“FEY’ is the word Tolkien used to describe Eomer’s mood before the charge. It is the perfect word to describe that fatalistic, hopeless, rage/sorrow driven decision.

Peter Jacksone is. Vandal and butcher. From the first conversation between Bilbo and Gandalf on Party night, there is hardly a conversation, encounter, event, or character he didn't alter, to the detriment of Tolkien's narrative and intentions. His handling of Frodo's, Sam's, and Gollum's trip to Cirith Ungol, with Frodo losing faith in Sam was inexcusable. His corruption of Faramir's sterling character is equally deplorable. I can't even watch the films. Within the first 10 minutes I'm spitting fire aat all of the unnecessary changes. Jackson turned the greatest High Fantasy novel in literature into a Marvel comics film.

Merry Christmas

Another thing is the look of Minas Tirith and its surroundings. I suppose the fact that the city iyself is so small might be book accurate (?) but I do miss the orchards and farms etc that the orcs burn down prior to the siege. In the movie Minas Tiriths surroundings looks so empty now, where is all the food and produce coming from?

Take the blinders off. Holy crap! Not a girl boss? How? So a 95lb girl, with no experience more training, defeats not just a fully trained, 350lb warrior with decades of combat existence... But she saves the entire civilization. She never makes a bad decision. Everything she does is perfect. She never loses... Ever. But not a girl boss. Wow. That's a leap of ignorance. As far as lore.... Really? So Helm sacrificed himself for no reason to protect the Hornberg. That's how he went? Really? Fréaláf had a minimal role? That's what Tolkien wrote? Really? He was just a dude that took all the credit... Because an unnamed girl ACTUALLY did it all. Why? That doesn't raise an alarm? A disingenuous interest? No? It's all a maybe. Or a could have. Directly from the written texts. Wow. So, an unnamed girl, defeats everyone, lifts the siege, and goes off with Gandalf.... But is never once mentioned by name. Holy crap!! What are you doing? Who are you bowing to? What's the angle? This is a bastardization of the written lore.

As an unrepentant Tolkien purist, I noticed every single one of these changes and all the others that you listed in your videos. I hated every one of them

It almost looked rotoscoped at times, like the Bakshi movie.

What about Bill the Pony?

Best and most accurate description of Melina I have ever heard.

Anything not written by Tolkien is obviously not canon, whether he himself would have agreed with that or not!!

It’s always struck me as very odd that a group of people who can be so fanatical about the accuracy of films and TV shows portraying Tolkien’s work are so Wishy-washy about canon. There is a very clear canon consisting of the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and the unfinished tales. Everything else was either not intended for reading, an earlier or alternative version of something in the works mentioned above, or written by his son, in which case it is clearly not canon!

They missed the chance to depict a great Shakespearean villain in Denethor. They also ruined the Army of the Dead.

Respectfully, I disagree with most of this. I feel like your expectations are colored too much by the books, and what feels like plot holes are just ways the movies are different. You say Aragorn needed Arwen dying to motivate him becoming King, as if you missed three movies of his slowly becoming a stronger and more confident leader. I think movie Aragorn works just fine, but it's still okay if you dislike how different he is from book Aragorn.

10:15 But he sailed east from Valinor, he would know what one would see when sailing west to Valinor, 'cause all he needed to do was read his memo of the trip backwards, if he looked back on the boat to Middle-earth.

7:30 Éomer turned into rage mode and started the "death" march, after/because he found out Éowyn lay dead on the battle field.

@ 15:17 Without Merry and Pippin in Fangirl Forest, the Entmoot would not have happened, or if it did, it would have been like a day later, and even then, without Pippin directing Treebeard by Isengard to see the destroyed forest, Treebeard would not have called forth the Ents to decimate Isengard, at least not until it was too late. Sure, Gandalf the White may have planned for Merry and Pippin’s antics to get the Ents involved in the battle against Saruman, but that still has the preclusion of Gandalf becoming a White Wizard instead of staying as a Grey Wizard.

One thing this theory neglects to factor in was Gandalf had already made the trip from the East Side of Moria to the West with little to no problem. Sure, he was one person hiding his presence compared to a group of nine, but we can’t dismiss the fact that Gandalf went through Moria on his way to Rivendell, or even to Hobbiton and never noticed any goblins in the area or even a lack of Dwarvwz? Sure, he didn’t share this with Gimli when they were trying to go over Caradhas; however, that doesn’t excuse the fact that Gandalf had visited the Mines of Moria in recent history and didn’t share this. If he did, maybe Pippin would not have caused a clatter that set the dominos in motion. So… theory is not bad in concept, just ignores an earlier part of the story to do so.

