who see this movie would at least know that the next installment is called "Return of the King" so they would know that Aragorn cannot die until the third movie. I wondered whether it was just a plot device so that Aragorn could see the army of Uruk-Hai later and report their numbers to Theoden.
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Question: Extended Edition: Why do Faramir and his men expect an attack on Osgiliath from the North? Minas Morgul, the place where the orcs would come from, is South East of Osgiliath- wouldn't they expect an attack from there, especially after seeing the green beacon in the sky coming from there?
Chosen answer: Additional forces left Mordor via the Black Gate, marching to attack the elves in Lorien and the dwarven kingdom in the north. It would make a great deal of sense to send a group across the river at a crossing point to the north, then south towards Osgiliath to avoid the necessity of crossing the river under fire. With the main force attacking from across the river and the subsidiary force attacking from the north, Osgiliath would swiftly fall. Knowing that Mordor's armies are on the march, Faramir would be able to anticipate the likelihood of a northern attack.
Question: Why does the Eye of Sauron look so different in this movie? In 'Fellowship', it's a round eye with a thin slit but in this movie it is more oval shaped and has a considerably wider slit.
Chosen answer: The Eye gradually changes throughout the films, getting noticeably larger and more dynamic - a sign of Sauron's growing power.
Question: When Gandalf tells Pippin about the 'fair green country' is he referring to the Undying Lands (where Frodo goes in the end) or somewhere else? If he is talking about the Undying Lands, does that mean that normal people also go there once they physically die?
Chosen answer: In terms of the specifics, Gandalf may well be referring to the Undying Lands in order to boost Pippin's morale, but, no, non-Elves do not end up there without special dispensation. The younger races have their own destination after death, which Tolkien doesn't elaborate on to any great degree.
Question: Is Sam's line "By rights we shouldn't even be here," a reference to the fact that Frodo and Sam never go to Osgiliath in the books?
Chosen answer: No. Despite various attempts to read that as some tacit admission of wrong-doing on the part of the scriptwriters, it doesn't mean anything of the sort. What Sam means is that, if things were going right in the world, he and Frodo would be living a peaceful life in the Shire, not dodging Nazguls and arrows in the ruins of Osgiliath.
Question: When Gandalf finds out that Denethor is going to burn Faramir alive, why does he leave the battle just to save Faramir? Surely he could do much more good and save more than one life by staying in the battle.
Chosen answer: It's a morale thing. Denethor's already nearly ruined the defence of the city by telling everybody to flee; were it to become known that Denethor was not only dead, but had taken Faramir with him, thus destroying the line of Stewards and leaving the city with no ruler, the morale of the troops would be destroyed. Gandalf can only do so much to rally the troops; the city still needs a leader, even an incapacitated one. As such, he needs to make sure that Faramir survives.
Question: When the men finally get their shoes, they are just tossed a pair from the wagon and they automatically fit. Were military shoes back then one size fits all? How could they have shoes that automatically fit them?
Answer: To add to the answer, it's shown in the film in this scene as a soldier approaches a pile of shoes and places a pair on the pile and grabs another.
Chosen answer: The shoes would have been a mix of the most common sizes, and the men would have gone through them to find the right size...swapping when necessary. Keep in mind many of them were barefoot, so even shoes of the wrong size would have been a blessing.
Question: In the scenes in which the POWs use the bags inside their trousers to distribute tunnel dirt over the compound, how do they put the pins back into the bags? It seems like a pain in the butt to have to take the bags out, just to put them back in, just to take them back out, etc.
Chosen answer: The movie is based on a true story and depicts actual events. After dispersing the dirt, the POWs simply removed the bags from their pants, reinserted the pins, and put the filled bags back inside their trousers again. Of course it was a pain, but what other options did they have? Little or none. Carrying out a secret operation in a POW camp with few resources, they worked with what they had, and made what they had work.
Question: When Aragorn looks into the Palantir (Extended DVD) he sees Sauron (in bodily form) holding the other Palantir. Are we to assume that Sauron has regained physical form?
Chosen answer: No. Sauron's trying to psych Aragorn out, show him what he's up against. Appearing as the formidable warrior that he was before he lost the Ring is part of that.
Question: Does the Mouth of Sauron actually have Sauron's mouth, or is that just a name given to him because he is Sauron's messenger?
Chosen answer: The latter; it's just his title.
Question: Why could Eowyn and Merry defeat the Witch King when it seemed that no-one else could? It seems as though Eowyn can kill him because she is a woman but why does it make any difference?
Chosen answer: It was prophesied centuries earlier that no man could slay the Witch King. Since then, the Nazgul's power and martial ability have ensured that to be the case, however, it's also built up his arrogance and sense of invulnerability. As such, he fails to pay enough attention to his surroundings in battle, bragging to Eowyn about his supposed inability to be killed. This leaves him wide open for Merry, who he either simply didn't notice or never considered to be a threat, to take him down, then Eowyn to slay him. It's not so much that a man could not have slain him, more that a far-seeing elf looked into the Witch King's future and saw that it would not be a man who finally did.
