Weighing in at a whopping 11 out of 10 🤩, The Return Of The King wraps up this Lord Of The Rings trilogy with one heck of a bang!! OMG…I had no idea what I was in store for when I started this journey, but each movie surpassed my expectations by far. Thank you to those of you who suggested I finally sit my butt down on the coach and watch this epic masterpiece. I'm still working to get Return of the King Part 2B up on TH-cam. Turn on your notifications so you don't miss out on this new reaction. If you don't want to wait, and you'd prefer the full-length video, then you may join me on the couch here: ✅ patreon.com/flowstatereactions Thank you for your support. ❤
Galadriel intentionally matched Arwen & Aragorn together while they were both visiting in Lothlorien! Arwen & Aragorn met in Rivendell, & that is where Aragorn fell in love with her, although it doesn’t sound like she felt the same at the time. Aragorn’s mother Gilraen warned him that he was aiming too high, and Elrond was not happy about it either, and Aragorn took heed of this and left Rivendell, to learn how to be a Ranger and to oppose Sauron’s forces. Many years later, he came to Lothlorien, seeking rest and shelter, and Galadriel allowed him to enter. We have this line in the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen: ‘But Aragorn was grown to full stature of body and mind, and Galadriel bade him cast aside his wayworn raiment, and she clothed him in silver and white, with a cloak of elven-grey and a bright gem on his brow. Then more than any kind of Men he appeared, and seemed rather an Elf-lord from the Isles of the West. And thus it was that Arwen first beheld him again after their long parting; and as he came walking towards her under the trees of Caras Galadhon laden with flowers of gold, her choice was made and her doom appointed.’ LOTR Appendices. To me, that makes it rather explicit that Galadriel wanted Aragorn to appear at his best. Why? Who could he possibly impress in Lothlorien, except for Galadriel’s grand-daughter? I think it is quite clear that she wanted them matched, and perhaps her foresight told her that they needed to be matched, as it was part of destiny, to begin the Dominion of Men (something Elrond probably also realised, but couldn’t willingly promote, since it would mean Arwen and Elrond would be parted forever). Plus there is the scene in Lorien, where Galadriel gives Aragorn the Elessar, which went from Galadriel to Celebrian to Arwen and then back to Galadriel in order that she give it as a gift to Aragorn. Again it speaks to me as a collaborative act, and part of Galadriel helping bring the two together: And Aragorn answered: “Lady, you know all my desire, and long held in keeping the only treasure that I seek. Yet it is not yours to give me, even if you would; and only through darkness shall I come to it.” “Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,' said Galadriel; for it was left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.” Then she lifted from her lap a great stone of a clear green, set in a silver brooch that was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with outspread wings; and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the leaves of spring. “This stone I gave to Celebrían my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. In this hour take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil!” From LOTR FOTR BOOK
The idea that Galadriel sent Aragorn to get all spiffed up before seeing Arwen again makes me smile so freakin' hard. I loved everything about that tidbit of information you just gave me. Thanks :)
At 2:49 you ask, "How in the world is this happening? How are they able to touch flesh...?" In the book, the battle of the Shadow Host is told in flashback by Legolas: "...And suddenly the Shadow Host that had hung back at the last came up like a grey tide, sweeping all away before it. Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices...Pale swords were drawn, but I know not whether their blades would still bite, for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them."
10:09 He doesn’t “sense the presence” because shelob’s eldrich terror shape shifting mother had something called unlight which puts a shroud around herself and a one else inside it. Even the Valar didn’t notice her when melkor smuggled her into Valinor to kill off the two trees. Unlight isn’t darkness. It’s something else on the realm of the 5th element of ether
@@flowstatereactions you’ll get to see all of that with reacting to the awesome fun lore videos that show Tolkiens own masterful language about such things and more!
