Change #17: Aragorn is dead……or not.
Aragorn after a battle with warg-riders (not in the book, but perhaps a transplant from a previously discussed wolf threat at the feet of the Misty Mountains) is caught is the stirrups of a warg and falls off of a cliff, presumably to his death. This scene is infamous among many Tolkien purists as an example of Jackson’s misguided largesse. Personally, I just find the scene to be a miscalculation by Jackson as to the energy and suspense that it would bring. I really believe that no one actually believed that Aragorn perished here (particularly after seeing him at Helm’s Deep in many trailers). The scene is not really played for emotion, but it does provide a way to bring a vision of Arwen into the film to presumably steel the resolve of Aragorn to get up and do what he needs to do.
I think the scene is unnecessary. It is not particularly bad or poorly executed, but it does fall into a trap of how I judge many LOTR scenes post-mortem: how could the screen time have been better spent? Perhaps removal of these types of scenes could have pushed the Frodo storyline further in Towers so that the third film could have kept crucial scenes intact theatrically (Mouth of Sauron, Cirith Ungol, etc.). A final judgment on this change for me leaves it as mostly unnecessary, which is a somewhat harsh indictment given the sheer amount of material that LOTR presents. The fact that this scene is out of Jackson’s head only leads to further scrutiny that more time should have been given to Tolkien’s words instead of non-cannon events.
Change #18: Changes in People and Places
In the books, Erkenbrand is a captain who rides in to save the day at Helm’s Deep instead of the movie depiction of Eomer in this role. The movies put all of the Rohirrim at Helm’s Deep while the book has women and children (with Eowyn as their leader) holed up at Dunharrow (shown in the third film). In the books, Helm’s Deep is held as a fortress that has never fallen if any men defend it, but while this line is uttered in the movies, Gandalf and Aragorn seem horrified that Theoden wishes to defend Helm’s Deep instead of staying and fighting at Meduseld.
The change from Erkenbrand to Eomer is much like the change from Glorfindel to Arwen in FOTR, it is a condensing of characters that makes complete sense, and is an extremely smart and positive adaptation. I endorse the move because it makes Eomer (who is awesome, and played well by Karl Urban who later proved his acting chops by channeling Deforest Kelley as Bones in Star Trek) more heroic and this pays off in future events.
Moving the women to Helm’s Deep also makes a ton of sense because it cuts locations and raises the stakes in the battle organically. It is choices like these that make the LOTR trilogy so damned good. The audience knows that if Rohan falls (which looks inevitable as dawn approaches) that the Uruk Hai will bust into the caves and slaughter hundreds of women and children. Helm’s Deep is about as amazing as a battle can get, and this is just one of the many reasons why.
As excellent as the previous two changes were is about as perplexing as the final change was. While Aragorn seems to half-heartedly defend Theoden (“it has worked for his people in the past”) the consternation of the original fellowship at Theoden’s choice to make for Helm’s Deep makes no sense in view of Aragorn’s later statement “you say this fortress has never fallen when men defended it, we are still defending it, we have DIED defending it” (Editor’s note how badass is that line?), and just a cursory look at the layout of Helm’s Deep versus Meduseld. While true that Meduseld has the high ground, and we know from movies that you should not even attempt attack if the opponent has the high ground, Meduseld is protected by wooden gates and walls while Helm’s Deep is a military fortress carved from stone with only one approachable side. It is strange that Jackson introduces tension between Theoden and his advisors on this point, when there could have been many more fertile areas to plant conflict (Eomer, Grima, Eowyn, Aragorns leadership role, etc.).
Change #19: The Entmoot
While “Treebeard” might be the longest chapter in literary history, it has a crucial role in both versions of Towers as the Ents ultimately deal with a huge threat. I pretty much love everything about the Ents in this film, but the decision to let the Entmoot result in no action whereas the book had them stirred to fury after the Entmoot is strange for a couple of reasons. The movie instead shows Pippin “tricking” Treebeard into dropping them at Isengard so that Treebeard will see the ruination and change his mind.
I understand that the change is likely in place so that Pippin can be clever and heroic where he has mostly been a dunce to this point, but it is illogical for a couple of reasons. First, how would Pippin even know what is going on in Isengard? He has never been there, and it is extremely unclear why he would know what Saruman is up to that would enrage Treebeard. We must presume that Gandalf has relayed this information, but it does not seem like Gandalf is having heart to hearts with Pippin at any time. Secondly, this trick leads Treebeard to fury, and seemingly the other Ents were following along ready to pop out of the forest as soon as Treebeard gets pissed. This is a plot hole, pure and simple. Obviously, Treebeard had a long journey to the borders with the hobbits, and the other Ents would have no reason to follow along with their job being completed at the Entmoot. Ultimately, this is a change that does not rankle, but it was unnecessary because Pippin has plenty to do in the third film, and this event does not materially change his character.
Change #20: Elves Sir
Finally we arrive at the most hotly controversial change in the men of the west storyline from Towers, and it is the arrival of elves to help at Helm’s Deep while the book leaves Rohan completely alone to defend themselves. Let’s first address that originally Jackson planned to have Arwen at the battle lopping heads (her purple outfit can be seen in the background of at least one shot in the final cut). This was later changed to stick to Arwen’s role in the appendices presumably because Jackson feared outrage from fans at this kind of alteration (he obviously got over this fear for the Hobbit films). I am so glad that Arwen was not put in this battle, because this battle is extremely dark and gritty, and it just seems like her arrival would have hurried her storyline forward way too much. However, many purists still howl at the notion of the elves showing up to save Rohan’s bacon.
I am not howling at the change, but on the other hand it seems to add only marginal value to the idea that the elves are connected to the world (an idea that could have merit, but is never drawn out to any climax or payoff at the end of the trilogy). At the end of the day, I would have preferred that the elves stay at hope because it would only escalate the hopeless plight of the Rohirrim as well as the resulting heroism at their ultimate victory. The elves do not have character development (they are just machines) which is why Haldir’s death carries little resonance. I think that much like the Aragorn cliff dive, this might have just been a non-fatal miscalculation by Jackson.
Keep the Pesos 