#Denethor in the film is like 'i know faramir's uses and they are few' LIKE

[lesbiansforboromir]

Been scouring your blog to see if you have a specific take and i only managed to find the post where you said you are more for people coming up with their own meaning for Tolkiens work. anyhow, after reading you boromir post on how hope is his poison I am super curious as to what meaning you personally ascribe to it all. A lot of scholars will tout hope over despair as the ultimate meaning here (and the ultimate meaning of real life...ugh) and considering your very gut wrenching but meaningful takes on boromir i was just curious. Your thought process is fascinating from a scholarly viewpoint (which is not my strong suit) but also an artistic, emotional, philosophical, and human viewpoint. Whew sorry this ask is so long and disorganized! Have i mentioned I am not a scholar? :D

First off I love this ask it made me so happy to read I had to do so like five times before I felt qualified to answer it and then I spent like months writing this response which is over 4000 words now if you want to know. And, on that note, dw about scholarliness or whatever this ask has more desire to engage with lotr in nuanced ways than most tolkien scholars achie- (gets hit by a piano) anyway~!

It's also just extremely flattering that you're curious of my personal opinion at all so thank you so very much!

(this is the post anon is talking about for context)

As with all things, my answer has many layers. At the most basic and applicable level, and when taking only my Gondorian/Stewardship investment into account, I am engaging with the story for personal catharsis.

The fact that Gondor felt hopeless, that the enemy was merciless and invincible, that even those figures who were supposed to help had only judgement and platitudes to offer until it personally benefitted them, that Boromir and Denethor were isolated and generally condemned and that many only showed them pity after their deaths, feels extremely cathartically familiar to me and my story with chronic illness. I've spoken about this before here and there, but that is the kind of simplistic, energy giving, 'he's me fr fr' comparison that brings me uncomplicated comfort and inspiration.

But that is definitely not 'what lord of the rings is about' not even just to me, it's not even just what BOROMIR is about to me, it is an element of the story and worldbuilding that I have isolated and consumed but that still exists within a far larger whole. And that whole is also fascinating and compelling but in a far more esoteric and harder to define way.

BUT before we get into it, I do also feel the need to explain the limitations I percieve within the 'lotr is about hope over despair' narrative since you've brought it up but neither your ask nor the post you mentioned properly explains it and it'll enhance my point later. SO.

As far as my experience has lead me to believe, when people say 'lotr is about hope triumphing over despair' they mean it in a moralising fable kind of way. This is definitely the narrative the films latched onto, like a leech. Good characters have hope, lose it only to reclaim it again, teach others to have hope etc, and that is good of them. Bad characters are despairing and therefore have no hope, and they do evil deeds because of the despair and lack of hope. The Aragorn vs Denethor film paradigm.

But nothing within the books is anywhere near as cut and dry. As I said in the linked post, Boromir gains hope after having none (the hope that he can save Gondor by using the ring) and that is bad, it is something he has to 'pay for' according to the narrative. Meanwhile charmed and blessed Faramir admits that he never had any hope quite a few times, yet he is not punished for it. Theoden also has no hope and is explicitely going to war to die, but his death is not considered evil or selfish by the majority. Saruman is very hopeful, he's hopeful that Sauron can be reasoned with, that if they work together they can make a better world, but he suffers 100 indignities and then is killed by a cannibal! And most of all, Frodo also rarely (if ever) shows any signs of hope, he merely doggedly marches on regardless and in the end even takes the power of the ring for himself, essentially the ultimate evil act of desperation, but that saves the world!

For the record the idea that LotR is a fable-narrative of any kind seems exceedingly erroneous to me, like the idea that we are supposed to glean any universal Good Moral from the tale due to Tolkien's 'emminent wisdom' feels bizarre in and of itself. But at the very least this aspect is more complex, I think we can all agree.

But even more than that (and this is more perspective than narrative analysis I suppose but I think it bears saying), ‘despair is evil’ is a kind of horrible thing to teach! If the villainisation of people driven to desperate actions or anhedonia because of the deep despair they are suffering is what LotR is about then that’s.. awful! That sounds like a bad book and I don't think I'd want to read it. But lets put a pin in the concept of condemning people for despair for now, look out for the pin cus it’ll be coming back later. 

FOR NOW lets get back on topic, if I don't think LotR is 'about' hope triumphing over despair, what do I think it's about?

Well. I know what I'm about to do appears highly out of character for me so please remain calm and gird yourself before I say this but; Let us start with hearing what Tolkien had to say on the subject.

I do not think that even Power or Domination is the real centre of my story. It provides the theme of a War, about something dark and threatening enough to seem at that time of supreme importance, but that is mainly 'a setting' for characters to show themselves. The real theme for me is about something much more permanent and difficult: Death and Immortality: the mystery of the love of the world in the hearts of a race 'doomed' to leave and seemingly lose it; the anguish in the hearts of a race 'doomed' not to leave it, until its whole evil-aroused story is complete.

(this quote is actually from a letter to a fan who suggested lotr was an allegory for atomic power and he was pretty mean and dismissive about it in reply, it's kind of funny)

Now I've been a bit glib about this in the past, along the lines of 'tolkien's own opinion on what his book was about changed for every year of his life and by the time all his friends started dying around him it became about death, what a surprise' mainly because, again, we've had enough people caring about Tolkien's opinions to do us for the rest of civilisation. But I've always known this glib comment to be pretty baseless and unconsidered, since death was a major aspect of his life from his earliest childhood and it makes sense for that to have been a large part of his work. And since I am being sincere I will, just this once, take Tolkien's hand instead of ignoring him.

For him, the theme of his book was not power or domination (or the evils of war or hope over despair), it was about death. It was about people trying to deal with the realities of death existing for them, not existing for others, and what love (loving the world) meant in that context.

On it's surface I find this quote kind of clinical in it's first impression. There's a prescriptiveness to it that does not inspire me, which isn't surprising since this came from a letter full of veiled snootiness on his part.

But mostly, as a concept.. it seems pretty distant from what actually happens in the story itself, right? What aspect of death and immortality was the fellowship embodying? Boromir certainly died, but he was not looking for immortality and his death is far more concerned with guilt than the fact that he is dying. Theodred is dead already, but not even his father appears all that bothered about it and it's quickly set aside to focus more on the war. Denethor kills himself but his and Gandalf's last interaction says far more about despair and faith than death.

And then no other main character 'dies' at all, unless you count Gandalf. And the only main immortal character we have (other than Gandalf) is Legolas whom, whilst he does have quotes associated with his immortality, is far more invested in his and Gimli's relationship than anything else. It's no wonder people choose 'war is hell' or 'hope over despair' narratives over 'death' as the main theme for lotr from their perspective.

It also does not satisfyingly link to one of the most compelling aspects of the books as a whole; that of how they are presented. The thread connecting death and immortality to writing a story that is from in-universe historical accounts, editted and compiled by many subsequent in-universe hands, is there but hazy. The intense catholic-ness of the story is also intuitably related to death and immortality, but not explicitly.

In essence, death does not feel like the main theme of the books when you are reading them, at least I don't think most experience them that way.

However, in spite of all that, Tolkien's opinion on what his books are 'about' is still the closest I have seen anyone come to my own. Which I assume is hard enough for you all to hear, but imagine how I feel 😩

To me, LotR is most themactically consistent when viewed through the lense of Frodo and Gandalf's ever misquoted early interaction;

"Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.’ ‘It is not,’ said Frodo. (emphasis mine)

It is not comforting to know that the suffering in front of you was always meant to happen, no matter how comforting the idea of a divine plan might be to some. And that is what Gandalf is offering Frodo in this moment, the relief of a divine plan and its ‘high beauty for ever beyond [the Shadow’s] reach’. But this is never comforting to Frodo in the books, the comfort he finds on his martyr's journey is in Sam. Indeed, it is actually Sam who finds comfort in 'the high beauty', this reminder that beyond all his own suffering there is an imperishable and eternal light that can never be dimmed.

But not Frodo, how can he? His eventual fate is to grasp the power of a weapon so unholy it sickens his soul, to do that which he has been told is irreversible and unforgivable, so that he can never be at ease or even survive in the lands he has loved ever again. The 'High Beauty' is what is doing this to him, what made the rules, what meant for this to happen, what he is doing this in service of. And Gandalf, whose soul will be present to see the very end of this tale, cannot possibly understand what it is for your whole life to be encapsulated by just your own small painful part of what Gandalf would propose was a beautiful and universal tapestry.

And lack of agency against the divine plan is precisely the narrative thread that ties every character together. To some it is a comfort, Aragorn and Gandalf and Sam are all gladdened and encouraged by the knowledge that there is some higher power ordering their lives, some greater beauty they are all a part of beyond any earthly pain or suffering. They are not in control and to remember this is a relief. It inspires them to better fulfill their ordained duties and drive themselves through terrible trials.

To others it is no comfort at all, Boromir and Frodo have no faith in the prospect that the divine plan will include success or happy lives for them at the end of their tasks. But it is a hopelessness and uncertainly that they both accept. They simply believe their duties must be attempted anyway, hopeless or not, even if it makes no difference to the outcome in the end. Lack of control is just a reality they live with.

And to some it is a horror. Denethor and Eowyn want to fulfill their duties, but these duties are torture. They demand loved ones die, they demand relentless fear and sacrifice, they demand ceaseless and hopeless toil. And in the end both of them are given rebellious breaks from these duties by the narrative, ones that are horrifying in and of themselves (and portrayed as wrong to one degree or another) but that are still extremely cathartically presented as attempts to reclaim control of their lives away from a callous divine. Even if, ultimately, this also was out of their control.

Merry, Pippin, Legolas and Gimli appear to have never quite had to confront the realities of their powerlessness before. But through the story they become intimately aware of it in ways that force them to make choices they are not ready to make. For Merry and Pippin, this leads them to ultimately empathise with Eowyn and Denethor’s positions, wracked with guilt and equally horrified, attempting to find agency in death where (it appears) none can be found. For Legolas and Gimli, they confront the spectors of lack of agency/death for the first time in the narrative (sea-longing and the Paths of the Dead) and are irrevocably changed by them, eventually leading them both to attempt to circumvent their fates by illegally sailing to the uttermost west. Obviously fandom likes to believe they made it and live happily, but narratively it is also suggested that they died at sea in the attempt.

Now, at the risk of indulging in my ever-derided biographical criticism, I do think that all of these characterful arcs are represented in Tolkien’s own life. I feel comfortable saying that Tolkien was not a happy man by default. He was wracked with guilt from a very young age (wow a catholic with guilt, groundbreaking) but that guilt followed him and found new reasons to manifest until the very end of his life. And a lot of this guilt had to do with death, his father's death, his mother's death, his friend's deaths. And a lot of it had to do with fear of leaving unfinished or poorly finished business behind him at the time of his own death: guilt about how he had taught his students, about his scholarly work, his parenting skills, his so-oft-mentioned faith. 

And being a man of faith, he would have experienced all these things as a part of the divine plan, even as they were also his guilt to bear. So, clearly, Tolkien's experience encompassed all of these characters, right? The despair and the torment and combined love-of and frustration-with the divine. The failure. He knew them all. And within all of them, as well as within the narrative and world itself, there is a wrestling, there is an ever-shifting complexity and multitude of different opinions to how one experiences a life that hurts in a beautiful world that you love but that you eventually must leave, with the sensation that you have no control over any of it.

However, a complication to any declaration of ‘what LotR is about’ is that it is a self-admittedly unreliable narrative. If you cannot necessarily believe everything the narrative is telling you, then suddenly additional layers of complexity come into play in determining the meaning within an already complex text. In LotR you can actually track which characters are recounting which parts of the story to Frodo or Sam at the time of writing. But it is also just obscured enough to make it ambiguous and to enforce the idea that this is a version of this original story edited and compiled for many generations after it's writing.

So not only are these characters and events transient, uncertain and being (sometimes bluntly) misrepresented by the narrators, YOU are now complicit in that. You are yet another interpreter to alter this narrative through your perspective, just as all works and all lives are interpreted by those who view them, with no way to control that judgment. You are also a character now, making it even more difficult to make definitive judgments about a question like 'what LotR is about'.

The clearest example of how this narrative unreliability and reader interpretation comes into play within the text itself is when Frodo describes the fellowship's entrance into Lothlorien to Faramir. He is being blindfolded in order to be lead to Henneth Annun, and he recounts;

‘As you will,’ said Frodo. ‘Even the Elves do likewise at need, and blindfolded we crossed the borders of fair Lothlorien. Gimli the dwarf took it ill, but the hobbits endured it.’

But we, as readers of the previous book, know this is a gross mischaracterisation of Gimli. He did not take issue with being blindfolded, he took issue with being singled out as the only member of the fellowship who needed to be blindfolded.

‘As was agreed, I shall here blindfold the eyes of Gimli the Dwarf. The others may walk free for a while, until we come nearer to our dwellings, down in Egladil, in the Angle between the waters.’ This was not at all to the liking of Gimli. ‘The agreement was made without my consent,’ he said. ‘I will not walk blindfold, like a beggar or a prisoner. And I am no spy. My folk have never had dealings with any of the servants of the Enemy. Neither have we done harm to the Elves. I am no more likely to betray you than Legolas, or any other of my companions.’

In this one moment Frodo has taken what was a reaction of justified indignation against racial prejudice, and made it sound like a minor tantrum over a shared burden. He has also used it to further aggrandise his own people in Faramir's eyes. And it is up to YOU to notice this, to review it in your mind, to choose what it leads you to believe about all characters involved. The narrative certainly never helps you, or addresses it ever again. You have to wrestle with what it means in your mind.

I believe this is the reason I have observed that every person who reads LotR and loves it and keeps rereading it feels like they are excavating something. There is a narrative under the narrative for every new pair of eyes on the tale. And that narrative is you, it's who your experiences and sympathies lead you to listen too harder, it's the story of the experiences you understand. And in that excavation, you are also reclaiming a moment of control for yourself in conversation with the story and whatever you have chosen to excavate. One might say these are all aspects of every story, but LotR is unique in its investment and immersion into the concept.