It actually took the númenorean blade from the narrow downs and the gifts from Aragorn at weathertop in fellowship of the ring. That movie turned it to random average swords sadly. It anchored down his Fëa spirit into that bodyless armour he wore which allowed him to be mortal. The animated version by Ralph Bakshi. It showed more stuff from the books and is reacting too
Aragorn looks into the palantir much earlier in the books. But it comes to the same effect. IF they had the ring and intended to use it, they would challenge sauron, thinking themselves invincible. Aragorn marches to the black gate because this is exactly how the new king with the ring of power would act in saurons mind. He will not suspect they have any intention to destroy it. However, Aragorn does NOT have the ring, so it is an impossible mission. The whole march to the black gate is the realization that they cannot possibly survive but it gives Frodo a small chance. Aragorn even lets some men who lose heart remain behind as a rear guard because they all know they are going to be surrounded with no chance of winning. So looking forward to watching the end with you!
Yes, I felt as if our mission was just as hopeless as everyone else did. But they were willing to try. I even ran into the fight chanting "Death" as their battle cry.
@@flowstatereactionsAragorn actually had the power to fully control the palantir of Fëanor and wield the ring. He’s powerful. His full lineage speaks loudly on this. Even his blade gleamed different colours based on night or day and even spoke. Sooo yeah
Re: the fight between the orcs at Cirith Ungol, where Frodo was taken after being stung by Shelob (the giant spider): When Frodo regained consciousness he was in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. That fortress was manned by an army of Cirith Ungol orcs. But there was also a large battalion of orcs from the fortress of Minas Morgul encamped there (Minas Morgul is where the great army of Mordor issued forth just as Frodo, Sam, and Gollum arrived at the Stairs, with the fountain of white flame). Those two orc armies were competitive and strove for Sauron’s favor. So, they would sometimes break into skirmishes that could turn deadly. That priceless Mithril shirt of armor they took from Frodo would bring great credit to whoever presented it to Sauron at Barad-Dur (the Dark Tower). That’s why the fight broke out and things got carried away. Luckily, the fight helped Sam rescue Frodo.
@@flowstatereactions Enjoying your reaction to this incomparable movie trilogy. If you want to really get lost in Middle Earth (and who doesn’t?), you might want to read the books in a couple of years. As good as these movies are (and I can’t think of how the filmmakers could have done better), the books are even better, and they will immerse you in this environment and characters even more. You feel like you are THERE in this Middle Earth world of strange wonders, beautiful landscapes, incredible races, and unspeakable, almost biblical levels of evil. In the year 2000, several polls asked “what is the the greatest work of fiction of the 20th Century?” Unsurprisingly, LOTR topped several of those polls. That was a year BEFORE these movies came out. And if you read the books, you will get a fuller picture of what is happening, and over a greater expanse of time. And, yes, you will weep again at the end. No one wants to leave Middle Earth, or these characters. It’s like leaving friends and loved ones. And leaving a wonderful place like no other. As C.S. Lewis (another fantasy writer contemporary of Tolkien who wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia”) said in his review of the LOTR, it is “good beyond hope.” That pretty much sums it up!
"Good beyond hope." Yes, I definitely felt that one. The movie trilogy makes me feel like divine intervention played a huge role, so I can only image what the books are like. Everyone in Heaven must've been cheering Tolkien on. :)
22:36 Éowyn’s full dialogue with the WitchKing was monumental in the books and was from Glorfindel; the elvish prince’s prophesy/Curse/Oath upon the WitchKing one of the time he and one of the Numenorean kings(Eärnur or Arvedui) was chasing away said WitchKing back towards Angmar(Yes. He was afraid of Glorfindel Of The Golden Flower very much. Same with Galadriel too I might add. He wouldn’t even approach lothlorien. He & his armies would always avoid her lands to the point of risking taking longer roads around her lands) Éowyn: “Be gone, foul Dwimmerlaik, Lord of carrion. Leave the dead in peace!” Lord of the Nazgûl: “Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey or he will slay thee in turn!” Éowyn: “Do what you will. I will hinder it, if I may!” Lord of the Nazgûl: “Hinder me? Thou fool. Dost thou not know the prophecy? ‘No living man may hinder me.’ “ Éowyn: “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Eowyn am I. You stand between me and my Lord and kin. Be gone for living or dark undead, I will smite you if you touch him!” Being severely injured by The Black Breath(plague type poison had taken over Eowyn & her Hobbit friend, Éowyn was immediately healed by Aragorn, who saved her just in time before she certainly would have died of her wounds. She remained behind to heal, while also meeting and falling in love with Faramir. At Éowyn's behest, Merry was made a knight by her brother, the newly-named king of Rohan. After the War of the Ring, Éowyn married Faramir just outside of Ithilien and became its lady while Faramir became its king. Together, they had one child together named Elboron and a grandson named Barahir. And the dramatic silence from the WitchKing is palpable in the books. Ladies of Rohan often rode to battle with everyone else but the significance was she was the only woman on the battlefield that day. This is what caused the witch king in the books to give a deafening silence of pause. He knew it was an auspicious moment.
