When Faramir is talking to Gandalf and Pippin about seeing Frodo and Sam, is it just me, or does it look like it's raining very lightly behind Faramir's head? Look to the left side.
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Quotes
Pippin: I don't want to be in a battle, but waiting on the edge of one you can't escape is even worse.
Mistakes
Sam and Frodo wear the Orc armor and slide down the rocky terrain. After they spot the army of Orcs approaching the run off to the side and sit. In the next few wide shots the rocky area behind and around them is completely different. (Extended Edition) See more...
Trivia
Sam's line at the end of the film ("Well, I'm back") is also the last line of the "King" novel. See more...
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - 245 questions
Directed by Peter Jackson, starring Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Miranda Otto, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Billy Boyd, Cate Blanchett, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Karl Urban, Bernard Hill, David Wenham, John Noble, Liv Tyler (add more)
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
The "questions" section is for any random questions that occurred to you while watching this film, or anything you didn't entirely understand, and which Google or the IMDb can't help with. Submit them as a question, and hopefully someone will answer (the bold comments in brackets) - check back regularly. If the answer is wrong, or missing information, please use the "clarify answer" option. Don't feel limited - want to know what music played in a certain scene? Whether this was the first film to use a certain effect? Here's the place to ask!
When Faramir is talking to Gandalf and Pippin about seeing Frodo and Sam, is it just me, or does it look like it's raining very lightly behind Faramir's head? Look to the left side.
Are the Valar ever mentioned in any sort of way in the trilogy?
This might be a daft question, but what exactly is Denethor's problem? From the Extended Version of "The Two Towers" to when he dies in "The Return of the King", I just get the impression that he's being an a** for no apparent reason. [Denethor is basically a grim and humourless man, largely brought on by the early death of his beloved wife, thirty years before the events of the film. In many ways an intelligent ruler, he nevertheless commanded the city under the continued stress of the threat of Mordor, a power that built throughout his reign as Steward and this took a great toll on the man. In the books, Denethor repeatedly used a palantir to gather knowledge from afar; this allowed Sauron to tap into his psyche and sap his will, casting him deeper into a state of fear and paranoia. Ultimately the loss of his beloved son and heir, Boromir, sent him over the edge, leaving him as the bitter and rather twisted man that we see during the events of "The Return of the King".]
Answered by Tailkinker
This applies to all three movies. Why didn't they just release the Extended Versions in the theatre as opposed to releasing what was released in the theatre? Some things would have made a lot more sense (i.e. the breaking of the Evanstar in the theatrical release makes more sense in the Extended Version), and they are far truer to the books. [Longer films aren't as marketable or profitable as shorter ones. Studios have the final word on how long a movie is, often overriding the director's artistic intention. A movie's running time is determined by a number of factors including how long it's believed an audience is willing to sit through it, and the maximum number of showings possible per day in a theater. The more showings, the more tickets sold. With LotR, each movie was already quite long, and it's doubtful theater audiences would have been willing to sit through an even longer version. Also, with epic films like LotR, it is typical for the theatrical version to be released on DVD first. Much later, the "extended" version is offered, basically repackaging and reselling the movie to the same audience who bought the first DVD, further increasing the profits.]
Answered by raywest
When the rings were forged, nine were given to the Kings of Man and they became the Ringwraiths. How is it that the three elves had no trouble, as they are all there and smiling in the Grey Havens scene? Also, what happened to the dwarfen rings? [The elves were too strong-willed for Sauron to easily control and, while their rings were subject to the power of the One Ring, the elven ringbearers remained untouched by his power, tapping into the powers of their rings only sparingly to maintain their realms. As for the dwarves, they also proved to be too hardy for Sauron to dominate and the rings merely increased their innate desire for gold. Sauron ultimately reclaimed three of the dwarven rings, which were presumably lost in the fall of Barad-dur, with the other four being consumed by dragons.]
Answered by Tailkinker
Can someone please explain to me the whole Rohan/Gondor relationship? I keep hearing that what is now Rohan was given to those who are now the Rohirrim by the king of Gondor. [That's true. The rohirrim were a tribe of Northmen that had more or less settled just outside of Gondor. During an invasion by orcs and Easterlings in 2509, the king of Gondor sent word to them and asked for help. Their leader, Eorl the Young, led the rohirrim to the Fields of Celebrant, where they completely destroyed the orc army. In gratitude, the king of Gondor gave them a large area of land as their own kingdom, that had more or less been depopulated by plague and the latest war. So Rohan and Gondor have had close ties and been aliies ever since.]
Answered by Twotall
Why doesn't Frodo get a girlfriend? He's cute enough. [He's weary of the world from his journey and giving up the ring, so he never seeks love in The Shire, instead going into The West with the Elves.]
Answered by Captain Defenestrator
When both Rohan and Gondor are at the Black Gate, there is a deleted scene where Aragorn fights with Sauron. How would this be possible seeing that Sauron can only come into physical form once Mordor have taken the ring? [He fights an emissary of Sauron's who's called "The Mouth of Sauron," not Sauron himself.]