As I recall Éomer's embrace of death comes after he discovers Éowyn apparently dead on the battlefield. Movie Éomer is one of the characters who were greatly diminished. The Mouth of Sauron should've been left out if the extended version rather than turned into a freak, with Aragorn indulging in the kind of thuggish, dishonourable behaviour that shows there are things Pteter Jackson simply fails to understand. I *hated* the repurposing of "Stand, Men of the West"... the usage in the film is so much more prosaic and lacking the solemnity of the book (as is the passing of Sauron overall, whivh is also true of Saruman)

That last change you mentioned was surprisingly touching 😔

The Battle of Pelennor Fields was butchered in the movies => Gate is shattered => Witchking flies to Gandalf (also an awful decision), breaks his staff => Horns sound, => Battle begins, Rohan is overwhelming them but then the Witchking arrives and kills Theoden. => Witchking is killed, Aragorn arrives with his army of cgi, all is well In the books it goes like this: => Witchking arrives over a hillock riding a horse trampling the dead, everyone shits their pants => Grond is hurled, the gate doesn't give in... Witchking arrives at the gate, rises up in his stirrups, throws a spell and Grond shatters the gate... => Everyone flees except Gandalf... Witchking laughs at him "this is my hour", but then the horns sound. => Rohan gets an upperhand, Witchking kills Theoden but enforcements arrive from Osgiliath "He now was destroyed; but Gothmog the lieutenant of Morgul had flung them into the fray; Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand. Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues." We didn't see much of this, and it was part of it why it was so amazing. Sauron had an overwhelming advantage. In the movies the army of cgi ended the battle quickly, it felt pointless. => Now Eomer knows he has no chance, and as he and Gondorians see the Corsairs, they know they are done for. => But Aragorn arrives and raises his standard... They start overwhelming the armies of Mordor. Anything bad in these movies can be solely attribute to Peter Jackson and his "creative" decisions, though they were anything but creative. They are great movies but they are not great adaptions.

I think you are undercutting a bit here the achievement of Aragorn and co. but I guess the point stands. Indeed, the distance and time are not "great" compared with ultramarathoners in the current day and age. But also let us recall that Tolkien wrote this stuff in a day and age where competetive sport and high performance athletes were at an infancy compared with modern times. In this day and age, compared with standards of super-athletes and people who practice long distance sprints, it may not seem like a big deal. But, in a medieval setting, with people ordinarily not travelling a lot, and crossing the wilderness in hot pursuit, I think Eomer was justified in being impressed with Aragorn's feat, although, as you have pointed out, it's not beyond the realm of feasibility to achieve that being a well rounded athlete, such as Aragorn, Legolas an Gimli were.

The problem with ROTK is the battle at Pelannor fields seems smaller because of the changes, rather than Middle Earth essentially giving its all to fight against the power of the Dark Lord (EG Druedain, battle under the trees, lonely mountain etc and no grey company) makes it seem as if Gondor and Rohan are the only ones with an army, I know the team tried to fit some of this in the film with Gimli talking about the dwarves but another 30 mins for the battle would have turned it into a better condensed book version.

Frodo would not die faster in Aman than in Middle-earth. While, from this passage in _The Akallabeth:_ "For it is not the land of Manwë that makes its people deathless, but the Deathless that dwell therein have hallowed the land; and there you would but wither and grow weary the sooner, as moths in a light too strong and steadfast." ...it might seem that way, Tolkien explains the meaning of the analogy in _Aman, Aman and Mortal Men_ (MR, MT XI): "Let us suppose then that the Valar had also admitted to Aman some of the Atani, and (so that we may consider a whole life of a Man in such a state) that ‘mortal’ children were there born, as were children of the Eldar. Then, even though in Aman, a mortal child would still grow to maturity in some twenty years of the Sun, and the natural span of its life, the period of the cohesion of _hröa_ and _fëa,_ would be no more than, say, 100 years. Not much more, even though his body would suffer no sickness or disorder in Aman, where no such evils existed." Mortals would live a full lifespan, however: "But in Aman such a creature would be a fleeting thing, the most swift-passing of all beasts. For his whole life would last little more than one half-year, and while all other living creatures would seem to him hardly to change, but to remain steadfast in life and joy with hope of endless years undimmed, he would rise and pass - even as upon Earth the grass may rise in spring and wither ere the winter." ...since change is nearly imperceptible around them, it would seem fast.