I love that the Witch King was stunned silent by the presence of Eowyn. The dialogue between them from the books is too good. It's also nice to know that she married Faramir.
Denethor, the son of Ecthelion II, was considered bold and brave, clever, far-sighted and learned in his youth. By chance - according to Gandalf - the blood of Númenor runs almost unadulterated through his veins. . After the early death of his beloved wife Finduilas, (who died giving birth to Faramir) he constantly became bitter, became more sullen and spent many hours alone in his tower. As Steward (from 2984 D.Z.) he ruled imperiously and as he saw fit. He suspected that Mordor would start a war with Gondor within his lifetime and finally, confident in his own strength, dared to look into the Palantír of Minas Tirith. It is believed that this is also how he found out that Aragorn, under the code name Thorongil, had been in the service of Ecthelion. Since the fall of Minas Ithil (Minas Morgul), no king or steward had ever dared to look into the Palantír, as the Palantir of Minas Ithil was now owned by Sauron. So Denethor gained great knowledge, but due to the constant struggle with Sauron, he aged far before his time. Sauron took advantage of Denethor's fear and confused his mind. Denethor made a series of bad decisions. For example, he ordered the withdrawal of troops on the southern and eastern borders of Gondor, so that Easterlings and Haradrim angrily invaded Mordor. Ithilien's rangers alone made it more difficult for Sauron's allies to invade. Denethor became more and more moody and took this out especially on his younger son Faramir. He behaved differently towards his firstborn son Boromir; in him he saw his younger image. In the book, Denethor climbs onto the pyre and burns himself with the Palantir in his hands. It is later said that only someone with great willpower was able to use the Palantir, as otherwise all you could see were two old hands burning in the Flames
The look on your face when Shelob the spider made her appearance. That had me rolling. As always, loving you and your reaction to this epic trilogy. I hope one day you get the opportunity to see this on the big screen. Love ya!
Funny thing is she not her mother are “spiders”. Heck. Even Shelob was the one out of thousands of children that escaped being eaten alive by her eldrich terror mother. ❤
Oh my god, that spider was a lot more gigantic than I thought it was going to be. The effects were very good too, because I believed I was looking at a terrifying tarantula. Thanks for watching. :)
At 17:52, most reactors don't understand why Denethor would burn himself and his son alive. Denethor's actions are the actions of despair. He sees no outcome of this battle other than death: "Better to burn sooner than late, for burn we must."
