Tailkinker

Answer: Barahir was a human warrior in the First Age, who was given the ring that bears his name by an elf whose life he saved in the great battles of that Age. The ring has been passed down through many generations to his distant descendant, Aragorn.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Elves aren't prone to churning out the kids - they breed very infrequently. Elrond, who's been around for six thousand years, has only had three children in that time period. Galadriel and Celeborn, whose marriage dates back even further than that, have only had one (Celebrian, Elrond's wife). While elf lifespans are sufficiently long that they can be considered effectively immortal, they do die in accidents or wars. Plus others (including the aforementioned Celebrian) have gone into the West. Put all that together, and it does a good job of keeping the elven population of Middle-Earth down to reasonable levels.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Given how Gollum was created, his fingers certainly should remain consistent throughout the films, and it's highly implausible that the SFX people would arbitrarily introduce another finger for certain scenes - it could serve no possible purpose and would detract from the reality of the character. The most likely conclusion is that the apparent change is illusionary - you yourself say that it 'appears to change', which lends itself strongly towards illusion as a possible reason. That being said, errors in rendering the character could result in such an error occuring, although it's an awfully specific thing to happen - rendering errors are usually much more random in nature - and it's surprising, considering the attention to detail required for such an important character, that nobody in the SFX department picked up on it, particularly if it happens on several occasions.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: In the book, this happens in response to a similar signal (albeit red) from deep within Mordor (probably from Barad-Dur) - it seems to be a rather dramatic signal for the armies of Mordor to advance. In the book, Sauron's forces make multiple assaults - both Lothlorien and the dwarven kingdom of Erebor (in the north) come under attack - so a powerful signal, visible for great distances, would be required to ensure a simultaneous assault. Although the Barad-Dur signal is not seen in the film, the Morgul flare can still serve the same purpose of signalling the advance on Gondor. Plus, as you observe, it has the handy side-effect of scaring the hell out of the Gondorian forces - Sauron is a master of manipulation and psychology, so it's exactly the sort of thing he'd do.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: He's ashamed of the way he fell under Saruman's influence. It also appears, from his conversation with Eowyn earlier, that he feels a certain amount of shame that he did not lead the victory at Helm's Deep.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: It varies, as the ages are marked by significant events, rather than lasting any specific time period. The First Age, which began with the return of the elves to Middle-Earth and the awakening of man and finished with the defeat and banishment of Melkor (a.k.a. Morgoth), the first Dark Lord, lasted 583 years. The Second Age carries on from that point until the defeat of Sauron by the forces of the Last Alliance, as seen in the prologue to the films - this age lasted 3441 years. The Third Age, which runs up to the events of the War of the Ring and ends with the departure of the Ringbearers into the West, lasted 3021 years.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: For practical armouring, there are only so many possibilities that you can go with - inevitably some of these will resemble each other. The Gondorian armour is described to a reasonable degree within the books - the designs would have been based on those descriptions, rather than any non-Tolkien influences.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Nothing so precise. Like the Two Towers, the chapter headings in the Return of the King tend more to the simple, like "The Siege of Gondor", "Minas Tirith", or "Mount Doom". These do come up in dialogue, obviously, but can't really be considered as references to the chapter titles in the same way as with the Fellowship of the Ring.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Effectively, yes - the Stewards rule in the absence of the rightful King of Gondor. That being said, the Stewards have now ruled Gondor for 26 generations of their family and believe the bloodline of the King to be destroyed, so, as we see with Denethor, they pretty much consider themselves to be the true rulers of the kingdom these days. As such, while they are technically fulfilling the role of regent, they might not actually consider that to be the case any more.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Quite a lot of significance, yes. Okay, deep breath, here goes. Back before the First Age, there was a time referred to as "The Years of the Trees". At this time, before the sun and the moon, the domain of the Valar (local godlikes) was lit by the radiance of two revered and mystical trees. The elder tree, called Telperion, was known as the White Tree. Destroyed by Melkor, the first Dark Lord, shortly before the beginning of the First Age, its image was preserved by the Valar in a second tree, Galathilion, in the elven city of Tirion (and Telpirion's last flower was set in the sky, the light now known as the moon). Seedlings of Galathilion was the source of many trees throughout the kingdoms of men and elves. One of the most famous of these was the tree Nimloth that grew in the royal courts in the prosperous human kingdom of Numenor. Sauron's influence ultimately allowed him to take control of Numenor's government, and he had Nimloth burnt, seeing it as a link to the Valar, his enemies. However, Isildur saved one of the fruits of the tree and took it with him to Middle-Earth after the fall of Numenor. He planted it there, in the Gondorian citadel of Minas Ithil (later to fall to the Nazgul and become Minas Morgul). Seedlings from that tree was planted in Minas Tirith, and, since that time, a White Tree has always grown there. So the Gondorians see the tree as a link to their founders, to the fabled kingdom of Numenor and ultimately to the Valar themselves.