Too bad to cover my minor favorite character Goldor Inglorion who is so important to saving the hobbits from the Nazgûl. The problem that u have with him is to give any back story of one of the oldest elf's next to Glorfindel. His back story goes all the way back to The 1st age being from the house of finarfin & to the original finwe. He had no rights to the Silmarillion. How do u show that for back story . He literally keeps the ringwraiths away & explains everything. What a rich character. Thanks for your website. Your channel is the most concise & perfect in your interpretations.

"He stood up and cast open his long black cloak, and behold! he was clad in mail beneath, and girt with a long sword, great-hilted in a sheath of black and silver. ‘Thus have I walked, and thus now for many years have I slept,’ he said, ‘lest with age the body should grow soft and timid.’" The Siege of Gondor "As soon as she had squeezed her soft squelching body and its folded limbs out of the upper exit from her lair, she moved with a horrible speed, now running on her creaking legs, now making a sudden bound. She was between Sam and his master. Either she did not see Sam, or she avoided him for the moment as the bearer of the light, and fixed all her intent upon one prey, upon Frodo, bereft of his Phial, running heedless up the path, unaware yet of his peril. Swiftly he ran, but Shelob was swifter; in a few leaps she would have him. Sam gasped and gathered all his remaining breath to shout. ‘Look out behind!’ he yelled. ‘Look out, master! I’m’ - but suddenly his cry was stifled. A long clammy hand went over his mouth and another caught him by the neck, while something wrapped itself about his leg. Taken off his guard he toppled backwards into the arms of his attacker. ‘Got him!’ hissed Gollum in his ear. ‘At last, my precious, we’ve got him, yes, the nassty hobbit. We takes this one. She’ll get the other. O yes, Shelob will get him, not Sméagol: he promised; he won’t hurt Master at all. But he’s got you, you nassty filthy little sneak!’ He spat on Sam’s neck." Shelob's Lair "Now the miserable creature was right under her, for the moment out of the reach of her sting and of her claws. Her vast belly was above him with its putrid light, and the stench of it almost smote him down. Still his fury held for one more blow, and before she could sink upon him, smothering him and all his little impudence of courage, he slashed the bright elven-blade across her with desperate strength. But Shelob was not as dragons are, no softer spot had she save only her eyes. Knobbed and pitted with corruption was her age-old hide, but ever thickened from within with layer on layer of evil growth. The blade scored it with a dreadful gash, but those hideous folds could not be pierced by any strength of men, not though Elf or Dwarf should forge the steel or the hand of Beren or of Turin wield it. She yielded to the stroke, and then heaved up the great bag of her belly high above Sam’s head. Poison frothed and bubbled from the wound. Now splaying her legs she drove her huge bulk down on him again. Too soon. For Sam still stood upon his feet, and dropping his own sword, with both hands he held the elven-blade point upwards, fending off that ghastly roof; and so Shelob, with the driving force of her own cruel will, with strength greater than any warrior’s hand, thrust herself upon a bitter spike. Deep, deep it pricked, as Sam was crushed slowly to the ground." Shelob's Lair

The movie is great but two parts always make me angry, first that Denethor didn't get a quick 2 minute scene in the extended edition showing him wrestling with Sauron through the seeing stone, and that Peter Jackson tried to make the witch king appear to be more powerful than Gandalf when in fact Gandalf would have wiped the floor with him and it would not have been close.

Thanks for all the hard work and dedication you've put into this series. We've differed on a few emphasise as there's going to be some subjectivity on interpretation but you've shook me out of a few false memories that I presumed the films had gotten correct but had not. I'm actually glad PJ transferred the 'Worlds Ruin' speech to Theoden as it showed the gravitas of Bernard Hill in the role and became so iconic. A rare improvement !

Yes, Eomer find out about Eowyn and this was his final push into despair, as he thougt she is dead.

Algorithm comment I love Tolkien Lore

The rage and despair from Eomer in the book comes right after he finds Eowyn

Mellon Geek: You remind me of so many things that pain my old heart to remember. I used to read LotR almost yearly to people who otherwise would not have had an interest in it. They always told me it was an experience they would cherish. Some even told me that when they reread the books they "heard" my voices for the characters. But since the movies, that has changed. Now I don't read it so often, and asthma makes my capacity less than it was. What I really hope for is that PJ or someone who truly loves Tolkien will make a definitive series from the books. This way nothing will be condensed, changed or glossed over. Then the fans and scholars like you will delight in using up boxes of kleenex with every new episode. But I fear this will not happen before I've departed "from the havens"--to hopefully converse at length with our dear Professor and learn from him of vistas as yet unexplored. My dear mellon, I'm never disappointed when your videos appear. You're always in my prayers. Namarie.