Because, to me, when Tolkien says his story is about 'death and immortality', what I read is that it's about the ultimate lack of control we have (death) and trying to empathise and accept the unfairness of what will become our inherently false legacies (immortality). And then just the vast spectrum of experiences and emotions those things conjure. It's not just about those things, it is an attempted soothing of those fears and struggles, it is an offer of comfort or catharsis or applicability. It is also an acknowledgement of the love that drives you and that you will eventually grieve.

Frodo leaves the shire to save it because he loves it, but he knows the entire time he will never be able to fully return. He is frustrated, it hurts, but a piece of the Shire in Sam comes with him and whilst it cannot save him, Frodo is still comforted. 

Sam leaves the Shire because he loves Frodo, and he loves the high beauty as embodied by elves and magic and history. He also knows implicitly that this is a task he cannot refuse, but these things comfort him. He is glad to be guided and strengthened to even greater feats the more he trusts in a higher power, but he has a life and a family in the end. And if that is what the Higher Beauty decrees for him, where it has doomed Frodo to incurable soulful wounds, are we surprised at either of their choices? Can we blame anyone for their hope OR despair in the face of powerlessness? Oh! Look at that! It’s that pin I mentioned quite literally last century ago. TOLD you it’d be back.

And that brings us back to the question, what do I think LotR is about. 

We are all powerless in the face of death and in writing a book about death Tolkien’s work has an inherent universal applicability in this regard. Tolkien asks an unconscious question within lotr, how should we cope with being creatures that love the world but that are doomed to die and leave it? And then he leaves that question entirely unanswered. This is what sets lotr apart and truly creates a story in which people can read narratives therein that appear entirely separate from death or any other recognisable theme others might see, without losing the sense of universal appeal. He offers multiple perspectives, including that of the dominant religion’s prescriptive decrees of right and wrong, but there is no solution brought forth in the story that saves anyone from grief or death or regret in the end. Not even Aragorn or Arwen, who are in essence the most holy and faithful characters barring Gandalf within the story, end without heartbreak and despair!

‘‘I speak no comfort to you, for there is no comfort for such pain within the circles of the world. The uttermost choice is before you: to repent and go to the Havens and bear away into the West the memory of our days together that shall there be evergreen but never more than memory; or else to abide the Doom of Men.’’ ‘‘Nay, dear lord,’’ she said, ‘‘that choice is long over. There is now no ship that would bear me hence, and I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill: the loss and the silence. But I say to you, King of the Numenoreans, not till now have I understood the tale of your people and their fall. As wicked fools I scorned them, but I pity them at last. For if this is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive.’’ ‘‘So it seems,’’ he said.

There is no such comfort!! … Or is there?

To me, the appeal of Boromir is in the solution he offers; the comfort is in the wrestling! 

Aragorn and Arwen did absolutely everything they were supposed to do, unquestioningly, to the point that Aragorn goes to the Silent Street and just lies down to die because it’s ‘the right time’ and he mustn’t become ‘unmanned and witless’. And then he dies and he makes a beautiful holy corpse that cannot comfort Arwen or his children or his people for even a moment. 

But Boromir dies with a smile. Aragorn promises that Minas Tirith will not fall, and that does comfort him, because that was the wrestling he chose, the love he decided to hold, the meaning he decided to find and fight for beyond all his powerlessness to protect it. So that’s the answer I find and it might be different from yours, but it’s in LotR to be read because the story is about the wrestling as much as (if not more than) it is about the end. The road DOES go ever on and on, after all!

So ye das wat lotr was about I fink thanks 4 askin 👍I REALLY hope it makes sense. I also really hope Anon manages to see it after it took so goddamn long to respond 😂

[borom1r]

take whatever boromir hc or experience you would like (one you rlly love) and just. gush abt it!! I don't know a whole lot but I do know you love him ;v; (ily and I hope you feel at least a bit better soon 💖💖 lmk if there's anything I can do!!)

heurgh thank u dude life just keeps happening so much all the time + im. Fed Up — ily2 tho fr this means a lot;;;;

uuuuuuuuuuuummmm immmm very partial to just. Boromir Is A Good Big Brother. fundamentally, he Cares. he cares so so much. I love him??? I love how much he loves. He wears a ranger’s vambraces, archer’s vambraces bc he loves his baby brother and he’s carrying a piece of Faramir into unfamiliar territory. + obviously there’s his relationship w/ Merry and Pippin and his “give them a moment, for pity’s sake!” line but also the fact that he’s the one to restrain Gimli from running back into the mines, who’s comforting Gimli. + his “don’t carry the weight of the dead” line to Frodo. and just. ARGH im gnawing on things abt Sean Bean’s acting in the Osgiliath flashback.

the bowed head as he steels himself to face Denethor, “the victory belongs to Faramir also” + the encouraging little nod, the disbelieving shake of his head at Denethor’s “I know his uses and they are few” ITS SO!!!!!!!!!! like he is absolutely playing a part. Boromir, Golden Son of Gondor is absolutely an act put on for his father’s sake. and i just. dude I feel so normal abt the fact Boromir rocks up to Rivendell in EXTRAVAGANT clothing for a nation constantly at war, neighboring the source of all fucking evil. he has silver stars on his gambeson, a garment nobody will EVER fucking see!!!! all this finery and he’s wearing vambraces his baby brother 110% gave him. and he’s using the under-layer which he has No Reason to use bc he’s not an archer (except sentimentality. bc that’s the way Faramir wears HIS, bc he IS an archer.)

the very core of him is caring and I get so. skfhshhfhd I’ve blocked two ppl in the boromir tag for being like “I don’t like him” ok for one worstie why the fuck are you posting this IN HIS TAG then????? and for two what do you MEANNNNNNNN you don’t like him????????? “he’s morally grey” “he’s a villain” did we READ the same BOOKS?????? watch the same films??????? he’s a MAN. he’s a man who loves SO MUCH that this ring, which is so evil literally fucking everybody with even an ounce of power + real understanding is scared to touch it, can ONLY corrupt his love and even then only for a moment. he is a TRAGIC character because he is a good man!!! and even good men when driven to extremes of desperation can do things they regret. external influence and evil magic bullshit or not Boromir was at his breaking point mentally and saw one path forward and regretted it instantly!!!!! I can’t stand Boromir slander I will key your fucking car over Boromir slander.

also this is silly but I was talking w a beloved friend abt how everyone gets their autism from their dad. and Faramir absolutely got his autism from Boromir. undiagnosed KING we stan a legend who managed to fly completely under the radar for Weird but can talk at length for hours about obscure battles and legendary warriors if u get him started. also he has to leave the room if he smells eggs cooking and he makes his bed/packs his bedroll Perfectly every morning so his routine always Starts The Same, but that’s fine :) that’s just Boromir for ya :)

Faramir bemoaning the fact he got all the verbal + sensory issues meanwhile Boromir got Encyclopedic Knowledge Of Obscure Military Facts and Stubborn About Routine (“I MUST blow my horn every time I leave on a quest bc I REFUSE to set out like a thief in the night. now we can sneak around tho!” <- he is so fucking silly I love him)

[fluentisonus]

So I saw your Denethor post and I honestly at this point think that there’s just a deep and fundamental truth when it comes to his character, which is that some people are going to read him as abusive and some people aren’t.

I’m not even talking about the Jackson films here, just the actual text of the books - a lot of people read RotK, look at his interactions with people, and go “wow that’s a lot of abuse and manipulation” because of various things that they bring with them into their personal reads. I’m one of them; the way Faramir interacts with Denethor is exactly how I interact with my abusive father and as a result I’m personally not capable of looking at him as if he’s a noble or good person just because I see too much of my own past in how he behaves.

I’ve since realized that this isn’t a universal experience, and that a LOT of people genuinely don’t understand how anyone could see Denethor as abusive. It could be that they’ve had tense or toxic interactions that weren’t abusive, it could be that they see their own familial situation and that wasn’t abusive, or it could be that the abuse they’ve experienced doesn’t look anything like how Denethor treats both his sons - at the end of the day all that really matters is that this is just something they don’t see, and the people who DO see it wonder how anyone could see anything else.

I know that post is a few days old but I only just now saw it and I wanted to say something because I think a lot of people who don’t read him as abusive think that it’s got something to do with the Jackson films or with a bias against Men or whatever? But for a lot of us it’s just… we see him that way because that’s what the text literally says, in our reading, it’s not reaching or wanting to hate him or trying to twist the narrative into knots.

Hey,

So firstly, I wanted to say I see where you're coming from and I definitely understand how it can be read that way. The post wasn't meant to invalidate people's interpretations or experiences & I'm not going to disagree with your interpretation here because one of the joys of reading is that everyone has their own interpretation.

However I think for me the frustration is not about these readings on an individual level, but rather the fact that they've somehow become accepted as the only reading of the character and even that it was Tolkien's intention to write the character that way, which I strongly disagree with. I think there is a lot more nuance than people are giving it credit for and it frustrates me that this goes largely unacknowledged amongst readers who otherwise pride themselves in their analysis of characters and relationships.

Again this is not to say that this is a happy situation or any of these relationships are healthy or happy. But that's because these people have quite literally been on the front lines of a defense against essentially total destruction for years and years. We're seeing them for the first time at the absolute end of their rope. People are not going to be nice or considerate or accomodating in this situation, and I think it's a mistake to read this as their baseline state of being rather than a group of people who are absolutely going through it.

I think also it's complicated by the fact that this is not a parent/child relationship in a neutral setting. Yes, this is a father and his son, but the father is also the Steward of Gondor and the son is a Captain of the army, they're in the middle of a war, and they are having a fundamental disagreement over the state of that war and view of the world as a whole -- as the world is practically ending around them. Does this make for a healthy relationship? Of course not. This makes for an extremely fucked up relationship. But I'm a little tired of the fact that this is taken as inherently abuse rather than like. Two adults (to be clear Faramir is 36 at this point) who are both trapped into (inherented) roles commanding a country that's on the brink of destruction and having a disagreement over how they and their people could possibly survive. In fact I would say part of the tragedy is that they quite literally couldn't have a normal relationship divorced from this context.

I think both these characters are really well written and complex and deserving of a nuanced reading. I think their relationship is very interesting. Unfortunately that's not what I see with people's approach to Denethor. Very nearly everything I see is about him is extremely two dimensional and often explicitly treats him as a black-and-white villain, and likewise analysis of his character that embraces his full complexity is often met with denial by readers, which I find really frustrating.

So anyways. The point of my post was not to say that you can't interpret characters the way you want, I'm not against a variety of readings and perspectives based on people's different experiences. It was to say that there are huge swathes of this story that people on tumblr would be really interested in, thematically, in terms of characters, and in terms of relationships, if they could get past their determination to read Denethor so flatly, because I think to a lot of them it simply hasn't occurred to them to read him any other way.

[esta-elavaris]

hello!! i’m gonna speak plainly to you as a little friend in my phone bc a couple things happened this week and i immediately wanted to tell you so i guess that makes us friends now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

first off! this link was shared with me and i quite literally needed to forward it to you bc i just thought it was so beautiful and made the scenes so much more personable somehow. seeing it from that vantage made it all feel that more real i suppose. but gotta be honest not sure i needed to “feel like i was there” for that last clip they used😭 (btw the link in question: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8jGnmgy/ )

secondly, after voraciously reading (and partially rereading) HWFG, i decided a rewatch of lotr was in order. so i started watching it. and i was with my mother at the time that i watched the ending of the fellowship of the ring and i began explaining all the facets of the story to her and ultimately veered into boromir as a character and we ended up having such a lengthy conversation about him bc i was trying so hard to stress his goodness!! that all he wants is the power to protect his city and his people!! and that the ring responds to this passion and tries to corrupt it and makes him seem weak to its power but it’s not weakness it’s love for something so much bigger than him and i just adore him ma’am. so after explaining this and unfortunately not turning off the film right before the orc attack . . . i then got to introduce my mother to the heartbreaking moment of boromir’s valiant death. bc obviously she had fallen for him at this point as well. now with every arrow in him i think she screamed out louder and louder but it really was a canon event in the lives of the audience of lotr so i could not interfere. anyways i think that’s it so farewell for now!! (and thanks for reigniting a passion for lotr!!)

HELLO FRIEND! Send your mum a link to the fic I will heal her 👀 I'm kidding, don't do that -- sorry, couldn't resist.

God, it's so weird how changing the orientation of the scenes makes it feel more "real", and how much of a recent phenomenon that must be - I've never seen anything like that before, or even really considered it. Thanks for the link (but also how dare you, because I also did not need to see that last clip, jeezo).

Also "and partially rereading HWFG" ma'am there are fourteen chapters I only started it two minutes ago and you are here rereading parts, I'm going to die you can't do this to my heart 😭💜

Honestly it's funny though because out of all of them, I've absolutely seen FOTR a hundred times more than the others (and I've seen the others a hell of a lot, too, so it says a lot) with the exception of the final half hour. I like to let myself that Boromir decided "nah it's not for me thanks" and just went back to chill in Rivendell or Lothlorien 'til it was all done. Is it in his character? No. Does it hurt less? Absolutely.

I really don't understand how people can hate him as a character. I know a few people who go on to me about how much they hate him every time I mention him, and I just really can't wrap my head around it. There are some characters that I adore but I can see why they're a controversial choice, but he's absolutely not one of them. A lot of the time they do it almost as a way to show their love of Faramir, without realising that like? A) Faramir would not want that, and B) Boromir was GOOD to Faramir and tried to intercede with Denethor on his behalf.