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: I can see who you mean, but I'm pretty certain that it's not Peter Jackson - the resemblance isn't really that close. Besides, I strongly suspect that the studio would be dead set against anything that put their director (scriptwriter/producer/etc) on a horse in the middle of a charge - I've never read anything to indicate that Jackson is an experienced rider, and there are risks in what's being portrayed in that scene.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: The lead orc is Gothmog, a briefly mentioned character in the books (mentioned precisely once) - it's not even clear in the books which race he belongs to. The second orc, with the skulls, doesn't seem to have a name.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Not necessarily - the precise command hierarchy isn't established in the books and we don't know where the various Nazgul stand. Gothmog is the Witch-King's leftenant, so it would make sense that he would be second-in-command of any army led by his master.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Not as simple a question as it sounds, as, while Faramir and Aragorn are both described as Rangers, they're actually different types of Ranger. Faramir is one of the Rangers of Ithilien, a Gondorian group who specialise in using guerrilla tactics against the forces of Sauron in the land of Ithilien, between the Anduin river (which runs through Osgiliath) and the Mountains of Shadow that form the western border of Mordor. Aragorn is the current chieftain of the Rangers of the North, who came into being after the fall of the northern kingdom of Arthedain, ruled over by Isildur's descendants. After the loss of Arthedain, the people survived in the wild as the loose-knit organisation known as the Rangers. The two groups are related - both originate from the Dunedain, the long-lived descendants of the survivors of Numenor - but have been seperated for around 3000 years.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Smeagol was believed to have been a Stoor, a branch of the hobbits known for being quite large and strong (by hobbit standards). His mutation is because of the Ring - precise reason unclear, but almost certainly related to the fact that it has prolonged his life far beyond a normal hobbit span (Gollum is around 580 years old when he dies, easily five times the normal lifespan)- note that Bilbo, who, while old, is still within a normal hobbit lifespan, looks physically normal. Smeagol, through use of the Ring, has been influenced by the wraithworld, in exactly the same manner that the kings of men who were given the nine rings ultimately became the Nazgul - in time, he would presumably have become a wraith-like being like them. Gollum's current appearance may be some intermediate stage.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: He says it specifically - he's offering his service in payment of what he sees as a debt to Denethor, in that Boromir gave his life to protect Pippin and Merry.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Sam ultimately marries Rosie and has thirteen children. Unless your friends still regard that as "keeping up appearances", in which case it's the most heroic case ever recorded, they're wrong. His love for Frodo is merely great loyalty and friendship, nothing more.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: Galadriel and Gimli? Bizarre mental image. Um, no, there's nothing going on there. Gimli does fall for her beauty, true, and she's flattered, but there's nothing else there. Do bear in mind that Celeborn, her husband, is around as well. No, she doesn't have an infatuation with Frodo either - her initial rapport with him would be down to them both being Ringbearers. Come-hither looks at the Grey Havens? I don't really see those - what I see is that she's excited about returning to Valinor, the land where she was born, and that she hasn't seen for seven thousand years. Nothing to do with Frodo going along, or any desire for hobbit lurve...

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: The Corsairs of Umbar are a piratical group, originally of Gondorian origin, whose founder, Castamir, was ousted as ruler of that land (he usurped the throne and had a vicious and cruel reign lasting ten years) some 1500 years before the events of the film. Since that time, they've held a great hatred for Gondor, fighting against them as much as possible. As a trivia note, forty years prior to the films, the Corsair fleets were all but destroyed by a devastating Gondorian attack led by a man named Thorongil. Thorongil was, in fact, Aragorn - he used this alias during his early life and his service to the lords of both Gondor and Rohan (as mentioned in the extended Two Towers film).

Tailkinker ★

Answer: He's been very quiet about it if this is true, and he's generally open about his cameo appearances. It's unlikely, I think, Jackson didn't really have the time to throw himself in all over the place - he seems to have stuck to one cameo per film. There was at least one false report of an additional cameo in the Two Towers, which would imply an actor who bears a resemblance to the director - maybe the same actor was used in the Pelennor Fields shot that you saw.

Tailkinker ★