Tailkinker

Answer: It was certainly stated before the release of the Extended Edition that we would see his demise at the Pelennor Fields, but it seems that that scene didn't make the final version of the film. With the death of Theoden, Merry and Eowyn's wounding and all the other action going on, it was presumably decided that to break off from the action for the death of a minor character would disrupt the flow too much.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: The climax of the tale, from the film-making point of view, is the destruction of the Ring and the fall of Sauron. Having the movie go on for at least another hour after that (which would be required for the Scouring of the Shire) simply wouldn't work. Practically all the scenes that have been added into the Extended Cut are scenes that were cut from the theatrical film - i.e. they were filmed with their inclusion in the theatrical release in mind. Given the amount of work that they had to do, to then film a long, complex sequence (which would require a lot of effects work, as it features multiple battles between men and hobbits) purely to be included in the Extended Edition would not have been possible.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Practically none of them. Arwen appears in about two scenes in the Fellowship of the Ring and is mentioned in a third - she has no dialogue at all. She is never mentioned in The Two Towers. She shows up at the end of the Return of the King to marry Aragorn. She then has one scene (the only one where she says anything), where she tells Frodo that he would be allowed to go in the West if he so desires and also gives him the jewel that, in the film, she gives to Aragorn. When the filmmakers said that they beefed her role up a bit, they really weren't kidding. One of the appendices to the book does contain a section called "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", which goes into those parts of their relationship that occur both before and after the events of the main storyline. For obvious reasons, she shows up in that rather a lot.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Cavalry are most effective in situations where there's plenty of room to manoeuvre - in close combat, where the horses can't move too well, the riders can be pulled off their mounts relatively easily, which would put them at a enormous disadvantage until they could regain their feet (enough so that there would be an extremely high probability that they would be killed before they could manage this). Given the vast numerical superiority of the opposing forces and the fact that they were clearly going to be surrounded, it would make sense to dismount before the battle started. As to where the horses went, obviously the Host wouldn't want a lot of panicked horses getting in the way - they'd be extremely dangerous - so they would simply have designated a couple of riders to lead the riderless horses out of the combat zone before the army was surrounded.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: In the books, a man, in the films, not particularly obvious, he holds a position of great power and importance in the land of Mordor, being the spokesperson of Sauron himself. Had Sauron defeated the forces of Middle-Earth, the Mouth (also known as the Leftenant of the Tower of Barad-Dur) would have ruled the western lands (in his master's name) from a reconstructed Isengard.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: This'll be a complex answer - sorry in advance. When Elendil, Isildur and co returned to Middle-Earth after the Fall of Numenor, they set up two kingdoms, Arnor in the north, ruled directly by Elendil (as High King of both kingdoms) and Gondor in the south (ruled jointly by Isildur and his brother Anarion in their father's name). Elendil and Anarion both died in the War of the Last Alliance, and Isildur fell shortly after, leaving Isildur's youngest son Valandil (his other sons died with Isildur) ruling Arnor and Anarion's son Meneldil ruling Gondor. Valandil, as the direct heir of Elendil, should have been proclaimed High King over both kingdoms, but Meneldil refused to recognise his authority over Gondor - the two kingdoms effectively became entirely seperate at this point. Meneldil's line ruled Gondor for two thousand years before the last King, answering a challenge from the Witch-King, entered Minas Morgul, never to be seen again, leaving the Stewards in control of Gondor. Arnor, in the meantime, lasted nine hundred years before splitting into three kingdoms, each ruled by one of the three sons of the last king of Arnor. The land of Arthedain, ruled by the eldest son, lasted slightly more than one thousand years before falling to the forces of Angmar - the people vanished into the wilderness, becoming the Dunedain rangers, with the son of the last king becoming their chieftain, a role that was handed down from father to son until, another thousand years later, Aragorn was given the position. So Aragorn can trace his ancestry directly back to Elendil, the last High King of the two Kingdoms, allowing him to legitimately claim the throne of Gondor. Phew...