I won't write you a dissertation on this but maaaaaan. I'm glad I'm dragging you back into Boromir hell with me. It's like a different flavour of the same ice cream as Norrington hell. Bon appetit ✨

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

I DID IT!!!! I FINALLY FECKING DID IT!!!!! I REWATCHED THE ENTIRE LOTR TRILOGY!!! and do i EVER have some tHOUHGTS hdosidhsaodi below the cut ✨✨✨

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

was it as good as i remembered??

short answer: yes!!!!!! long answer: oh my gfucijing go d soj shjues us god mother of shitw yEes yes yseeeessss 😭😭😭 (baby birb had better taste than present birb but don't tell anyone i said so 👀)

there are loads of things i missed before, as well as things i didn't understand, but i understand them now :'D it always gave me that wriggly weird feeling in my chest even as a kid, just like 'lilo & stitch' or the song 'reflection' from mulan, but i didn't know WHY. turns out, these things touched my heart and it scared me, bc emotions have always scared me. but ive learnt to appreciate them as well. not all tears are an evil. i know what gandalf meant now :'D

does it hold up????

in my opinion, it does!!!! some of the cgi may look a bit wonky to modern eyes, but for the most part it's totally fine, if not better looking than some more.....recent films 👀 i've never been a great fan of slow-motion, but it's used mostly effectively here, to enhance the drama as opposed to taking up space (sure the feckers are long enough without it anyway 🤣) the core message of the film is beautiful and timeless. there is hope and goodness and love in our world, and it's worth every ounce of courage in our hearts!! it's as true today as it was when the film was made!! as true as it was when jrr tolkien wrote his stories!! if i believe in anything at all (much as i often profess i don't) it's only that our world is worth fighting for.

are u still after shipping aragorn and legolas??

YEAH. IM BASIC SO WHAT??? i JUST LIKE IT OK. I JUST. LIKE IT ;A;

will u be making more bad jokes now??

OF COURSE I WILL!! do u even KNOW me it's like u don't even KNOW me wtf. there's just a lot this time so. OK HERE GOES 💪😤

i can't believe smeagol was always just. like that lol. baby birb did not realise it was the same character as gollum btw. baby birb was. silly 👀

THE CAIN INSTINCT PREVAILS ONCE MORE!!!

'wake up, sleepies' is how i greet my cats in the morning btw

lol merry and pippin look high as FECK. baby birb didn't understand that lmao, i thought they were just tired 🤣

well, at least the gang are back together!! (mostly ;A;) merry & pippin dancing on tables, eowyn bringing aragorn a drink....good for them :'D

also!! nice pyjamas, lads!!! they all look so cute omg ;A;

THE ORB!!!! that's great, we here on tumblr love orbs, this is-----oh shit is he dead?? *SHOVES MERRY*

omg when aragorn grabs the orb and falls over and then legolas grabbed him 👀👀👀 I JUST WANT THEM TO KISS OK

the third act break up btwn merry and pippin is so sad 😔

aaAAH!! A CHILD!!!!! D: scary!! ;A;

every time elrond says 'there's nothing for u here' i keep hearing 'this is a DECENT town and a LOCAL shop!! there's nothing for U here!!!' lmao 🤣

the king's hall at minas tirith could use a few throw rugs or sth tbh, maybe a couple paintings. bit sparse in there really :P

right i'll just say it: the witch-king's fell beast's head looks like a di--

YAAAS PIPPIN LET'S DO SOME ARSON!! :D

aragorn's arm-flail run is back and it sparks so much joy i love him i love him i love hi

i've counted THREE (3) BLATANT WILHELM SCREAMS across these films!!! one in ttt, and TWO in rotk!!! incredible

i can't believe denethor says 'yeah i wish u died instead of ur brother. rip i guess' 😐 TO HIS FUCKING FACE!!! evil. faramir's gonna remember that FOREVER. u got to be careful what u say to ur kids bc even if they don't bring it up again, they will never ever forget. my dad called me 'useless' once when i was 15 and i still think about it sometimes. DO NOT SAY WEIRD SHIT TO UR KIDS. IM BEGGING U ;A;

despite denethor's A+ parenting, faramir is a nice guy, totally willing to lead his men on a death march to a fight they can't possibly win, throwing away their lives (and their horses) on an impossible task for the futile hope of making his father love him. rip 😔

NICE SINGING PIP!!! reminds me of irish sean-nós singing, traditional music from ireland ;A; (here's an example :D)

ngl watching denethor eat is like watching the Dinner Scene from texas chainsaw 1974 👀

OH LOOK DAD'S HERE!! hi dad!! thanks for not giving us any facial expression as a hint to what dad wanted, theoden, ur so. helpful ._.

'hey so listen ur gf is dying and since she's my daughter that means i have to make sure U don't die so. here.' *SWORDGASM*

actually that sword was baby birb's fav bits. baby birb LOVED swords ;A;

THE WORST BIT. eowyn tries to confess her feelings and aragorn rejecting her is SO PAINFUL AND AWKWARD AAA ;A;

BEEG DRUMMERS IN THE ORC ARMY!!!! and SIEGE MACHINES!!

legolas squinting at the ghost like 'this guy SUS'

aragorn's 'u WILL suffer me 😠'

it never occurred to me when i was a kid, but the gang are doing a bit of fucking. NECROMANCY here aren't they??? like???

wait who tf is iorlas

OH is it that hot blond??? NICE. i like him >:3c

being a wizard is cool bc u can cast spells OR if ur gandalf u can use the staff to wHACK DENETHOR OVER THE HEAD!!!! he's got a shillelagh and i'm glad of it 😌 (baby birb used to listen to da's political music and one of the songs had a line about being 'whacked with a sprig of shillelagh' which i got a kick out of 🤣)

'we should TAKE the broken city pieces and THROW IT AT THE ORCS!!!' :D (read it like the spongebob meme pls)

'GROND! GROND! GROND!' ('grond' refers to the biggest door-knocker EVER)

gollum u need to stop fat-shaming sam, ur being #problematic and they're gonna cancel u 😩

'CRUMBS ON ITS JACKETSES' lol silly that's a CLOAK!!

OH FECK FRODO'S ALLERGIC TO SPIDER BITES!! ;A;

it might actually be easier to carry him in that cocoon

'don't go where i can't follow' FUCKING KILL ME 😭

[women screaming]

i still don't know what an eored is. or WHY i don't know. why

denethor re-enacts 'flashdance' lol (except he intends to burn himself and his son alive)

OH SHIT THE MAD MAX COSPLAYERS ARE HERE

oh no!! uncle's horse!!! (oh and uncle, oh no!)

HERE IT IS. THE LINE WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. I AM NO MAN!!! rip uncle tho lol.

can't believe he really pulled the 'u should smile more, ur so pretty when u smile' rubbish before 😒

WOW we should have hired ghosts AGES ago, they can go thru walls and everything!!! O_O

MERRY AND PIPPIN ARE BACK TOGETHER!!! yay~

sam is SUCH a badass, look at him go!! 'AND THAT'S FOR MY OLD GAFFER!!!' adding to his kill count with tears in his eyes :'D

sauron moving his beam around like 'EYE SEE U!! EYE AM LOOKING UPON U!!!'

aw feck frodo's doing the jesus thing where he falls down a few times but has to get back up ;A;

'a day may come when i stop memeing on this line....BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY!!!!!'

lol they're bullying gollum, u love to see it 🤣

SAM STOP BEING PERFECT FOR FIVE SECONDS CHALLENGE LEVEL: IMPOSSIBLE

DO IT KING!! TOSS THAT SHIT!!!!

'what are u waiting for?!' 'i've got to give it a chance to defeat me, it's only sportsmanlike, sam!!!'

LEGOLAS'S FACE. WHEN ARAGORN FALLS DOWN. u can see his mouth go like 'ARAGORN' but it's slow-mo and silent ;A; he just starts shoving ppl out his way to get to him hdoasdiasadisj im. gay

AND THEN THE VOLCANO. and pippin sobbing 'FRODO!!!!' ;A;

god all this lava and frodo and sam haven't got any shoes smh

'uhgh i had an awful dream where my finger got chomped off by this freakish little----OH HAI GANDALF!!!!'

his friends are so happy to see him, they are all so happy omg ;A; THE SHIRE THEME STARTS PLAYING WHEN SAM ;A;

tbh sam and frodo could have made out at ANY point and it would have been less gay than. whatever tf had been going on btwn them the entire trilogy 👀

aragorn singing all elfy adn handsome an di love him i love him i lo

legolas all done up as well, they do a mutual shoulder clasp and he's all demure they look like a fecking WEDDING ok they are getting married ;A;

lol arwen looking out from behind the banner like 'PEEK A BOO!!' always sends me 🤣

(another thing that always sends me: legolas and gimli keeping track of their kill count lmao 🤣)

AND THEN ARAGORN DOES A BIG SMOOCH ON HER IN FRONT OF EVERYONE??? INCLUDING HER DAD????? 😳

'my friends, u bow to no one' SIR UR FRIENDS ARE TERRIFIED (except pippin, he's ok with attention 😌)

THE LADS GO HOME!! SAM GETS THE GIRL!!! THERE'S A WEDDING!!! then the sad bit ._.

side note: galadriel is low-key terrifying and i love her for it. she is such a FREAK, idek how to explain it or why i think so but i just. do 👀 she talks and there's a reverb on her voice, she smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes!!!!! SCARY 👀

'not all tears are an evil' fuck u gandalf stop stabbing me in the heart over and over, ur bullying me ;A;

WOW NICE JOB NOT PREPARING UR FRIENDS FOR UR DEPARTURE AT ALL FRODO!!!! jfc u could have at least TOLD THEM, this is FAR more traumatic and shocking!!! >:V

awww he and gandalf hold hands tho omg 🥺

THEY'RE ALL CRYING AND IM CRYING AND IM UPSET AND BABY BIRB LEFT THE ROOM ALREADY ;A;

and then they SAILED OFF INTO THE SUNSET!! for some reason. (oh right!! great war allegory 😔)

TINY BABBY HOBBITS!!!

THE END!!

[ailendolin]

Hello i saw some days ago in your blog a lotr gifset you reblogged with Eowyn and Faramir and i am curious who is your most favourite lotr character, mine is Faramir. I am not so devoted to this fandom as i used to be years ago but i love the books and once a year i rewatch the movies and still give me great joy.

Faramir is my favourite as well! 💙 Though it's hard to have favourites when Middle-Earth offers so many interesting characters. Faramir was the first book character I really fell in love with, though, so he will always hold a special place in my heart. I only read the books after FotR came out in cinemas so he was one of only a few characters I didn't already know from the film.

"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

This has been one of my favourite quotes for the past 20 years because it shows so well what kind of character Faramir is. He isn't a warrior by heart but he still fights to protect his people, and I love that about him.

On a more controversial note, I don't really mind the changes Peter Jackson made to his character in TTT. I know a lot of people don't like them but I get where PJ was coming from. What I do mind, however, is that he cut the Faramir & Boromir & Denethor scenes from the theatrical release because they actually explain why Faramir acts the way he does and make him look less like a jerk than he comes across in the original film.

Side note: I met David Wenham at RingCon in 2013 and the photo-op I did with him is one of my favourites. He's such a kind, lovely person and even now, almost ten years later, I'm still so, so happy I got the chance to meet him.

[lovely-v]

LOTR (films) Review

So I finally watched the LOTR films (20 years later). I’m super excited to review these because I read the books very recently so I feel at least a little prepared to voice some opinions. Overall I loved the films, here’s a very long (but by no means exhaustive) compilation of my thoughts, which are of course, totally subjective:

(Warning: a lot of me saying “well, actually, in the book...”)

THINGS I LIKED

- Casting! not much to say here, I thought the casting was great. One of my favorite actors that I didn’t think i’d have a huge opinion on was David Wenham as Faramir. I was kinda ambivalent on him when I saw pictures but i thought he did a great job. he showed his quality.

- Music. so much has been said about the films on the music front. I can’t offer too much original insight but when a bit of the Shire theme started to play as Frodo tries to make his way up Mount Doom I cried a little.

- Boromir and Aragorn. I liked the scene where they interact a little in Rivendell. I also like how Aragorn saves Boromir in the Moria battle and gives him this little nod of friendship. I think the films did a great job portraying the dynamic they have where Aragorn is clearly suspicious of Boromir’s motivations but grows to respect him to the point where he doesn’t even blame Boromir for being corrupted by the ring because he understands that, at heart, Boromir is a good person. 

- Sam and Frodo in Osgiliath. I expected to be kind of annoyed with the way this plot point played out (I knew ahead of time that it strayed from the book), but I actually liked it a lot. As I’ll say later, there’s some gripes I have with the way the films extremely play up the disagreements between Frodo and Sam, but I loved the scene where Frodo pulls the sword on Sam and then seems so defeated when he realizes what he’s done. I was pleasantly surprised by how emotional this scene made me. It’s admittedly A Lot, but it was done nicely, especially in conjunction with Sam’s “there’s good in this world” speech.

- Treatment of the ending. I almost think I should dislike the ending as it is in the movies, but my heart is soft and I like that they sugarcoated it a bit. I know the whole point of the Scouring of the Shire and Frodo’s depression conveys a lot about war and trauma and I think that is important, but after watching these things for twelve hours I just wanted Frodo & co. to be happy and I was kinda relieved that they cut the Scouring. Does that make me weak and perhaps bad at film analysis? yes. do I care? no. I was also very glad that the movies didn’t portray how depressed Sam was about losing Frodo in the end. Yes, he cries, but when he walks home to his family he seems happy and in the books that scene came off so much bleaker. I definitely liked the lighter tone.

THINGS I WAS NEUTRAL ON/DIDN’T LIKE

- Arwen. (Neutral) I don’t hate her, I don’t love her. I think the story she and Aragorn have is compelling and I 100% get why the filmmakers decided to add it to give her character more depth, but it felt misplaced at times. maybe it’s just because it was the only storyline I didn’t know in depth, but the scenes with the Arwen/Aragorn flashbacks felt a bit confusing and disorienting. Don’t have anything against Arwen as a character though, I think she’s pretty alright.