Answered by Captain Defenestrator
Extended Edition: Why do the Army of the Dead try to crush Aragorn and others with the skull avalanche? They try to kill him, and then decide to help him. I don't get it. [They kill everyone that enters their domain. After Aragorn reveals himself as Isildur's heir they realize he can lift the curse, so they agree to help him in exchange for being released.]
Answered by Phixius
Gandalf doesn't need his staff to do magic, or does he? [This is difficult to answer. Tolkien, in the books, appears to tie the use of magic to the staff. There are several times that staffs are lost or broken and it is inferred that the Maia (the race, if you will, of wizards) is lessened by it. However, Gandalf is able to defeat the Balrog after he lost his staff at the chasm in Khazad Dhun. To do that, he needed his powers although he died in the process. So it doesn't seem that he absolutely needs his staff to do magic, but it certainly helps.]
Answered by Zwn Annwn
Are there any places where I can find deleted scenes of this movie that never made it into the Theatrical or Extended releases? [You can buy the DVD. They have all the extended and deleted scenes on those.]
Answered by SAZOO1975
Does Legolas marry after the battle ends, and where were his kin throughout the battle? Does Gimli marry, and where were the other Dwarfs? [Sauron's assault on Middle-Earth took place on many fronts; it wasn't limited to the assault on Minas Tirith. The elven kingdom of Lorien came under attack, as did the dwarven realm of Erebor; the elves and dwarves were busy fighting their own battles. Tolkien never mentions whether Gimli or Legolas later marry, although both settled with their kin after the fall of Sauron, Legolas in Ithilien and Gimli in the Glittering Caves of Helm's Deep, so both had the opportunity to have done so before sailing into the West together after Aragorn's death in the year 120 of the Fourth Age.]
Answered by Tailkinker
I recently bought the Extended DVD of this movie and sold the Theatrical version to a friend. While watching the Extended DVD I couldn't help noticing that the jug that Pippin replaces the Palantir with (while Gandalf is sleeping with his eyes open) did not seem like the same jug as the one in the Theatrical version. Are they the same jug? [There is absolutely no reason to believe it is not the same, the costs to change this would be prohibitive and there is no reasonable need to have done so.]
Answered by OneHappyHusky
What would happen if Aragorn stabbed one of the Dead soldiers with Anduril? [Instead of passing on they would cease to exist.]
Answered by Phixius
Does the Mouth of Sauron actually have Sauron's mouth, or is that just a name given to him because he is Sauron's messenger? [The latter; it's just his title.]
Answered by Tailkinker
What exactly is shown in the Palantir when Saruman says, "An evil festers in the heart of Middle-Earth"? [There doesn't seem to be anything in particular shown. You can see Saruman's reflection and those of the spires at the top of Orthanc; there don't appear to be any concrete images actually within the palantir itself.]
Answered by Tailkinker
Why could Eowyn and Merry defeat the Witch King when it seemed that no-one else could? It seems as though Eowyn can kill him because she is a woman but why does it make any difference? [It was prophesied centuries earlier that no man could slay the Witch King. Since then, the Nazgul's power and martial ability have ensured that to be the case, however, it's also built up his arrogance and sense of invulnerability. As such, he fails to pay enough attention to his surroundings in battle, bragging to Eowyn about his supposed inability to be killed. This leaves him wide open for Merry, who he either simply didn't notice or never considered to be a threat, to take him down, then Eowyn to slay him. It's not so much that a man could not have slain him, more that a far-seeing elf looked into the Witch King's future and saw that it would not be a man who finally did.]
Answered by Tailkinker
When Aragorn looks into the Palantir (Extended DVD) he sees Sauron (in bodily form) holding the other Palantir. Are we to assume that Sauron has regained physical form? [No. Sauron's trying to psych Aragorn out, show him what he's up against. Appearing as the formidable warrior that he was before he lost the Ring is part of that.]
Answered by Tailkinker
When Rohan arrives at the Pellenor fields, how come they are able to scare the orcs off so easily and force them back to the river (just before the Mumakil arrive)? In the overhead shot of the Rohirrim charging down upon the orcs, the orc army seems to outnumber them at least 5 to 1. [It's not just about numbers. Sure, the Orcs may outnumber the Rohirrim, but think of it from the point of view of the individual Orc. Bearing down on them, at high speed, are several thousand heavily armed and fired-up warriors, each of whom is riding a warhorse that weighs more than several orcs put together and gives their rider a serious height advantage. Psychologically speaking, the Rohirrim have a phenomenal advantage. Hardly a surprise that the Orcs would break under that sort of pressure.]
Answered by Tailkinker
When Aragorn confronts the King of the Dead with Anduril (the reforged sword), The King of the Dead says, "That *something* was broken!" I am almost sure he says, "Blade" (referring to the reforged sword), but the subtitles on my Region 4 disc say, "Line" (presumably referring to Aragorn's ancestry). What does he really say? Do the subtitles on discs of a different region say otherwise? [He says "That line was broken".]
Answered by Tailkinker
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