Question: When Rohan arrives at the Pellenor fields, how come they are able to scare the orcs off so easily and force them back to the river (just before the Mumakil arrive)? In the overhead shot of the Rohirrim charging down upon the orcs, the orc army seems to outnumber them at least 5 to 1.
Chosen answer: It's not just about numbers. Sure, the Orcs may outnumber the Rohirrim, but think of it from the point of view of the individual Orc. Bearing down on them, at high speed, are several thousand heavily armed and fired-up warriors, each of whom is riding a warhorse that weighs more than several orcs put together and gives their rider a serious height advantage. Psychologically speaking, the Rohirrim have a phenomenal advantage. Hardly a surprise that the Orcs would break under that sort of pressure.
Question: Is there any word about a new special edition of this movie with some deleted scenes on it? I would quite like to see the fight between Aragorn and Sauron at the Black Gate (which has reportedly been filmed).
Chosen answer: It's highly unlikely that that scene would ever see the light of day, as much of it was cannibalised to use in the fight between Aragorn and the Troll. Plus there would be substantial effects work required to present the scene in any decent way and it would be highly unlikely that the filmmakers would choose to do any more effects work at this point, just for a deleted scene. With three separate DVD releases of the film already in existence (theatrical, extended and the "special limited edition", which contains both the theatrical and extended cuts), it's highly unlikely that a fourth release would be under consideration any time in the near future.
Question: Does Sam's reluctance to give the ring back to Frodo in Cirith Ungol mean that Sam too feels the pull of the ring and wants it for himself, or is he simply reluctant to give it back because he thinks Frodo cannot cope?
Chosen answer: Probably a bit of both. Even with his utter loyalty to Frodo, Sam isn't immune to the lure of the Ring. It still affects him, even if only a little, enough to cause a brief hesitation. However, it's also fair to say that he realises what effect the Ring has on Frodo and hates to see that happen to him, which would also give him pause in returning the Ring to his master.
Question: Denethor, while not a king, sees himself the ruler of Gondor. Why then, is he not sitting on the marble throne of Gondor, but on a small much less elegant chair set upon the stairs leading to the throne?
Chosen answer: The Stewards see themselves as the rulers of Gondor, with some justification, as it has been many generations since a King sat on the throne. However, while they are in charge, they must still answer to tradition, and tradition states that the throne is held in trust for the King of Gondor, with the Stewards ruling from the lesser throne. If Denethor were to decide to sit in the King's chair, he would be effectively promoting himself to that rank, which would not go down well with the Gondorian population.
Question: This applies to all the movies and books. Why is Dumbledore the only one Voldemort ever feared?
Chosen answer: Because Dumbledore is extremely powerful and utterly unintimidated by Voldemort. Voldemort, while extremely powerful himself, relies on fear to weaken any opposition to him - through fear, he gains a measure of control. Dumbledore, who has no fear of his ex-student, stands as a strong opponent who cannot be weakened through psychological tactic - as such, Voldemort fears him.
Answer: In addition, Dumbledore has a reputation of defeating powerful dark wizards, such as his defeat of Grindelwald, who yielded the elder wand.
Question: I recently bought the Extended DVD of this movie and sold the Theatrical version to a friend. While watching the Extended DVD I couldn't help noticing that the jug that Pippin replaces the Palantir with (while Gandalf is sleeping with his eyes open) did not seem like the same jug as the one in the Theatrical version. Are they the same jug?
Chosen answer: There is absolutely no reason to believe it is not the same, the costs to change this would be prohibitive and there is no reasonable need to have done so.
Question: Hagrid was expelled from Hogwart's because he was believed to have opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was stripped of his wand at the same time. Why then, after he is proved innocent of opening the Chamber, is he not given another wand?
Answer: It's not, no. It is, however, the name of Matt Groening's real dad, which is why he named the father of the Simpsons' Homer.
Question: Where does Swagger get his new sniper rifle? He was given the .22 that used to belong to Danny, but that obviously wasn't the gun he used at the Montana ranch or the mountain top scene. Where did this higher caliber rifle come from?
Answer: In the deleted scenes on the DVD it shows Swagger and the FBI agent purchasing the items for their assault on the ranch house, including two rifles.
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Chosen answer: You're quite right in that, no, I doubt anybody seriously would have thought that Aragorn was going to die, but the scene functions as a way of showing the peril that the characters are facing, plus, as you say, it allowed Aragorn to report on the approaching enemy force, putting the main characters in the thick of the action rather than having a nameless scout character make the report. Plus it also allows them to reunite Aragorn with Brego the horse.
Tailkinker ★