- Gimli. (Complicated thoughts) I want to start off by saying I don’t dislike Gimli. I like him a lot! I just think the movies did him a bit dirty. He had some good movie-exclusive moments, but I think his character really fell into this place of being the butt of too many jokes. Would have liked to see some more serious Gimli development, especially with his relationship to Legolas. Their friendship felt too much like subtext here, whereas it’s explored far more in the books.

- Two Towers Pacing. (Didn’t really like). The pacing of TTT was...weird. maybe I’m going into this with a closed mind because of the books, but it was odd to have the movie begin with Frodo and Sam and then have them only appear for a few rapid scenes after that. I think the fact that a WHOLE LOT of what happens to Frodo and Sam in TTT is moved to RotK is what makes it feel that way? In the books, Two Towers ends with Sam discovering that Frodo isn’t dead from Shelob’s sting, and I was surprised by how long it took the movies to get to that part. However, I will give the films a little leeway because I think they needed Frodo & Sam content for RotK, since most of what happens in that book is them walking through Mordor basically starving and dying. Doesn’t make for great cinema I guess, so they had to put the whole Shelob/Cirith Ungol saga into the final film. Still, I think there’s a weird lack of Frodo and Sam’s presence in TTT.

- The go home/missing bread arc. (Full of rage abt this one) yeah. so. my criticism of this is gonna sound pretty tired because people complain and complain about this part of RotK. but I’m gonna complain some more!! I don’t think the split between Frodo and Sam does anything for the plot. I really don’t. I guess it emphasizes the fact that Sam doesn’t understand how much Frodo is projecting onto Gollum, but it’s just. unnecessary angst? They had enough angst in the Osgiliath scene! Which I actually liked! And it simply doesn’t make a lot of sense for Frodo to suspect Sam of eating the bread when Sam had already offered Frodo his own food and made it clear that he would very much starve if it meant making sure Frodo could eat. But what I hate most about this scene is not that Frodo gets mad and tells Sam to go home. No. It’s that Sam actually... thinks about doing that? he actually? goes down the staircase? emotionally this is bad because Sam clearly cared enough about Frodo to follow him this far, to nearly drown for him, so why would he leave now. Practically this is bad because 1. how would Sam get out of Mordor alone and 2. where would he go. He turns around almost immediately, yes, but what was his plan. where was he going. why.

THINGS I LOVED

- For Frodo! This line, and every other shoutout to Frodo. In the books, they didn’t really actively talk about/worry about Frodo (and Sam) as much as they do in the movies. I like that they talk about Frodo more in the movies! I like that they’re thinking about him! I know it was implied that they were in the books, but I really like how it’s shown here. I think it gave a more complete picture of how much they all care about him on a personal level in addition to just needing him to succeed from a pragmatic standpoint. 

- Merry and Pippin! I feel like Merry and Pippin were so well rounded in the films. I’ve heard criticism about them being turned into comic relief characters (which they always were a little bit) but it honestly didn’t feel that way to me. They had a bit of a rough start because the films didn’t make their motives for going with Frodo as deep as the books did, but I think that by TTT they were absolutely amazing characters in every scene. In RotK their respective arcs hit really well and the scene where Pippin is singing to Denethor? *chef’s kiss* poetic. beautiful. sad. idk man I just feel like I have such a newfound appreciation for Merry and Pippin.

- Parallels! people have pointed out the parallel of Frodo and Sam’s hands before (drowning scene/mount doom scene) and I love how the movie did that. Just stunning. Also! The moving of the Smeagol & Deagol scene to RotK surprised me because in the books it was like,,,at the beginning of Fellowship, but I think the placement of it in the movies really helped emphasize the similarities between Smeagol & Deagol and Frodo & Sam (and how much Frodo fears this similarity.) There were a lot of other well done parallels between storylines and a few bits of dialogue that were repeated with great timing, but I can’t remember all of them at the moment.  

Edit: here’s one I remembered! when Frodo wakes up after being rescued and sees Gandalf, he says Gandalf’s name in a very similar tone to the one he used at the very beginning of Fellowship. It was a nice little subtle connection.

- I can’t carry it for you...alright this is self-indulgent. everyone knows I love this line. I’m just so glad it made it into the movie intact. Sean Astin’s delivery was amazing. I cheered. My mom cheered. It’s a raw line and it makes me feel secret emotions...like if shrimp colors were feelings. that line makes me feel shrimp feelings. idk i’m so tired i just watched twelve hours of movies this review is decreasing in quality by the minute but i’m about done for now anyway

Various silly afterthoughts

- I would have liked to see Sam kiss Frodo’s hands at least once. This happens 50 thousand times in the books, they could have given me one scene. one little extended edition scene. Please Peter Jackson I’m dyin’ out here

- They literally made Gollum so hateable. kinda the point yes, but I was so on board with Sam’s murderous rage. I know why Gollum’s a profoundly complex character, I know why Frodo pities him, I know why murder is bad, but I too would throw hands with that creature. also he literally body shamed Sam so much what was that skdjksdjksd. Sam is lovely. let him commit a small homicide. 

- the scene where merry and pippin drink the tall boy juice (as someone once referred to it in the tags of one of my posts)... not accurate to the books (since they don’t ever drink it with the end goal of getting tall) but so accurate to life. if I found some water that made me taller than my friends? let me at it

- Frodo panicking when he falls into the spider webs. so real bestie. i felt just as panicked watching that. i am terrified of spiders and Elijah Wood did an amazing job doing exactly what i’d do in the situation. yelping a lot and falling down.

- I feel like it’s never stated that Sam’s a gardener (or at least that he’s specifically Frodo’s gardener) until he tells Faramir he is. Did I miss this. Or do they really never say.  are you just meant to know. are you just meant to pick up gardener vibes from him.

*

This has been a very chaotic lotr movie review. Thanks for reading.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

On Gondor and Nationalism

Gondor, and particularly Denethor and Boromir, is characterized more than any other realm in The Lord of the Rings by nationalism, and there is a sharp contrast between its actual role in the war and the way Denethor and Boromir percieve its role. Two quotes in The Return of the King form the core of Tolkien’s discussion of nationalism, and both are conversations between Denethor and Gandalf.

The first:

Denethor: Yet the Lord of Gondor is not to be made the tool of other men’s purposes, however worthy. And to him there is no purpose higher in the world as it now stands than the good of Gondor; and the rule of Gondor, my lord, is mine and no other man’s, unless the king should come again.

Gandalf: ...I will say this: the rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I should not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit or flower again in days to come. For I also am a steward. Did you not know?

And the second, discussing Denethor’s views on what should have been done with the Ring:

Denethor: It should have been kept, hidden, hidden dark and deep. Not used, I say, unless at the uttermost end of need, but set beyond his grasp, save by a victory so final that what then befell would not trouble us, being dead.

Gandalf: You think, as is your wont, my lord, of Gondor only. Yet there are other men and other lives, and time still to be. And for me, I pity even his slaves.

Denethor: And where will other men look for help if Gondor falls?

Both of these conversations point to the fundamental flaw in Denethor’s worldview, and it is a nuanced one. He is not the weak, selfish old man presented in the films; he is intelligent, pragmatic, and realistic, and his strategy and tactics are thoughtful. Again unlike the movies, the mission he sends Faramir on - to prevent the armies of Mordor from crossing Anduin, and cause them heavy losses if they do cross - is not a pointless suicide mission but a crucial and tactically necessary battle. He is wrong in his attitude towards and treatment of Faramir, not in sending him into danger.

Denethor represents (as, in another way, does Saruman) the wisdom of the world. His statement that, as the steward of Gondor, his highest purpose must be the good of Gondor, would be approved by many political theorists. But in the wider vision of the story of The Lord of the Rings, expressed by Gandalf, it is critically flawed in its narrowness and arrogance. The war against Sauron is not about the victory or preservation of one realm alone; it is about saving anything and everything good in Middle-earth, in the present or the future. This is the moment when Gandalf comes closest, of any point in the story, to stating outright who he is and what his purpose is; he doesn’t say outright that he was sent by the Valar to preserve the world against Sauron, but he comes near enough to it that Denethor, an intelligent and learned man, could pick up on it if he wanted to. It is important to Gandalf to at least try to get Denethor to understand the importance of what he’s saying.

In the second conversation, though, Denethor has fallen still farther from the truth. In the first one, he only said that Gondor’s good had to be his highest priority, as its ruler; now he says that if Minas Tirith falls, Sauron’s conquered the world anyway and it doesn’t matter if he gets the Ring. In his eyes, Minas Tirith is the only thing standing against Sauron, and the only thing that matters; its defeat is to him synonymous with the destruction of the world. People across Middle-earth are fighting against Sauron: on the very day of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the elves of Lothlórien are fighting off an assault by Sauron’s forces, as are the wood-elves in Mirkwood; the Battle of Dale in which the kings of both Dale and the Lonely Mountain fall will be two days later. Gondor is not alone in this war; it is not the only realm fighting and not the only one whose battles matter. It is not the bulwark sheltering the peaceful rest of the world from war; the rest of the world is fighting. But Denethor chooses to regard it as the only place of importance.

These are perspectives that he passed on, in part, to his eldest son, as seen in some of Boromir’s deeds at the Council of Elrond as well as in his later temptation by the Ring. At the Council, he takes the tone that Gondor is unacknowledged and unappreciated and is doing all the work of fighting Sauron: “Few, I deem, know of our deeds, and therefore guess little of their peril, if we should fail at last...By our valour the wild folk of the East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul kept at bay; and thus alone are peace and freedom maintained in the lands behind us, bulwark of the West...those who shelter behind us give us praise, if ever they hear our name: much praise but little help.” He also - very importantly - instantly conflates “Doom” in the prophecy he hears with “the Doom of Minas Tirith”: the same thing Denethor is doing when he says that, if Minas Tirith falls, the world has already fallen and there’s no point in keeping the Ring away from Sauron. When he is told that the Ring cannot be wielded to defeat Sauron by force of arms, he acts as though the other members of the Council are abandoning Gondor. And so the Ring tempts him with the power to save Minas Tirith, because that’s the only way he can concieve of for the world to be saved.

Aragorn’s response to Boromir, in speaking of the Rangers, is not a counter-boast but an attempt (like Gandalf’s with Denethor) to give Boromir a broader perspective: many people are fighting and resisting Sauron and other evil things, in their own ways (“the servants of the Enemy...are found in many places, not in Mordor only”). Gondor is not alone; it is playing one particular role, while others play other roles.

This attitude, that its battles are the only ones that matter, is quite unique to Gondor. Legolas and Gimli, fighting in the wars of Rohan and Gondor, recognize that their kin cannot come to them: “They have no need to march to war...war already marches on their own lands”. The hobbits continually think little of themselves and their actions, even while achieving great things. (One example that amuses me is the contrast at the Council of Elrond between Boromir, who thinks his comparatively uneventful journey quite heroic - “since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself” - and Frodo, who regards his achievement of escaping to Rivendell while pursued by all nine of the Nazgûl, and surviving a wound that would have been worse-than-fatal to most other mortals, with an attitude of ‘well, I rather muffed that up’.) The Ents very much have their own priorites - Treebeard says “I am not really on anyone’s side, as no one is really on my side - no one cares for the woods these days” - but they involve themselves in the war beyond merely defending Fangorn, by destroying the orcs who invade Rohan from the north. Théoden likewise keeps the big picture, not just the narrow ‘good of Rohan’ in mind, continuing with his army to the relief of Gondor even as news comes of Rohan being invaded from the north and east (the aforementioned orcs whom the Ents deal with).

Frodo comes closest to understanding what Gandalf is saying in the first-quoted conversation with Denethor. After seeing the Witch-king’s army march out from Minas Morgul, Frodo is tempted to despair: “Even if my errand is performed, no one will ever know. There will be no one I can tell. It will be in vain.” But he resists this: what he had to do, he had to do, if he could, and whether Faramir or Aragorn or Elrond or Gandalf or Galadriel or anyone else ever knew about it was beside the purpose. Aragorn, too, understands it: the march on the Black Gate is the antithesis of Denethor’s perspective: sacrifice of the armies of Gondor and Rohan without even knowing what may happen after they are defeated, in the hope that they may enable someone else to win the victory. They have no way of guessing that Frodo and Sam will reach Mount Doom at the same time as the armies clash at the Black Gate; their hope is founded on the idea of distracting Sauron long enough that Frodo and Sam can destroy the Ring days later, after the armies are all dead.

And Denethor and Boromir’s attitudes are all the more ironic because, in the end, Gondor doesn’t hold up very well. They fall apart and stop even trying to man the walls of Minas Tirith after a mere two days of siege, when food supplies haven’t even begun to be an issue. For a fortified city, especially one as well-designed for defense as Minas Tirith, that’s a very short amount of time to hold out against a siege! During the march on the Black Gate, even the sight of the Plains of Gorgoroth is too much for some of the men of Gondor and Rohan, and they can’t keep going. Yes, they’re just regular people and have never seen anything this horrible before, but Frodo and Sam and now Pippin are also just regular people used to peaceful lives, and they keep going. The purpose of this comparison isn’t to run down the Men of Gondor, but to point out how deeply wrong the idea is of them being the only ones whose fight matters, the only ones with the nerve and determination to protect the rest of the world. The hobbits, who don’t think of themselves as anything special or important or strong, are the ones who save the world, and they do it through hope, endurance, self-sacrifice, love, and compassion, not through military might.

[streets-in-paradise]

Fictional Sibling relationships i live for

I had been thinking about this topic lately and decided i would like to make a post about it because it is a very fun and interesting one for me. I had mentioned a few times here that in terms of fandom involvement i am more invested in family and frienships than in shippings, particulary i have a fixation with strong sibling bonds or sibling like friendships. I think it must be because i have a strong bond with my younger sister, i identify with that and that’s why i tend to get more involved and interested in this sort of character interactions. 

