jle

Answer: After the war of the Ring, Isildur and his family went back to Arnor in the far North where they originated. Arnor was later conquered by the Nazgul and so that was the end of that line. Gondor had been left to be ruled by Anarion - Isildur's brother - but that line of the family simply died out leaving Gondor in the care of the Stewards.

jle

Answer: They're going to a place called Valinor (which means "home of the vala". The Vala are sort of manifestations of some of the gods) - it is a real continent that is across the sea. There is, however, magic at work because only the elven boats can get there.

jle

Answer: And that's for my old Gaffer.

jle

Answer: Obviously it is because the actors are from different places. But you can explain it away by saying that the hobbits are from different families. From Bilbo's speech at his party it is clear that the Hobbits are split into a small number of large extended families - the Bagginses (Frodo, obviously), Tooks (Pippen), Brandybucks (Merry) etc. The families differ in obvious ways - the Tooks are large, the Bagginses are eccentric, the Proudfoots have large feet. Perhaps accent is another family trait?

jle

Answer: For pretty much the same reason as he says in his final speech of the film "I have been deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them". Also, he misses the Ring, and is sick and depressed once every year with longing for it. He feels his experiences have set him aside with the rest of the world, the Shire in particular, since no one understands what he went through.

jle

Chosen answer: The extended edition may have Peter Jackson's version of what happened to Saruman but it won't have the book's version. In the book, Sarauman is defeated by Gandalf and expelled from Isengard and goes to the Shire where he takes command and enslaves the hobbits. Merry, Pippin and Sam return to the Shire and organise a rebellion. Saruman leaves, thoroughly defeated, and is killed by Grima Wormtongue. None of this was filmed for the movie. In the extended version of the movie Saruman stands on the top of the tower and has an argument with both King Theoden and Gandalf when Grima Wormtongue appears and is realizing he had been in the wrong with a few encouraging words from the group below. Saruman then belittles Grima Wormtongue hitting him to the ground. Enraged Grima Wormtongue then stabs Saruman in the back several times causing Saruman to fall and lands torso first onto a spike on a water wheel that is still continuing to turn with all the extra water from the dam burst. This is why the Ent, Treebeard, says "the filth of Saruman is washing away" also the Palantir falls out of his robes and that's why Pip finds it in the water.

jle