"Farewell Frodo Baggins, I give you the light of Earendil, our most beloved star. May it be a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out." In 2022 the Hubble Space Telescope discovered the earliest and most distant known star, at a distance of 28 billion light-years, and it was named...Earendil :)
Missed this again. I’ll just post some things for ya. Happy diving into The Hobbit and the behind the scenes documentary made by the cast and crew together that’s on the playlist by pajasek99
what Gandalf tells Pippin about afterlife is actualy taken from description of Valinor from the end of the book - how Frodo sees it from the elven boat :)
@@flowstatereactions Its one of the best scenes IMO - Gandalf knows that they are loosing and Pippin knows it too. But Pippin is - comparing his years to our years - a 16 - 17 year old. And he comes from a peaceful, green place. In the Shire some old rich families got some rusty swords hanging above the mantelpiece, but thats all they knew about wars :) So I think Gandalf consoles him that way before their last stand. Its actualy very impresive about PJ that he added such a scene - you know in most of the movies today, the heroes in their last stand are so absolutely strong and brave and never waivering, bc they are soldiers, warriors or X-men or whatever - but this story is about hobbits :) a farming people a bit over a meter tall, the tallest of them got 1m 30 cm (in the movie they actualy seem taller in many scenes) :) so war is not their way of life, of think, they were included in such absolutely abstract situation from their point of view. But Pippin and Merry were trained though briefly by Boromir whom they idolised (of course) and so Pippin here kind of wants to make Boromir proud and do smt for what Boromir did for them in exchenge.
Here is Shelob's description from the book. "There agelong she had dwelt, an evil thing in spider-form, even such as once of old had lived in the Land of the Elves in the West that is now under the Sea, such as Beren fought in the Mountains of Terror in Doriath, and so came to Lúthien upon the green sward amid the hemlocks in the moonlight long ago. How Shelob came there, flying from ruin, no tale tells, for out of the Dark Years few tales have come. But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dur; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness. Far and wide her lesser broods, bastards of the miserable mates, her own offspring, that she slew, spread from glen to glen, from the Ephel Dúath to the eastern hills, to Dol Guldur and the fastnesses of Mirkwood. But none could rival her, Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world."
You asked how the ghosts could affect the battle, whether they could actually do physical harm. You'll have to take that up with Peter Jackson. Tolkein knew better. In his book, the spirits of the dead could cause fear and panic, and not against the orcs, but only against the human crews of the corsair ships. Once those crews had jumped overboard and basically drowned themselves, the army of Prince Imrahil, who was trying to hold them off from his city at the mouth of the river, was able to board the ships and sail to the aid of Minas Tirith. It was not the ghosts running rampant on the fields under the walls of Minas Tirith, but the soldiers of Prince Imrahil.
But introducing Imrahil and his team would have added at least another twenty minutes to an already gigantic film. Novels in general are the wrong length to adapt for film: novellas are a better length, and LOTR is longer than many novels. Jackson sometimes had to make character X, required elsewhere in the films, do the action of book character Y, who does nothing else. Pippin, Treebeard, Arwen, Legolas and Eomer are other examples of characters who take an extra action done in the books by someone else. Jackson had to make the ghosts double up too.
@@zoesumra9152 Absolutely, I would never argue otherwise. There were many changes and omissions from the books, most of which were necessary for brevity. Some were necessary to make the story more palatable for contemporary audiences (the need to enlarge Arwen's role, for one). My criticisms in that regard are mostly minor, some of which include adding gratuitous scenes for the sake of drama which took up time that could have been used to fill out the actual story. But whether necessary or not, it's an unfortunate fact that those changes in detail at times led to situations that simply didn't make logical sense, if you thought about them in any depth. Since our hostess *does* think about such things in depth, these little continuity glitches are going to occasionally jump out at her.