I will keep this just in movies, movie adaptations of books and tv shows because i don’t want it to be super long but still want to talk. In movie adaptations i will try to stay in movie’s territory as much as i can, if i add commentary on the book versions this would never end but i may slip a bit towards it because i can’t help it. 

As always, i make the disclaimer over the images i will use here, they belong to the sites where i found them.  

Sorry for my pathetic language skills in english. 

Note: this got so long that i will probably make a second part for more characters i coulnd’t include 

Boromir and Faramir in lotr 

Lotr is full of great material for people who, like me, obsess over families. Frodo and Bilbo, Merry and Pippin, Elrond and Arwen, Theoden ,Eowyn and Eomer are other great examples of family relationships i’m interested on from here ( i pretty much love to overthink stuff about almost all the lotr family relationships). I choose to talk about this bros because they have a particular place in my heart. How many times we had seen the common trope of a royal or noble family where the father is a dick who gives all his love and attention to the older brother, neglects the little one causing him to grow up resentfull and ending up as a villian while dad’s favourite is the hero of the tale? Not this time, and it is so refreshing. 

Boromir and Faramir choose each other over their father’s bullshit, you can see it in the lovely deleted scene the gif up here comes from. When Denethor shows up they are both annoyed, when he is mean to Faramir Boromir calls him out and tries so hard to make him show some appreciation for his youngest son. it is clear that, in this version, Boromir is more family to Faramir than his father ever was. I love how much they care for each other, how they pass beyond the differences. Boromir is a super amazing big bro, i love how he protects Faramir and is there for him instead of letting his father’s praise get in between. I could talk for hours about this two because i love them so much. I’m doing a hard effort in stopping myself from throwing a whole set of headcanons i have for them so i will stop now before i get too excited. 

Fili and Kili in The Hobbit

Staying in Middle Earth for one more mention i had to talk about this two. Being fully honest, the movies broke my heart because they took the exact opposite way i would had wished for. When they were introduced In An Unexpected Journey this two adorable brothers were one of my favourite aspects of it because i loved their Merry and Pippin like dumb chaotic energy. One of my biggest complains with the Hobbit adaptation is to have shifted the narrative of the strongly family focused story arc of the Line of Durin. Kili’s romance with Tauriel shifted the focus and, in my particular perspective, i hated that because i was already super involved in the family story. Besides from the “I belong with my brother”  iconic line we don’t see much more of Fili and Kili’s bond after the introduction of Tauriel. In fact, Fili loses a lot of his initial screentime in Desolation of Smaug and Battle of the Five Armies.

 I love this two, the relationship with their uncle as it was introduced in the first film and i would had loved to see more of their family dinamic explored. One of my biggest complains, besides from the change of focus on their supposed ending, is that i’m convinced that they should had entered the mountain with the rest of the company. It is such an important moment they would probably waited for since they were children, is the legacy of their family. In short terms, i love them and i would had loved to keep seeing future developments of the Line of Durin story they had in AUJ. 

Hector and Paris in Troy 

This two represent the opposite case. The relationship they have in this movie is very different from the source material but i love the great development it has here. It is outstanding to see the importance the sibling bond has in a movie that is supposed to be about a war caused by a romantic passion. 

The sons of King Priam are absolute opposites. Hector is the embodiment of a true hero, a Steve Rogers of ancient times. His strong caring nature and will to protect everyone reminds me of Boromir as well. Unlike Faramir,Paris is a freaking mess. He is the careless, adventurous and reckless little brother Hector ends up protecting every single time he gets into trouble. I had stated before that i think Paris is a selfish prick but i think that is a slight confussion of mine with the original. This Paris is more a reckless dumbass and, unlike Iliad Paris, his arc in the movie it’s a bit more simpathetic. In this version Helen is trapped in a loveless marriage to an old prick who treats her like trash (in the director’s cut Menelaus jokes about how he only cares for his wife for breeding purposes on a conversation with Hector). I can understand at some point that, if he trully fell in love with her, he felt horrible for letting her stay there as a prisoner of her husband. Going back to the my focus for this talk, i like that the movie had decided to make this two close brothers who actually care for each other despite being absolute opposites instead of two guys who barely know each other, are barely aware of being brothers and share only hatefull interactions. 

Hector’s protectiveness over Paris warms my heart. He had threated him a few times ( director’s cut has the “ i will rip off your pretty face from your pretty skull” excharge. I love that scene), he gets furious at him for his foolishness, they argue but when the time comes he always chooses to protect him. Honestly, that’s such a big bro thing, i can’t help to feel identified. The weight that this relationship has in the development of the story is a surprising thing and it makes everything more tragic. Paris being the killer of Achilles has a more significant meaning because, now it’s not just the irony of the weakest character killing the strongest. Paris is aware that he owns the memory of his fallen brother so much, he wants revenge. Hector was there for him all his life, the least he can do for him is to kill his killer and avenge his death. Briseis begs him to stop but he can’t let himself do that, he owns it to Hector and that debt is bigger than anything. 

I will not delay this any longer, the family relationships on this movie are my favourite aspect of it and i have a soft spot for the bond between the trojan princes. Don’t get surprised if i one of this days i end up making an entire separate post talking about the family dinamics displayed in the film (same goes for lotr but that would take me ages and i would have to make an entire series of posts if i wanted to discuss every lotr family relationship i would want to talk about). 

Sam and Dean Winchester in Supernatural 

If you reached this point you may had noticed that i have a big thing with family tragedies involving siblings. Supernatural is my favourite show because it combines lots of elements i love. To mention just a few: horror, mythology,classic rock and a strong family approach in its pretty tragic but outstanding plot. 

Sam and Dean are one of my favourite duo of bros of all time. I don’t think i have a lot to say about them because their relationship has been analized lots of times by the very big fanbase of the show. My main difference with the common interpretation is that i don’t see the Winchester family in a similar way to the movie versions of the Steward of Gondor and his sons, which means i don’t think John has been the shittiest father ever despite his many mistakes. Unlike movie Denethor he tried hard and in the interactions we saw of him with his boys he actually cares for both of them. 

This bros were the ones that made me realize in an actual concient way of my tendency to get too attached to families, story arcs regarding them and sibling love. I’m super attached to this story, i don’t know what the hell i’m going to do with my life once it ends. 

I will end this post here. It is more than sure that there would be a part two because i have tons of more brothers,sisters and other family relationships to talk about. 

Thanks to everyone who has read my very long ramble 

[theyilinglaozus]

I did take the patronus quiz, but I can't remember for the life of me what the result was😂 I think it's really nice that your parents like energetic people, I couldn't even tell what kind of people my parents like haha - on one side, they probably wouldn't like somebody as... stiff as LWJ but WWX might be TOO energetic, though I believe they would prefer him over LWJ. Most of all they might like JGY actually (if he's not being outright murderous ofc). Anyways, WWX lovers tend to dislike JZX -✨

And honestly, I love the thought of WWX being a computer geek/good at computers, it really fits his inventive character! Also!! Your dad sounds pretty cool with fictional characters, my parents always look at me weirdly and tell me to "live in reality" when I have strong feelings on them😅 but!! Imo Denethor is one of the most complex and the best characters in LotR, of course he's really a dick but I tend to differentiate between characters I love and characters I find interesting -✨

Personally, I'm pagan so I celebrate the Wiccan holidays even though I am not Wiccan. I think they're actually Celtic holidays but I'm not too sure about that... My favourite night of the year is Samhain/Halloween, I used to love Christmas so much but with the years the festive spirit got... less and less. On Samhain I always feel the spiritual energy, though, that's why I love it so much! -✨

I was talking of Denethor earlier, and since he's a kinda asshole guy hindering one of the best things I was wondering what you thought of LQR! I feel like many people dislike him because he dislikes WWX, a fan favourite, similarly to Denethor and Faramir. And do you see any parallels between LQR and Denethor? I never thought about whether I see any, but this came to my mind spontaneously😅 -✨

Ha, no that’s fair! I think I only really remember that my patronus was a dolphin since they’re one of my favourite animals, so I was really excited about it at the time. If I took it again it would probably change though, those quizzes usually always do 😂

I think my Dad’s cool with fictional characters because he’s a big fanboy himself with his own favourites, honestly. My Mum’s just happy to see people having interests in fictional worlds and characters, especially with how happy my Dad gets with his own interests. I grew up on local trips to conventions and things of the like, so it’s no wonder my interests and love of fandom is the way it is 😊 It was probably their influence!

Oh, cool! I don’t know too much about Wiccan holiday and tradition personally, but I know a few people that lean towards the traditions themselves. Just out of interest, what do you enjoy the most out of celebrating holidays like Halloween? You mention that you love the feel of the spiritual energy, what other things about the holidays do you enjoy? I hope you don’t mind me asking, I’m just curious and would love to know more! 😊

Oddly enough, I don’t have many feelings about Lan Qiren. He’s a character that I neither like nor dislike (well. Maybe a little bit of dislike when Lan Wangji was punished. But not like, out right ‘this character is on the evil list now 😠’). I think the thing people forget is that Lan Qiren has a right to his fear for and protect over his nephews? Whether those feelings are wrong or right are another question - but from his point of view he’s already seen what loving too much can do and how it can ruin a person through what it did to his brother and how it left him with Wangji and Xichen to raise. I think he also sees Lan Wangji’s feelings for Wei Wuxian and worries that history is repeating itself (especially since we know Lans don’t really have a good track record with love). 

Given his history of knowing Cangse Sanren as well and the fact that Wei Wuxian seems to mirror his mother a lot, I can imagine that he knows well enough that Wei Wuxian is like fire and smoke. He’s wild and untameable (pun not intended), and not something you can catch and just hide away. I think there’s frustration there for his own past and whatever relationship he had with Cangse Sanren, and the fear of how wild Wei Wuxian is and how taken his youngest nephew quickly becomes for him. I don’t think Lan Qiren really knows what to do in certain situations either, especially since he ties himself so tightly to the clan rules that they restrain him. Unlike the Twin Jades he’s not really struggling against the rules and attempting to bend and question them, but I think there are a few instances where he’s like ‘rules are rules - even if I don’t want to do this, I have to’.

As for parallels between him and Denethor ... it has been a very long time since I read Lord of the Rings, so a lot of what I remember of the character these days comes from the films. There’s nothing that really springs directly to my mind? It’s not a connection I’ve ever really thought about honestly, but if you had any thoughts about it I’d be interested to know! 😊

[absynthe--minded]

so because I got to go see The Two Towers (2002) at our local theater this weekend with @katarina-elaine​ I figured I’d ramble about a few of my thoughts. of the three films The Two Towers is the one I have the most to say about? Fellowship is more or less a perfect adaptation and King is back in the vein of the first film in that its problems are more about portraying characters , but Towers is unusual for me because its plot is wildly different from the book in a lot of places and it also introduces a theme that’s absent from the original work

(bullet points because reasons, under the cut because Long)

first off I think that the Rohan plot in the movie is as good as it could get with the time that they had. I’m struck by how well this film does what we now expect from fantasy/historical shows and tells three different stories at the same time, and how that disparate storytelling is maintained throughout the next film in the trilogy. but I think that simplifying the politics and the characters was a good thing! Erkenbrand is basically a nonentity, as are many of the bannermen and smaller lords of Rohan, and having him be the third act savior when he kind of doesn’t show up again in any great capacity is... it makes sense from an in-universe perspective? but it’s got very little emotional impact for our heroes to be saved by someone we don’t know and have never seen and who also never appears again. expanding Saruman’s control over Théoden and giving Éomer that role was a good choice because it makes the audience care.

there were a lot of choices made in screenwriting that were basically meant to make the things that happen have emotional impact? Arwen being the one to save Frodo, Éomer taking Erkenbrand’s role, etc - the idea was that these big moments would capture the attention of the audience and make them care.

there are so many subtle production design things - the statue of Gil-galad in Rivendell, the elven banners that the Lothlórien host carries, the tapestry in Arwen’s room, Faramir’s leather armor! - that really add depth and meaning and nuance to a lot of the things that happen onscreen. Faramir being a ginger mess means. a lot more. when he’s the only one in the film wearing armor with the book-accurate White Tree and the seven eight-pointed stars.

Kat said this but it’s true - movie!Aragorn is kind of a mess in this one in terms of motivation. He insists throughout Fellowship that he doesn’t want the power he’s been born into, and even in Towers he’s demonstrably uncomfortable with it, and yet his role in Rohan is to basically be a king of a neighboring country. He constantly steps up to take the lead and to be powerful and influential. This is the movie where he’s closest to his book characterization and frankly it works for him but it should have been consistent. If they were trying to go for an angle of “oh shit I thought I didn’t want power but look at what a good leader I am, I can’t run from this” they should have done more with it.

I just. I love Rohan??? So much.

the main theme of The Two Towers seems to be an anti-isolationism one - that everyone, no matter who they are, is part of the greater world and can’t escape rising darkness but must instead resist it. This works really well with the Ents and not so well with Rohan, who only stop being isolationist when Haldir and the Galadhrim are banging on their door going “hey let us in we’re here to help”. Aragorn tries to get Théoden to send for aid, but Théoden refuses, because he doesn’t think help will come. And he’s right in that help will almost certainly not get there in time? But I feel like he never comes to the same conclusion that the Ents do, and it would have been a better character arc for him if he did. Instead, he finds himself caught up in war and is more or less forced to accept it. This conflict is resolved in greater and more satisfactory detail in movie 3 when he actively chooses to ride to Gondor’s aid? But it also doesn’t persevere as a motivation and a plot thread through the first half hour of that film.

there are a lot of ways to take Denethor’s relationship with his sons but I will agree with @yavieriel in saying that PJ’s greatest sin wasn’t in emphasizing Denethor’s cruelty but in inventing his incompetence. I will die on the hill that movie!Denethor’s treatment of his children has a canonical basis, even as it’s not the only take.

it shouldn’t have been the Galadhrim who came to Helm’s Deep to help. it should have been the Grey Company, the Dúnedain, with Elladan and Elrohir. they could have explained that Lothlórien and Mirkwood and Dale and Erebor were all under attack, and that Imladris was besieged (headcanon but I firmly believe it happened), and that they were all who could be spared to help in the war. it would make more sense than random elves showing up, and it would allow Elladan and Elrohir to be around in movie 3 and give Aragorn the banner Arwen made as well as Andúril. (this gets rid of Arwen’s Mystery Sickness and Elrond fast traveling from Rivendell to Rohan and back to Rivendell in like two days)

we’d also get the twins. you know. existing.