Tailkinker ★

Answer: He's not a warrior - he's Sauron's spokesman. The attacks on Gondor and Rohan are intended to wipe those societies out - Sauron's not interesting in accepting any sort of surrender, so there's no point in sending his spokesman in with the troops.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Yes, there are quite a lot of them, but I wouldn't want to deny you the pleasure of looking for them yourself. I'll give you Dominic Monaghan, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee - see how many others you can spot.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Aragorn believes that he's failed - Elrond told him that he needs the Army of the Dead in order to defeat Sauron's forces, and, at that moment, he thinks that they're not going to join him. The burning towns are Gondorian settlements that the Corsairs have already attacked on their way up the river - probably intended to represent the haven of Pelargir, an important Gondorian port. In the book, the Dead helped Aragorn to defeat the Corsairs at Pelargir and were given their freedom there - they never came to Minas Tirith. The ships were then crewed by a party of Rangers (who did not appear in the films) on their run upriver to relieve the besieged Gondor forces.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: No, no really. Denethor's wife, Finduilas died early, and the grief turned him into a grim and humourless man - one suggestion is that Faramir takes heavily after his mother, and Denethor dislikes him for that reminder; another suggestion is that it's actually Boromir who takes after the mother, and that Denethor favours him for that reason. Whatever the issue is, it seems likely that it started early on - Boromir translates to "Faithful Jewel", whereas Faramir seems to translate to something like "Adequate Jewel". As even their names appear to reflect the prejudice against Faramir, whatever the problem is, it goes back a long way. Maybe, once Boromir was born, giving Denethor an heir, he really wanted a daughter and was disappointed by the arrival of another son. Compounded by the death of his beloved wife (making a daughter impossible), that disappointment could easily grow into the dislike that he shows in the film. There's also the point that, although unseen in the film (unless the Extended Cut touches on it), Denethor has been using a palantir, which has allowed Sauron to affect his mind - it's not unreasonable to think that Sauron could have determined that Faramir was actually the stronger-willed of the brothers, and had deliberately influenced Denethor's mind against him to hamper the younger man's efforts against Mordor.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Sam's fighting to protect those that he loves - Frodo (directly, through his rescue attempt) and the Shire in general and his father (indirectly, through their whole quest to destroy the Ring). The whole "that's for so-and-so" thing seems quite in keeping with his mood at the time.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: After the deaths of their parents when they were very young, Eomer and Eowyn were taken in by Theoden, and grew up in his house. As such, it's quite likely that Eomer has known Gamling for many years and regards him as a close friend, possibly even a brother.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: It's true, yes, you can see him, standing on the dock at the Grey Havens, behind Galadriel, Elrond and Celeborn. He's also seen in the prologue to the Fellowship of the Ring - he's the elder of the two male elves who possess Rings (the other being Gil-galad). Cirdan was played by Michael Elsworth.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Who knows - he's just an extra.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: A bit graphic? We've had heads and limbs lopped off and fingers bitten off - doesn't seem like this is significantly worse. Until the Extended Edition comes out, there's no way to tell (unless you're on here, Mr Jackson) whether this is the real deal or not - that being said, what we see here doesn't actually preclude Grima doing his bit. As I understand it, during the final confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman, Saruman is standing on the peak of Orthanc - and presumably, in order to converse with Gandalf down below, Saruman will be standing pretty much at the edge. It's not an implausible sequence of events that Grima stabs Saruman, leading to the wizard falling from the tower, to be ultimately impaled on his own devices (as we see in the image).

Tailkinker ★

Answer: I would imagine that simple proximity would do it - when the Ring was close enough, Sauron would be able to tap into the magical power stored within, which would give him the power required to take physical form. At which point, they just give it to him.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Tolkien doesn't discuss it - the most likely path would seem to be a relatively quick growth to adulthood (probably still slower than human children, though) followed by the very slow aging process of the adult elf. This would account for the apparent absence of little elves, although it should be said that elves are not prolific breeders at the best of times - they're also a reasonably private race and might deliberately keep their young away from non-elves.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: I've been through the theatrical trailers for this film, but I can't actually find the shot you're referring to. Logically, though, it has to either be at the Pelennor Fields or at the Morannon. If there are people visible fighting behind them, that seems to rule out the Pelennor Fields, as Merry and Pippin aren't reunited until some time after the fighting has ended, so the battle at the Black Gate seems like the only option. The flow of events there will change in the Extended Edition - the Mouth of Sauron sequence will be going in there, for example - so the reason for continued fighting in the shot may become clear.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: His name is Gothmog and, no, he's not an incarnation of Sauron. He officially holds the title of Lieutenant of Morgul, a position of considerable power within Mordor, and acts as the second-in-command to the Witch King of Angmar. He's mentioned precisely once in the books and Tolkien doesn't even mention what race he's from - it was the filmmakers choice to make him an orc.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Not exactly. While this isn't stated in the film (unless it appears in the Extended Cut), Denethor has access to a palantir, like the one Saruman possessed that Pippin ultimately looks in. Denethor has used this palantir to follow events in Middle-Earth, but, just as Pippin did, he has encountered Sauron. The Dark Lord used this opportunity to mess with Denethor's mind, bringing him to the point of terrible despair, where he simply cannot conceive of anything other than defeat at Sauron's hands. This affects Denethor's judgement horribly, leading him to first send out Faramir's suicide mission, and then to break completely when he sees the Mordor forces arrayed against him.

Tailkinker ★