Denethor (& Faramir) was done dirty: Denethor was way more noble & mighty in the books. Not to mention he contended wills with Sauron for decades nonstop & ontop of that even now he was never broken nor could Sauron alter what Denethor would see in the palantir even then he couldn’t control what Denethor had control of which was how he CHOSE to INTERPRET the visions given to him. Using it all to Gondor’s advantage! ❤ he also lit the beacons and got the women & children far away from the city longer ahead of time. So the movie butchered him as well as faramir but they didn’t butcher faramir as badly thankfully. He could have been shown to give Pippen his newest order to light the beacons so then it wouldn’t change the scene much at all as presented! The story here is Faramir’s birth ended up killing his mother Finduilas(named after an elvish princess from the era of Children Of Hùrin was set in);she was a Numenorean woman of the Faithful which her ancestors survived the Cataclysm of Númenor by the way! He was hurt deeply by her death and ontop of that Faramir had the likeness both in temperament as well as his appearance/bearing so he ways reminded of his wife over and over again by Faramir who was just like her, and all it took was a simple look or what-have-you to drive the knife in deeper into his heart about his wife. But also Aragorn when he went by the name gifted to him as Thorongil Denethor’s father basically overshadowing him from his own father so he is as psychology goes: treated Boromir the same way his father treated Aragorn/Thorongil. Note that Boromir and Faramir are half Númenorean which is a big thing as far as the legendarium goes! And it’s something to note that he treated Boromir like his father treated the clandestine Aragorn as Thorongil. Denethor actually did many things the movie shows him not doing or neglecting. He was VERY competent and mighty in many craft and (even a lore-master to a degree). He had quite alot of mental and “magical” might which is why he could contend with Sauron too without being harmed in there process in any way!
@@flowstatereactions yeah. He’s of númenorean decent just like his sons as well as his wife of the faithful númenoreans of Dol Amroth. Prince Imrahil was noted to also have elvish blood thst legolas sensed and spoke about openly. ❤️
I've heard that P.Jackson got arachnophobia and that he told the crew to make this spider so nasty, that he could not watch it :D He wanted them to make it as nasty as they can :D I love their job and yet though I love spiders its the nastiest spider I ever seen on screen :D
The other change Peter Jackson made which was directly against the books was to try to make the witch king appear to be more powerful than Gandalf when the opposite was true. Gandalf is a Maia, an immortal angelic spirit an order of magnitude higher in power even before he had his level raised as Gandalf the White and he would have wiped the floor with the witch king and it would not be close in any way.
That's true. Even though we are grossly outnumbered at every turn, knowing that Gandalf is on our side puts us at a plus that no other side has. He has always come through for us.
@@flowstatereactionsthey didn't mention it in the movie, but Gandalf fought the Balrog for 10 days and nights before killing it. The Balrog was also a Maia.
Yes, the only being who could have broken Gandalf's staff at that point was Sauron. I wish they had either not broken the staff or shown Sauron's eye, briefly, in the Witch-King's face.
@@anni.68 good question, I don't know but I would guess the witch king would have been a wraith spirit at that point that could be banished but wouldn't have been "killed" as such.
Considering the size of the oliphants Eowyn's idea with cutting at the legs would not do too much damage though maybe more than these arrows :D But in the book the oliphants were not such big, but more like regular elephants, or maybe just a bit bigger, but surely they were not as big as houses :D
@@flowstatereactions I think that PJ made a mistake of making them so enormous, they were more like regular elephants, and only in the silly rhyme that Sam has known from his childhood, a legendary oliphant was "big as a house, grey as a mouse". Thats probably where the size of them come from in the movie, but actualy it was a kindergarten rhyme of hobbits who never seen real oliphant, and for whom everything in the outside world, including houses look so much bigger :) so this was exagerated :)
Hobbit feet have leathery soles. Mine are similar. I lived barefoot as a youth, went barefoot for 7 years. The only time I wore shoes was to go into the city once every couple of months. My feet got very tough.
Peter Jackson did a huge disservice to Denethor by not showing a very short scene of him wrestling with Sauron through the seeing stone like Pippin did earlier and being driven mad with despair over years of contacts. Denethor was a noble man in the books but in the movie he just comes off as a total scumbag with no reason.
Oh I see. Yes, that bit of information would go a long way to strengthen Denethor's character in our eyes. Very interesting that they chose to leave it out.
@@zoesumra9152he was a great father in the books. A lot of faramir is just like his father. The most like his father. Both had the Númenorean blood and culture strong within them
The ghosts being able to touch flesh etc is a movie thing. But in the context of the movie it works, so whatever. In a world inhabited by dragons, angels, demons, mobile trees and all sorts of races and creatures magical and otherwise, some ghosts being able to manipulate physical objects won't wreck my suspension of disbelief.
lmao...touche' I'm totally with you on that one. I'm all in. I just thought there may be a reason for it, but if it's just fantasy, then I have no problem with that either.