Aragorn: [jumps in front of a shield wall and a battering ram in leather armor and mail to give Théoden like five more minutes of time] Elladan: Estel what the fuck are you doing?! Aragorn: What Adar would do! Elrohir: Damn it - hold on! We’re coming down!

[lesbiansforboromir]

LOOK!! Look, listen. Setting aside all other personal concerns or frustrations of mine about Denethor’s portrayal in the films, this cartoonish villainization campaign for him literally robs his sons AND Gondor as a whole of both important context and heroism. They are all worse characters because of how much Phillipa Boyen hated Denethor.

Like Faramir! Yes Faramir! In the film, in order to paint him as this sweet hearted victim of a father’s abuse, he is sent to retake Osgiliath hopelessly. Everyone in this situation knows this is a wasteful and useless endeavour in the film and no one tries to do anything about that! Imrahil doesn’t object (that’s his nephew!), none of the Captains object, Gandalf goes only to Faramir to ask for him to reconsider, and crucially Faramir really raises little to no complaint beyond ‘my lord osgiliath is overrun’. ALL of the men who rode out to Osgiliath in the film died and Faramir lets that happen, everyone lets that happen! As though Denethor is some all powerful god of malice controlling their actions. And Faramir believes he will die in this task! He’s literally riding out to die!

In the Book, Faramir has left men from Ithilien in Osgiliath, it is not fully lost yet though he councils it soon will be. The discussion in the council of Denethor’s captains is ‘should we try to hold osgiliath’s choke point or should we pull back the rest of our forces and let ourselves be besieged now’. Denethor says we need to hold Osgiliath for as long as we can and we cannot allow the enemy to cross without losses. Faramir says it would be better to pull all their forces back now, we can spare no one whilst Mordor can spare many. Again! It is a disagreement of tactics and plans, and the captains there do not object. And then Faramir leaves for Osgiliath with more soldiers and proceeds to hold Osgiliath for 2 and a half days. And meanwhile! Denethor is planning a sortie from the gates using Imrahil’s knights and the last remaining cavalry they have in Minas Tirith to cover the retreat of soldiers that he had already planned for! Because it WAS! PLANNED! Because no one believed Denethor was just sending men to die for no reason! So people didn’t object!

And then!!! And this is the major point, Faramir could have saved himself! He doesn’t just run back wildly from Osgiliath, he manages the evacuation as the Haradrim and orcs cross the river and he stays at the REAR of his forces in order to keep them from panicking so that they will make it to Minas Tirith. It’s not happenstance that he gets hit with the arrow, it’s his heroism! He is being brave, he is being a leader of men! He is caught in a fight with a Haradrim champion and in that moment (as the sortie has ridden out and is pushing back the attackers to save their soldiers) he is hit by an arrow and Imrahil saves him! Like!! Why is Denethor being some boring hand wringing senseless villain more important than Faramir’s heroism and Gondor’s united effort? The point is that even when Gondor puts all they can into this defense, Mordor’s forces are just so large that there is no way to win! But no apparently Denethor is cruel, heartless and ‘mad’ and not one person in all of Gondor seems to care or want to do anything about it. It’s so goddamn reductive! It’s so boring and lifeless! It makes no sense and it DOESN’T compel me!

[wazafam]

While nearly every aspect of The Lord of the Rings is perfect, the music certainly stands out as being particularly effective. Composed by Howard Shore, the music of The Lord of the Rings is both haunting and beautiful, intimate and rousingly epic. It ranges wildly in terms of tone and excitement, and it helps the movie's best scenes become even better.

RELATED: Lord of the Rings: 10 Things That Make No Sense About Samwise

It's hard to pinpoint which musical moments are the best, as the trilogy is filled with commendable and chill-inducing music. But some scenes have become intrinsically linked to their musical score, and fans couldn't imagine seeing them without Shore's brilliant music.

10 Introducing The Shire

Many Lord of the Rings fans consider The Fellowship of the Ring to be the greatest movie, and that's largely because of scenes like this. The movie opens in spectacular fashion, as the epic battle on the slopes of Mount Doom eventually segues into the cozy atmosphere of The Shire.

"Concerning Hobbits" plays throughout much of the Shire montage, and "Concerning Hobbits" is often considered one of Shore's greatest works - if not his greatest. Maybe it's not "epic" in the traditional sense of the word, but it sure is beautiful.

9 Pippin's Song

The Return of the King features one of the most toxic and abusive relationships of the whole series - that between Faramir and his father, Lord Denethor. In one of the movie's most tragic sequences, Denethor sends Faramir and his men on a suicide mission to re-capture Osgiliath.

Back in the safety of Minas Tirith, Denethor asks Pippin to sing him a song. He sings Denethor a particularly tragic song, which hauntingly plays in the background as Faramir rides to his almost certain death.

8 "But I Can Carry You!"

The climax of The Return of the King is a thing of beauty, and it contains one of the most chill-inducing sequences of the entire trilogy. As Frodo collapses in exhaustion, Sam makes the brave decision to carry him up the mountain.

As he throws Frodo on his back, the beautiful "Mouth of Sauron" begins to play as the camera pans up the massive and daunting Mount Doom. It's a suitably epic piece of music for such an epic scene, and it makes Sam's decision seem all the more heroic.

7 The Black Rider

Few pieces of music on The Lord of the Rings soundtrack are more intimidating than "The Black Rider." Filled with haunting strings and the epic vocals of a choir, The Black Rider tends to play whenever the Nazgul attack Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring.

RELATED: The 15 Most Powerful Villains From The Hobbit & Lord Of The Rings, Ranked

Many languid and beautiful pieces of music are heard throughout the first half of the film (like "Concerning Hobbits"), so hearing the harsh "The Black Rider" serves as a stern and frightening reminder of the dangers lurking outside The Shire.

6 The Balrog Fight

The Two Towers is typically regarded as the "slowest" film, as it has a lot of heavy lifting to do in introducing Treebeard, Rohan, Theoden, etc. However, it opens in a truly spectacular fashion with a continuation of the fight between Gandalf and the Balrog.

The scene opens immediately after Gandalf's fall from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm and shows him battling the Balrog with nothing but a sword. It makes for some of the most intense imagery of the trilogy, and the music certainly helps set the epic and somewhat tragic tone.

5 The Fall Of Barad-dûr

Throughout the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, there is no image more rewarding than the fall of Barad-dûr. Immediately after the ring falls into the lava, the eye atop Barad-dûr starts going crazy and widens in fear and anticipation of death.

The entire tower then begins to crumble, slowly falling down upon itself before the eye explodes, sending debris flying in all directions. The image is extraordinary, and so is the angelic, victorious music that plays throughout the fall. This scene was three movies in the making, and it delivered on all fronts.

4 The Last March Of The Ents

While most of the Ent stuff may seem boring and slow upon re-watches, it's all worth it for the wonderful scene that is The Last March of the Ents. Seeing that all his tree friends have been felled by Saruman, Treebeard decides to attack Isengard.

RELATED: Lord Of The Rings: The 10 Most Heroic Characters

He issues a booming command, and the forest literally comes alive as the trees begin to converge on the slopes of Isengard. They then begin The Last March Of The Ents, and the choir-based music that plays throughout the march is always good for inducing goosebumps.

3 The Lighting Of The Beacons

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is arguably the most epic sequence in the entire trilogy. But to get there, Gandalf needed to alert the forces of Rohan. He used the small and resourceful Pippin in his plan, who sets fire to the beacon of Minas Tirith.

This fire sets off a chain of similar fires throughout the mountains of Gondor, and each flame is shot with utter majesty. The epic filmmaking is undoubtedly aided by Shore's "The Lighting of the Beacons", which lends the sequence a suitably momentous and victorious tone.

2 Ride Of The Rohirrim

One of the series' most famous sequences is the Ride of the Rohirrim. Theoden and the forces of Rohan arrive at Minas Tirith to see the city breached and half-destroyed. Knowing that they are riding to their deaths, Theoden issues one of the most inspirational speeches of all time before blowing the horn and ordering the charge.

The image of the massive Rohan army charging into battle is certainly gorgeous, but it's Shore's music that makes the scene. It's enough to bring even the most hardened men to tears.

1 "You Bow To No One."

Speaking of bringing hardened men to tears, the bowing scene at the end of Return of the King is one of the most tear-inducing scenes in movie history. Just as the hobbits are bowing to Aragorn, Aragorn stops them and issues his now-iconic line.

He then bows to the hobbits - as does everyone else in Minas Tirith. It's a beautiful sentiment, but the tears really start flowing once Howard Shore's "The Return of the King" begins playing. It's rousing, it's epic, it's gorgeous, and it doesn't leave a dry eye in the house.

NEXT: The Lord Of The Rings: 10 Characters Who Just Didn't Look Right In The Movies

Lord Of The Rings: The 10 Most Epic Musical Moments, Ranked from https://ift.tt/39zePmY

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #200 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: Blu-ray

1) The prologue.

This first scene of the last film does a number of things well. For one, Sméagol suddenly becomes a much more sympathetic and tragic character. We see how happy this creature was before being corrupted by the evil of the ring; before becoming Gollum. And that’s the other thing this scene does well: we understand better than ever how evil the ring is. How quickly it can turn good people bad. This sets the stakes high for the final chapter of the trilogy. Originally meant for The Two Towers, its inclusion in this film works so much better I think. Also it’s worth noting that the transformation from practical Gollum makeup to CG is seamless and visceral.

2) I love how freaking angry Gimli gets upon running into Merry & Pippin alive (after searching so desperately for them in Two Towers) before being tempted by what they’re smoking.

3) It’s worth noting that I HAVE watched the extended editions of all three films and while I usually forget about the scenes added in those versions, Saruman’s death scene (which is cut in this film) is always one I miss. It is a nice note of finality for such a major character in the trilogy.

4) Much as this film really covers Frodo’s eventual corruption by the ring, Aragorn’s journey is also complete. Over the course of the trilogy we see him go from a loner who wants nothing to do with leadership into the king of men. This film is very much about Aragorn accepting that part of himself, becoming the leader he was always meant to be, and we see it in many little ways. He takes a moment for himself to respect those fallen before celebrating a victory, he imparts wisdom onto Gandalf, he earns the trust of Théoden, later honors his promise to the ghost soldiers even though he could’ve used them as a weapon, and leads his army into battle in an effort to give Frodo the time he needs. By the time the credits role Aragorn fully embraces his duty as king and that’s a wonderful transformation to watch.

5) Have I mentioned I low-key ship Sam and Frodo?

Frodo: “I need you on my side.”

Sam: “I’m always on your side, Mr. Frodo.”

6) The last film very much covered Merry’s maturity, becoming invested in the war (which guides his actions in this film as well). In Return of the King we get to see Pippin grow more as a person. We see him go from a someone who doesn’t think before he acts (like when he looks into the orb and risks alerting Sauron about Frodo) to someone with deep sorrow who takes responsibility for his actions (such as when he pledges his allegiance to the Stewart of Gondor because he feels responsible for Boromir’s death). It’s a nice subplot for the film.

7) Can I just say: Théoden can be a real idiot.

Théoden [about Gondor]: “Tell me: why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours?”

Dude, you made SUCH a big deal about not asking for Gondor’s aid in the last movie when you were heavily advised to do just that. And now you’re getting pissy because they didn’t give you something you said you didn’t want?

8) While Sam and Frodo’s kinship is wicked strong, that’s not to undersell how deeply connected Merry and Pippin are. They’re great friends and the sadness of their goodbye as Gandalf takes Pippin to Gondor speaks to that.

9) Okay, can I just say something? There are only three named female characters in these films I can think of who have lines: Arwen, Galadriel, and Éowyn. They’re all awesome, they’re all great. They never EVER interact with each other and while we understand both Arwen and Galadriel are dangerous women it’s only Éowyn who gets to fight in the war. And I get the books were published in the 50s and everything but come on. Some changes to improve on female presence wouldn’t kill the movie.

10)

Arwen [about Aragorn]: “If I leave him now, I will regret it forever.”

And that’s literal, because elves are immortal. I just wanted to point that out.

11) John Noble as Denethor.

While there is initially a bit of sympathy for the stewart of Gondor because he’s mourning his son Boromir, wow is that lost quickly. I am rooting for this guy to die harder than I am any other character in this series because he is such a raging asshole. I think he’s supposed to be and John Noble plays him in a very interesting way. Much like Imelda Staunton was great at making us hate Doloris Umbridge in Harry Potter, John Noble is great at making Denethor a selfish, arrogant, cruel bastard who I just want to punch in his fucking permanent scowl of a face. HE FUCKING ADMITS THAT HE WISHES FARAMIR WERE DEAD INSTEAD OF BOROMIR! I just…yeah, I’m glad when this jackass dies.

12) The Dead City always reminded me a little of the Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz. Or is that just me?

13) I apologize for this in advance.

Frodo [when he feels the Witch King near, who stabbed him in Fellowship]: “I can feel his blade.”

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

14) At first I questioned the need to include Faramir’s skirmish with the orcs, but for one thing it shows the continued darkness which spreads across Middle Earth as well as the scale of this war. Not to mention it feeds directly into a conflict between Faramir and his jackass dad.

15) I love Éowyn, which I said as much in the last recap. But in this film she is just so freaking ready to fight for those she loves, to stand up against evil even though the sexism of Middle Earth tries to keep her off the battlefield. But she doesn’t and we get the best moment in the whole trilogy. More on that later.