For me I think the changes to Denethors character is one of the greatest drawbacks to ROTK, having this complex character and turning him into more of a cartoonish villain was a mistake imo. If nothing else the book version makes it clear that despite Gondors decline it still hade strong and wise and noble rulers, imagine then Gondor at its peak? The movie version of Denethor misses out on this.

Mein Gott! The SuperFans have found out the details my precious! You're the Real Superfan now Dog!

This reminded me of a Disney Princess movie. Except more violent and no singing. Had animal sidekicks thought.

Great video btw

Ok now here is a thing. The light that glows around the elves that lived in the light of the two trees. That is never addressed. And also how tall they were.

I watched it yesterday. The fistfight between Helm and Freca reminded me of the "Han shot first" issue in Star Wars

What's the d word? Watched War of the Rohirrim today and as a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings, this film sadly suffer the worst sin of just being incredibly boring. I feel this could have been a animated short film so longer than 30 minutes, with more detailed animation. It was so clunky. So disappointing

Could it be they were trying to keep that information, not from Frodo, but rather from the Ring?

Great video! I think you omitted to mention the strong bond of “fellowship“ between Boromir and Merry & Pippen. This was one of the things that enabled the “redemption“ of Boromir. He died a hero’s death because of his love for “the little ones”. That in turn transformed them both - the Heir of Gondor had laid down his life for them.

Elrond was not wrong! A council is a discussion. Elrond rightly voiced his well-founded doubts. But he then listened to the wisdom of Gandalf. Being wise means being prepared to listen to others and sometimes accept their viewpoint.

Talk about nitpicking: what is wrong with some "callbacks" to beloved movies? Rings of Power has jaded us all. But let's be more specific about what RoP did wrong. It wasn't the member-berries itself. OVER-DOING IT, CORRUPTING the lore, cramming things in where it jars you out of the story -- those are the only problems with "member berries". Explain to me why "member berries" is inherently a movie sin. If it FITS IN WELL, is SUBTLE, and INFREQUENT...then who cares? My kids and I noticed the hobbit likeness and we were all grins. We loved it. It wasn't in-your-face, it didn't clash with Tolkien's world, nor did it destroy anything about the Hobbits in the movies.

What in blazes is the D word???

"I not sure why they put that line about her not appearing in any songs in there" Its because the movie is about Hera. Its a fan fiction level story about the self insert shield maiden mother and rebellious princess. Hera is a name chosen because the authors of this fan fiction dont get the difference between Greek mythology and the world of Tolkien. And they want to "fix" the perceived injustices towards the Goddess Hera by making her a cool character. Then combine that with the anime directors love for fighting women movies. (He made blood the last vampire who is a movie about a scoolgirl fighting vampires) Then you got this movie which is just using the cool story of Helm as an launching point to get Hera to be a franchise. That is why she will go to Gandalf and tell him about the rings and then do quests for him. Its a set up to make more movies about Hera just as the recent Mad Max movies have just been a set up to make Furiosa movies. This is an unholy combination of chick fight flick for fetishists and a feminist creed about the evils of marriage and how stupid men are since they all should have listened to Hera in the first place. Not just a fan fic level trash heap.

What makes Denethor the book character so fascinating is that while the realm of Gondor is in steep decline and he is "just" a Steward he is still noble, wise, and strong. That unfortunently is not as apparent in the movie.

Movie was a 7 out of 10. Most of my issues were less related to story and more related to how significant points of interest revolving around the construction of Helms Deep were conveniently forgotten, resulting in at least one potentially unnecessary death. How did Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas sneak outside and ambush the urukai at the gate of Helms Deep again? Hmm... Why don't attackers (especially when they're also from Rohan) ever use the completely unguarded escape tunnel to infiltrate "The Deep" from behind? Does it only exist when its convenient for the plot (the civilians need to escape!). Also the whole Ring/Gandalf thing was unnecessary. Even if Gandalf did somehow know about a very specific event at Helms Deep (its not hard to imagine, from him talking about it in Fellowship, that there are search parties around this time), there's no way with everything else going on, Hera would think one throwaway line from an orc was important enough to remember through out the rest of the movie. But other than that, it was enjoyable. Will probably pick it up when the bluray drops.

D word? What’s that?

Yes it was choppy. But that is my only complaint however as the story and characters were great.

Well a movie about Berúthiel, the black numenorean queen of Gondor, would be an alternative as an in canon version of a "girl boss".

Wait .. a maid n a guard boy are the main characters? That was shocking to hear that they would make the cut