Weighing in at a whopping 11 out of 10 🤩, The Return Of The King wraps up this Lord Of The Rings trilogy with one heck of a bang!!
OMG…I had no idea what I was in store for when I started this journey, but each movie surpassed my expectations by far. Thank you to those of you who suggested I finally sit my butt down on the coach and watch this epic masterpiece.
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Galadriel intentionally matched Arwen & Aragorn together while they were both visiting in Lothlorien!
Arwen & Aragorn met in Rivendell, & that is where Aragorn fell in love with her, although it doesn’t sound like she felt the same at the time. Aragorn’s mother Gilraen warned him that he was aiming too high, and Elrond was not happy about it either, and Aragorn took heed of this and left Rivendell, to learn how to be a Ranger and to oppose Sauron’s forces.
Many years later, he came to Lothlorien, seeking rest and shelter, and Galadriel allowed him to enter. We have this line in the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen:
‘But Aragorn was grown to full stature of body and mind, and Galadriel bade him cast aside his wayworn raiment, and she clothed him in silver and white, with a cloak of elven-grey and a bright gem on his brow. Then more than any kind of Men he appeared, and seemed rather an Elf-lord from the Isles of the West. And thus it was that Arwen first beheld him again after their long parting; and as he came walking towards her under the trees of Caras Galadhon laden with flowers of gold, her choice was made and her doom appointed.’ LOTR Appendices.
To me, that makes it rather explicit that Galadriel wanted Aragorn to appear at his best. Why? Who could he possibly impress in Lothlorien, except for Galadriel’s grand-daughter? I think it is quite clear that she wanted them matched, and perhaps her foresight told her that they needed to be matched, as it was part of destiny, to begin the Dominion of Men (something Elrond probably also realised, but couldn’t willingly promote, since it would mean Arwen and Elrond would be parted forever).
Plus there is the scene in Lorien, where Galadriel gives Aragorn the Elessar, which went from Galadriel to Celebrian to Arwen and then back to Galadriel in order that she give it as a gift to Aragorn. Again it speaks to me as a collaborative act, and part of Galadriel helping bring the two together:
And Aragorn answered: “Lady, you know all my desire, and long held in keeping the only treasure that I seek. Yet it is not yours to give me, even if you would; and only through darkness shall I come to it.”
“Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,' said Galadriel; for it was left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.” Then she lifted from her lap a great stone of a clear green, set in a silver brooch that was wrought in the likeness of an eagle with outspread wings; and as she held it up the gem flashed like the sun shining through the leaves of spring.
“This stone I gave to Celebrían my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope. In this hour take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil!” From LOTR FOTR BOOK
The idea that Galadriel sent Aragorn to get all spiffed up before seeing Arwen again makes me smile so freakin' hard. I loved everything about that tidbit of information you just gave me. Thanks :)
At 2:49 you ask, "How in the world is this happening? How are they able to touch flesh...?" In the book, the battle of the Shadow Host is told in flashback by Legolas: "...And suddenly the Shadow Host that had hung back at the last came up like a grey tide, sweeping all away before it. Faint cries I heard, and dim horns blowing, and a murmur as of countless far voices...Pale swords were drawn, but I know not whether their blades would still bite, for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them."
What a great passage. It describes the chokehold that the energy of fear can have over one's mind perfectly.
10:09 He doesn’t “sense the presence” because shelob’s eldrich terror shape shifting mother had something called unlight which puts a shroud around herself and a one else inside it. Even the Valar didn’t notice her when melkor smuggled her into Valinor to kill off the two trees. Unlight isn’t darkness. It’s something else on the realm of the 5th element of ether
Unlight? Very interesting.
@@flowstatereactions you’ll get to see all of that with reacting to the awesome fun lore videos that show Tolkiens own masterful language about such things and more!