16) When I was younger I never really understood why Frodo believes Sam actually stole the bread, why he sends Sam away. But now I get just how great a manipulator Gollum is and how dark the ring can be on Frodo’s soul. Gollum knows EXACTLY what the ring is doing to him, the little things it whispers to him, the greed and mistrust which is taking him. He knows because he spent (I think) five hundred years under that very same influence. He knows what Frodo is going through better than anyone which he manipulates to his advantage.

17) Sean Astin just freaking shines with his breakdown after Frodo sends him away breaks up with him (you know, after refusing to give Sam a ring). He’s come so far, sacrificing his very life, to make sure Mr. Frodo stays safe and trying to make sure the ring doesn’t take him. And he’s ALWAYS on Frodo’s side, he always trusts Frodo. But Frodo can’t do the same thing for Sam. In fact, he does the complete opposite and distrusts him so deeply he tries to get rid of him. And it’s based on NOTHING, just the manipulations of a fiend and the darkness of the ring. Astin i just so great and conveying how heavy this is on Sam, I love it.

18) Ah, the song.

First of all, Billy Boyd’s vocals are just absolutely amazing here. They infuse the song with such grand heartache which helps it set the tone for Faramir’s attack on the orc troops. This isn’t a grand action scene, this isn’t a heroic triumph, this is a heartbreaking suicide mission made because of a son wanting to earn the love of his soulless father. And that’s why the song works as well as it does. It sets a beautiful tone.

19) Honestly, a few of these notes are just going to be me acknowledging awesome Éowyn is.

Éowyn [after some troops laugh at Merry for wanting to fight]: “Why can he not fight for those he loves?”

20) The scene where Aragorn takes the sword from Elrond is a great moment. The music, Aragorn’s demeanor, the subtleties of the cinematography, the visual of Aragorn taking the sword, it all just makes it feel like a real hero’s moment.

21) While the extended edition of this film may have some more Legolas & Gimli moments (there’s this wonderful drinking competition they get into), the bromance of the entire trio is still something I love.

Gimli [after Aragorn tries going into the dead mountain alone]: “You might as well accept it: we’re going with you, laddie.”

22) Merry is told he can’t go into battle by Théoden, that no one will carry him on their horse. Meanwhile Éowyn - who was basically told to stay at home and look after things while the men fight - says, “Screw that,” and takes Merry into battle herself. I LOVE ÉOWYN!

23) The scene with the ghosts and the dead mountain is truly eerie. Peter Jackson’s roots as a horror director really shine through in this wonderfully creepy scene and place. It’s just chilling.

24) In the long running list of why Denethor is a piece of shit: he is so freaking eager for Faramir to be dead and to have some man pain he doesn’t even check his pulse! Then he bitches about not getting help from Rohan which HE DIDN’T EVEN WANT and then gives up. Thank god for Gandalf.

25) The initial battle of Gondor has a nice sense of scale and stakes to it, especially when we see it through the eyes of Pippin. There’s this constant sense of dread and hardship which builds tension nicely.

26) I’m not talking about the spider scene because I always hide behind my hands when that scene is going on. I fucking hate spiders, guys. I hate them. It’s a miracle I didn’t just straight up fast forward past all the spider stuff. AND IT JUST KEEPS COMING BACK! You think the spider is gone but then no, it comes back for one last attack! ENOUGH WITH THE SPIDER ALREADY!

27) Gollum is totally done with the manipulation, the tricks, all of it. As soon as Frodo reveals his intention is to destroy the ring, he loses it and just is going to solve his problem with brute force. This doesn’t really work for him though.

28) Awww, Sam comes back to rescue his boyfriend only to think he’s dead.

Sam: “Don’t leave me here alone. Don’t go where I can’t follow.”

29) A coincidence to get the character in trouble helps move the plot along. Such as when the orcs show up RIGHT AFTER Frodo gets paralyzed so they can easily capture him.

30) Through a strong sense of visuals there is a nice feeling of hope when Rohan shows up to participate in the battle of Gondor. The build up to that and the fact we see it via Merry and Éowyn works REALLY well because they - like the audience - are both new to this.

31) I always liked that Gandalf is willing to leave the main battle to save Faramir, because isn’t that what this is all about? Saving as much life as we can.

32) There are few film deaths which are quite as satisfying to me as Denethor’s death. I won’t include it hear but those who have seen the movie know exactly what happens. Know if you seek it out it does involve fire (so if that triggers you maybe best to stay away).

33) Once the freaking elephants show up to battle you KNOW this shit is epic. One thing this film does best out of all three is its battle sequences are amazing. They may be long, but they are choreographed interestingly and use a strong sense of action = reaction to them. They’re epic and totally amazing.

34) I do have a bit of a fear of death, so Gandalf’s words to Merry always bring me calm.

Gandalf [after Merry says he can’t believe it’s going to end like this]: “End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path we must all take.”

35) THE BEST FREAKING MOMENT IN THE ENTIRE FREAKING TRILOGY! If you only watch one moment from The Lord of the Rings, make sure you watch this one. This is all you need to see. This is beautiful and I love it and it’s awesome. Watch it! Watch it now!

FUCKING ÉOWYN VERSUS THE FUCKING WITCH KING! YES! You can see she’s TOTALLY scared but that doesn’t matter at all. She works through the fear, she fights this mythical creature who is supposedly un-killable AND SHE FUCKING KILLS HIM! It’s either him or her uncle and damn it’s sure as hell not going to be her uncle! It is glorious. I cheer every time. I love it. Best moment in the trilogy. No contest. Done.

36) There is this tone shift in the battle of Gondor once Legolas and Gimli start their contest.

Gimli: “There’s plenty [of the enemy] for the both of us, may the best dwarf win.”

They bring out an intense amount of fun to the battle which just has you cheering them on. Cheering on the victory! I mean, LEGOLAS TAKES DOWN A FREAKING ELEPHANT!

Gimli: “THAT STILL COUNTS AS ONE!”

I love it.

37) Again, I apologize for this in advance.

Orc [about to kill Frodo]: “I’m going to stick you like a stuffed pig.”

Sam [killing the orc]: “Not if I stick you first.”

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

38) It is always important that characters not be passive. Them making a choice is interesting. So even when Frodo is at a point where he can easily STOP carrying the ring and let Sam carry it, but he CHOSES not to, that’s interesting. It speaks to his character.

Frodo: “You must understand: the ring is my burden.”

39) This is one of my favorite things to hit the internet in 2012. It’s so random and weird I love it.

40) The moment when Aragorn really becomes the king of men is when he rallies his troops to fight against Sauron. He takes his role as leader seriously and he’s damn good at it.

Aragorn: “I see in your eyes the same fear which would take the heart in me!”

He relates to them, he lets them know he’s afraid, but his bravery inspires bravery in others. That’s what a good leader does. They speak of hope and unity against hatred, they don’t encourage it. They don’t divide people, they bring them together.

41) Have I mentioned I love Legolas and Gimli’s bromance?

Gimli: “Who thought I’d die fighting side by side with an elf?”

Legolas: “How about side by side with a friend?”

Gimli: “Aye. I can do that.”

42) Frodo is literally pushed past his physical limits, unable to climb any further up Mount Doom to destroy the ring. But he HAS to. That’s high stakes. Forgoing physical needs for the goal is the highest stakes imaginable. And also: HELL YEAH, SAMWISE GAMGEE!

Sam: “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you!”

43) Can I just say: I will never truly wrap my mind around the super convenient giant eagles which show up at the last minute. Like, maybe there’s an explanation for this in the books, but wouldn’t the eagles have helped out A LOT MORE before this final battle? I mean really. What’s with this Deus Ex Machina stuff?

44) The scene where Frodo decides to keep the ring visually matches the one where Isildur did the same thing in Fellowship, meaning the seeds for this were planted in the trilogy from film one. It’s smart planning and helps make the choice all the stronger. We’ve seen the consequences of this action once, but again? Oh man, that could be disastrous.

45) You can really see the influence the ring had on Frodo when this is the first thing he says after it’s destroyed.

Frodo: “I can see the shire.”

Frodo talked about how he couldn’t remember it before, while he was carrying the ring. But now it’s gone and he can. I love that.

46) One of my favorite moments in the series is when Frodo wakes up in Rivendale with Gandalf standing at his bead. Remember, Frodo thinks Gandalf is DEAD from the first film. So not only is there the joy at his own survival but that of his friend too. And you can see it on Elijah Wood’s face.

47) This film has A LOT of endings. Like, it takes 20 minutes to end. But I like each and every one. Firstly, this massive respect the hobbits are paid.

Aragorn [king of men, to the hobbits]: “My friends. You bow to no one.”

[Aragorn bows, then so does literally EVERYONE else]

48) The Shire still brings about the same sense of peace it did in Fellowship. You know you’re really out of danger when you are in that place. The tension defuses and it feels like…home. It’s worth noting that the hobbits at first have nothing to talk about while at the bar. They just sit there in silence because…what is there to say?

49) The final goodbye.

I may not be the best to pick up on subtext, but even I get that this boat into the West is meant to represent the afterlife. That Bilbo, Gandalf, and Frodo are all going into the afterlife (even though I always forget that Gandalf leaves). This is honestly not only the most fitting ending to the story, but for Frodo’s character as a whole. There’s no way Frodo could’ve just gone home after all that evil. He couldn’t have just returned to normalcy. He’s changed too much, so he has to move on. But just because Frodo’s gone, doesn’t mean life moves on. And I think that’s one of the greatest messages this film has: even in the face of great loss, life moves on. And there is always ALWAYS hope.

50) And I think instead of analyzing the song “Into the West” I’ll just leave you all with a link to listen to it because it’s a wonderful piece.

The Return of the King is everything fans loved about the first two Lord of the Rings films dialed up all the way. The stakes are at their highest, the battles are at their most epic, the performances are incredible, and the characters finally reach the end of the journey they started at the beginning of this film. Winning Best Picture at the Oscars the year it was nominated, this film definitely deserves it and is worth the watch (even if it is a long watch).

[the-dan-in-high-castle]

The Lord of the Rings: Were some film changes justified?

Hi there, peeps. So this is the first time I’ve done something like this, but I thought I’d dig into something a little juicy and which often provokes a lot of debate in the literary sphere: whether or not the changes made from the original LOTR books to the film trilogy by Peter Jackson were justified or not.

Every book-to-movie translation features changes, and I mean every single one. We see it all over, with movies like the Harry Potter franchise, The Golden Compass, Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia, and perhaps most famously with Lord of the Rings. 

The reasons for these changes vary greatly. Some directors choose to erase aspects of the source material to shorten the overall length of a film, or to stop a film becoming clustered with too many plotlines or characters. Others may change a certain scene, location or character to better suit their vision of the adaptation, and some go as far as re-writing the plot to end differently altogether. For this post, I’m going to split LOTR changes into three categories:

The erasure of characters included in the novels

The change of characters included in both the novels and the films, either in actions, context or personality

The alteration of certain plot-lines and stories

Character removal

Yes, we will be talking about Tom Bombadil here to start with. The singing, dancing forest-lurker introduced in Chapter VI of Fellowship of the Ring, Tom acts as a seemingly random inclusion into the story, guiding the four Hobbits through the Barrow-downs and saving them from the undead Barrow-wights, while gifting the Hobbits the Númenorean daggers, one of which Merry uses to help kill the Witch-King in Return of the King. Bombadil has become the butt of many jokes among fans for his spontaneous appearance in the storyline, his apparent lack of significance in the plot as a whole, and simply because all he does is sing to trees and dance around his house. With this in mind, it makes sense entirely that Tom isn’t included in the films. He doesn’t appear for the rest of the films, he has minimal impact in the overall story, and he’s a bit of a joke character.

One more aggravating removal is that of Elladan and Elrohir, the sons of Elrond, as well as the Grey Company. The Grey Company, a group of elite Dúnedain soldiers led by Aragorn’s close friend, Halbarad, appear first in Return of the King, following Aragorn through the Paths of the Dead and helping him reclaim Pelargir and then the Pelenoor Fields. Elladan and Elrohir accompany the Grey Company, though also appear earlier in Rivendell in Fellowship of the Ring, and are also responsible for re-forging Anduril for Aragorn. The characters did not diminish at all from the overall story, with the Grey Company allowing Aragorn to show his leadership and control before his eventual succession to the throne, while Elladan and Elrohir gave more representation to the Elves, while also furthering the family of Elrond further, as in the books. Erasing them not only removes the Dúnedain from any mention save a conversation between Aragorn and Eowyn, but also erodes Elrond’s two eldest children from existence. 

There are other exclusions which do make some sense, in my opinion. Quickbeam, an Ent that befriends Merry and Pippin, is quite a humorous character in the books, but also does little to the story and would simply take up time and budget. There is also no mention of Bill Ferny, the corrupt Northmen who tells the Nazgul of the Hobbits being in Bree, though he wasn’t necessary in this regard either. Finally, there is the absence of Glorfindel, though I’ll explore that one when we look at the next section.

The alteration of characters

Faramir. Good grief, how they annoyed me with the depiction of Faramir in the films. Book-Faramir is genuinely one of the most noble and generous characters in the entire trilogy. He shows care and attention to Frodo and Sam, and while he is suspicious of Gollum, he never abuses him as is shown in the movies. More importantly, Faramir never attempts to take the Ring from Frodo, identifying it immediately as a source of evil. However, most significant is that Faramir aids Frodo in his journey by giving him food, as well as advising him not to trust Gollum nor to pass through Cirith Ungol. The contrast with Movie-Faramir, who at first acts out of greed and desperation to bring the Ring to Gondor, while also mistreating and abusing the trio travelling to Mordor, is a crude corruption of the noble Captain seen in the novels. Faramir’s actions seemed only to justify the scenes in Osgiliath, though these would much eagerly be replaced by the scenes involving the Window of the West in my opinion, which featured some of the best settings and dialogue in the entire trilogy.

Next, we move to Arwen. Arwen is one of the few characters to actually receive a greatly expanded role in the movies. Not only do we see her far earlier in Fellowship of the Ring, bearing Frodo to Rivendell, but we also see her struggles with journeying to Valinor and her romance with Aragorn, which is only ever mentioned in the books. Arwen’s expansion does help give some depth to one of the few female characters in the series, but also comes at the expense of other characters. Not only do the scenes detailing her inner turmoil and her relationship lead to the removal or cutting down of some characters, but her inclusion in some parts usurps the role of other characters, such as when Glorfindel rescues Frodo in the novel. Arwen’s changes are 50/50, as while the exploration of a character we know little about is somewhat appreciated, part of her appeal in the novels was her mystique, if Frodo’s perspective tells us anything, and her expansion comes at the cost of many other side characters.

Other character changes are somewhat minimal. The age of the Hobbits is greatly reduced, with Frodo being shown as a young adult, even though he is middle-aged in the books, though this comes down to a narrative change. Denethor is slightly differed also: while the books present him first with cunning and wit, which gradually descends as the story progresses, the movie presents him from the start of Return of the King as a man already lost to grief and madness, denying the audience the chance to see why he became the twisted and desperate man we see in the novels.

Alteration of the plot

In respect to Jackson, he did a far better job than most book-to-film directors in keeping to the plot of the trilogy (more than I can say for the Hobbit cough cough) but he is not without his blunders.

Remember the Scouring of the Shire? Peter Jackson doesn’t. One of the final chapters of Return of the King, the Scouring of the Shire was the takeover of the Shire by brigands loyal to Saruman (no, he didn’t fall off Orthanc at the start of RotK) and their subsequent defeat by the rebellious Hobbits, with Saruman being murdered by Wormtongue in the aftermath. The Scouring is definitely an usual addition, seemingly placed in the novel to close out Saruman after his escape from Orthanc. It did make some sense to cut out the Scouring, since it would have taken up time in an otherwise lengthy movie, and Jackson does well to allude to it with the Mirror of Galadriel in Fellowship, but getting to see an army of Hobbits beat up a bunch of bandits and thugs to round out the trilogy would have certainly been entertaining. Still, it makes sense to cut it.

What doesn’t make sense is the inclusion of Frodo, Sam and Gollum in the Battle of Osgiliath in Two Towers. Why were they there? The inclusion was practically nonsensical, since not only did it draw out the scenes where the audience was met with an (unsuitably) arrogant Faramir who they weren’t growing to like, but the battle scene never even included the other three characters fighting. If you want to add in a battle, go ahead, but don’t add a battle that nobody takes part in except extras. The battle wasn’t even that special, with the battle scenes themselves being clunky and the inclusion of the Nazgul being completely unnecessary, since we had not only seen them not long before over the Dead Marshes, but would later see them rip everything up in Minas Tirith. It’s a clunky addition that also deprives us of the scenes of respite that the novel chapters with Faramir provide. The last thing we really need at this point is turmoil and battle, and it only adds to the cluster of action going on at the end of the film.

Some smaller changes connect to the past two categories, such as the Grey Company coming to aid Aragorn and the complete removal of the Old Forest or the Barrow-downs, as well as the scenes in Buckland we see in the book where the reader learns that the Hobbits are being spied on. One of the more egregious changes in my personal opinion is the removal of the meeting between the Elves, led by Gildor, and the three Hobbits; Frodo, Sam and Pippin. The meeting is diminished to the passing of a group of Elves by Frodo and Sam in the film, and takes away from the mystique of the Elves that Jackson later tries to build in Rivendell. The meeting is one of the lighter-hearted portrayals of the Elves in the series, and the absence of the meeting does nothing but maintain the presentation of Elves as sullen, miserable warriors without any cheer or heart. 

Conclusion

So which changes are justified from book to film?

Definitely the removal of Tom Bombadil. While I enjoyed the Bombadil chapters in the book, they wouldn’t have done much good for the movies. 

The Scouring of the Shire. An interesting little storyline, but not significant enough to add to the films meaningfully, especially not a movie as long as Return of the King

The expansion of Arwen’s character. Tolkien admittedly included very few significant female characters, and so it is good of Jackson to expand on Arwen as a strong female figure.

Which changes weren’t justified?

Faramir. Changing Faramir into a near-antagonist for the entirety of Two Towers did nothing but give the audience a character to hate other than Gollum, which wasn’t necessary, since Gollum acts perfectly as a troubled, two-faced villain for the audience to be indecisive on. Faramir should have stayed as the strong source of hope in an otherwise troubled kingdom. 

The removal of various Elf characters. This includes Glorfindel, Elladan, Elrohir and Gildor. Four Elf characters that show far more heart and charisma than other Elves, yet are left out. Their inclusion could have added another dimension to the Elf race, but this is unfortunately avoided by Jackson.

How Denethor is presented. Denethor in the books started as witty and cunning, if not also paranoid, and over the course of Return of the King the reader sees the paranoia slowly take over his more respectable aspects. From the start of the movie, however, Denethor is depicted as broken and shallow, and so the audience misses out on that immersive transition.

Did Jackson mess up some stuff? Yeah, absolutely. If you’re of the belief that the books are absolutely perfect, you’re never gonna think a film adaptation will be as good since things will definitely change. However, as far as film adaptations of novels go, Jackson did a respectable job. He contained all the vital plot aspects, maintained the personalities of most characters while expanding on others, and gave us some absolutely gorgeous settings and art designs. Not bad, PJ. Not bad.

[caithyra]

Rewriting Tauriel... And other Elves

Soooo... Tauriel was a good idea: Increase the number of female characters, and perhaps add a bit of story since we’re making three films from a book and extra material that only warrant two films at the most.

Then it went... yeah. It went wrong (or at least clumsily executed). When it could have gone right so easily that it’s frustrating.

Now, I’m not claiming that my way is right, but eh, it’s my attempt at an idea that doesn’t make Thranduil racist against his people and give Tauriel a greater grounding in the Legendarium (while discarding parts of the love triangle, Kili can still crush on her and say cringe-y stuff, but it’s funnier if Tauriel has no interest whatsoever in him IMO).

Okay, so the Silm is off-limits but clearly allusions to it aren’t (Hallo thar glittering gems of light in a dispute between Dwarves and a Sindarin king). So yeah, here we have a red-haired elf living among Nandorin-descended elves while being disliked by their Sindarin king (who loves Silvan elves and their culture, like his father, to the point of assimilation) when his son started to pay a bit more attention to her than is proper of platonic friends.

I repeat: A red-haired elf among Silvan elves disliked by a Sindarin king when she might end up marrying into the family.

Once upon a time, the Nandor weren’t ruled by Sindarin kings or Noldorin ladies. They had their own king, Lenwë (or Dan, as he was known to them), who had a son, Denethor (who is probably the namesake of Steward Denethor I of Gondor, and subsequently Denethor II, father of Boromir and Faramir, because Elven Denethor was an up-standing and loyal person, which a steward would need to be).

Anyway, the Nandor (valley elves) were named such because they refused to go to the West because they wouldn’t cross mountains. But in the First Age (LotR and Hobbit takes place in the Third Age), Denethor took a bunch of Nandor over the mountains to settle in the lands of Ossiriand, the Easternmost part of the Westernmost land (Beleriand) of Middle-earth.

So, the Nandor, who were the precursors to the Silvan Elves, are in Ossiriand.

Then a bunch of mass-murdering Elves came from the West and integrated themselves in the greatest Elven realm on Middle-earth, Doriath (which was ruled from a cave palace in a forest, sounds familiar?), the Sindarin kingdom of King Thingol (remember? Also there are theories that Thranduil might have been a kinsman of Thingol, since they are both Sindarin nobility). Of course, they kept mum on the whole mass-murdering Thingol’s brother’s kingdom on their way until Thingol found out on his own, so yeah.

Anyway, they were lead by Fëanor and his sons (and the mass-murder was to get one of Fëanor’s shiny jewels back). And while much have been written (the Silmarillion, for example), of him and most his sons. His youngest sons, a pair of twins, was very little written of.

We do know, however, that while in Middle-earth, the Ambarussa (High Elven for “redhead” which was a name they shared) twins lived in East Beleriand.

Yeah. They were neighbours with Ossiriand and the Nandorin elves.

And then the sons of Fëanor committed mass-murder a few more times, including completely destroying Doriath, for a couple of shiny jewels (though the death of Thingol was at Dwarven hands <-Reason why Thranduil and Celeborn [Thingol’s great-nephew] hold grudges towards dwarves and probably why Gimli was to be blind-folded in Lothlórien).

And Thranduil’s family subsumed themselves in the culture of the Silvan Elves, finding it more “natural” than the ways of the Western Elves.

So...

What if Tauriel was descended from an Ambarussa twin (alluded to, at least) and a Nandorin lady? What if instead of “lowly Silvan elf” it is “you are allowed to dwell among us for your late mother’s sake, but I will not tolerate the daughter of my family’s mass-murderers to marry into my family (playing up on the Thranduil being Thingol’s kinsman fan-theories and separating it a bit from the Silm)!”.

What if Tauriel beseeches Thranduil to aid the dwarves in taking back Erebor, and alludes to them being generous in gratitude? And Thranduil alludes to thinking that she believes the Arkenstone being a Silmaril (which he explicitly says is not what she thinks it is), and how Thingol died for it and how his kingdom was destroyed, while refusing because he does not want the same fate for his own people and kingdom.

What if Thranduil saves the White Council at Dol Guldur (it is, after all, the former capital of his kingdom)? And we learn of some tension (also, he doesn’t need magical rings, thankyouverymuch, it’s not like it helped Isildur y’know, also Galadriel is a creepy af colonialist who may one day betray them if she gets her hands on a greater power *winkwink* because she is related to the same family as Tauriel), and he and Gandalf argues about the dwarves, and Elrond steps in defense of his mother-in-law (Galadriel, for those who didn’t know), and tells Thranduil that he will destroy everything he loves if he keeps holding onto past pains like this (and Thranduil allows this only because it is hinted that Elrond helped him with his grief over his wife, which is non-canon, but eh, Elrond is a famous healer and Thranduil can’t die while his people needs him, and we need to keep this from being too accurate to the Silm because no film rights, so yeah). Also, while Thranduil is away, the Dwarves having their daring barrel escape.

What if Thranduil, as much as it pains him, Exiles Tauriel and Legolas when they leave? Alluding to the Exile of the Noldor, in order to protect his kingdom against jewel-lust (btw, it is more clear that this whole backstory is why he locked up the dwarves, and he and Thorin had their own allusions about that, a bit clearer than earlier shown).

What if Tauriel was never in love with anyone? What if her whole story is to prove that a child cannot pay for the sins of her father? That she has good intentions and acts on them? What if she nearly dies proving it? But in return she convinces Thranduil that some battles are worth fighting? What if Thranduil and Legolas have a chat about how Thranduil nearly died from grief (as elves do) when Legolas’ mother died (thus alluding to the problem with Aragorn/Arwen)? And how he cannot ask his people to go through that when it wont tangibly benefit them.

What if Tauriel was shown as a liked and respected captain among the Silvans? And that a soldier overhears Thranduil saying that to Legolas, and that soldier in turn is shown going to speak with other soldiers? What if Thranduil is convinced of Tauriel’s convictions, but still wont ask his soldiers to sacrifice, and then Tauriel’s friends step in and volunteers?

What if Tauriel dies instead of nearly dying? (Yes, killing one of the few female characters is iffy, but at least she would die for her convictions and to save the world instead of for romance, heck, have her do something ridiculously heroic while at it) And instead of sending Legolas to Aragorn, Thranduil sends Legolas to Elrond Half-elven to learn of mortality and grief? In a desperate attempt to save Legolas’ life as Legolas is in pain and almost starts fading? What if Thranduil’s soldiers (who will have had scenes showing that they like and respect their captain, dammit!) overhears the “this is why I don’t want to go to war, it is not just one soldier that dies when one dies on the battlefield”-talk, and then go “with all due respect, lord and sire, but Tauriel was fucking right and even if you are our king, that question should be answered by your individual subjects and not by you, if we didn’t think it worth the fight, we wouldn’t have taken up arms to begin with”, and then Thranduil meets Bilbo who will fight even when scared and likely to die, who hands him the Arkenstone in the hopes of saving the dwarves, and Thranduil is completely convinced.

Gandalf doesn’t notice at first, however (still being stuck with the argument at Dol Guldur, that’s what you get for disappearing to secret council meetings all the time!), and they have a bit of a spat in miscommunication, but beside that, the elves eventually ends up having a Big Damn Heroes Entrance moment in the Battle of the Five Armies.

If Tauriel survives, she gently explains to Legolas that she does not feel the same but that she will always loyally serve his family. This causes Legolas to be uncomfortable and want to leave, and Thranduil wishes him well and advises him to learn the ways of mortals, for the Ages of Elves are ending and if they are to survive in the Age of Men, the future King of Mirkwood needs to know them. Legolas decides to learn from Elrond Half-elven and the Dúnedain and leaves (and thus wont see his father’s new friendship with the dwarves, setting up his rivalry with Gimli as they both act as their fathers used to do before they shook hands).

The denouement of this side-plot would be Thranduil striking up a sort of friendship with Dáin and Balin (and Balin mentioning that with Erebor freed, Moria would be next *winkwink* and asking if Thranduil will attempt to stop that from happening like with Erebor, and Thranduil instead sincerely wishing them luck, but warns, with scenes of Dol Guldur, still overrun by spiders, that the Shadow is moving again and it is not so easy to reclaim what was once lost. Also, Glóin should be especially prominent in this scene, possibly standing beside Gandalf and Bilbo, in an outfit reminiscent of the one he wore in Rivendell in LotR), as well as agreeing to a military alliance with Dale and Erebor.