It actually took the númenorean blade from the narrow downs and the gifts from Aragorn at weathertop in fellowship of the ring. That movie turned it to random average swords sadly. It anchored down his Fëa spirit into that bodyless armour he wore which allowed him to be mortal. The animated version by Ralph Bakshi. It showed more stuff from the books and is reacting too
It’s worth reacting to. It’s kept more stuff from the books
Aragorn looks into the palantir much earlier in the books. But it comes to the same effect. IF they had the ring and intended to use it, they would challenge sauron, thinking themselves invincible. Aragorn marches to the black gate because this is exactly how the new king with the ring of power would act in saurons mind. He will not suspect they have any intention to destroy it. However, Aragorn does NOT have the ring, so it is an impossible mission. The whole march to the black gate is the realization that they cannot possibly survive but it gives Frodo a small chance. Aragorn even lets some men who lose heart remain behind as a rear guard because they all know they are going to be surrounded with no chance of winning. So looking forward to watching the end with you!
Yes, I felt as if our mission was just as hopeless as everyone else did. But they were willing to try. I even ran into the fight chanting "Death" as their battle cry.
@@flowstatereactionsAragorn actually had the power to fully control the palantir of Fëanor and wield the ring. He’s powerful. His full lineage speaks loudly on this. Even his blade gleamed different colours based on night or day and even spoke. Sooo yeah
Re: the fight between the orcs at Cirith Ungol, where Frodo was taken after being stung by Shelob (the giant spider): When Frodo regained consciousness he was in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. That fortress was manned by an army of Cirith Ungol orcs. But there was also a large battalion of orcs from the fortress of Minas Morgul encamped there (Minas Morgul is where the great army of Mordor issued forth just as Frodo, Sam, and Gollum arrived at the Stairs, with the fountain of white flame). Those two orc armies were competitive and strove for Sauron’s favor. So, they would sometimes break into skirmishes that could turn deadly. That priceless Mithril shirt of armor they took from Frodo would bring great credit to whoever presented it to Sauron at Barad-Dur (the Dark Tower). That’s why the fight broke out and things got carried away. Luckily, the fight helped Sam rescue Frodo.
oh wow, I didn't expect to get an explanation for that scene. Thank you. Now it makes sense why they became so hostile so quickly.
@@flowstatereactions Enjoying your reaction to this incomparable movie trilogy. If you want to really get lost in Middle Earth (and who doesn’t?), you might want to read the books in a couple of years. As good as these movies are (and I can’t think of how the filmmakers could have done better), the books are even better, and they will immerse you in this environment and characters even more. You feel like you are THERE in this Middle Earth world of strange wonders, beautiful landscapes, incredible races, and unspeakable, almost biblical levels of evil. In the year 2000, several polls asked “what is the the greatest work of fiction of the 20th Century?” Unsurprisingly, LOTR topped several of those polls. That was a year BEFORE these movies came out.
And if you read the books, you will get a fuller picture of what is happening, and over a greater expanse of time. And, yes, you will weep again at the end. No one wants to leave Middle Earth, or these characters. It’s like leaving friends and loved ones. And leaving a wonderful place like no other. As C.S. Lewis (another fantasy writer contemporary of Tolkien who wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia”) said in his review of the LOTR, it is “good beyond hope.” That pretty much sums it up!
"Good beyond hope." Yes, I definitely felt that one. The movie trilogy makes me feel like divine intervention played a huge role, so I can only image what the books are like. Everyone in Heaven must've been cheering Tolkien on. :)
22:36 Éowyn’s full dialogue with the WitchKing was monumental in the books and was from Glorfindel; the elvish prince’s prophesy/Curse/Oath upon the WitchKing one of the time he and one of the Numenorean kings(Eärnur or Arvedui) was chasing away said WitchKing back towards Angmar(Yes. He was afraid of Glorfindel Of The Golden Flower very much. Same with Galadriel too I might add. He wouldn’t even approach lothlorien. He & his armies would always avoid her lands to the point of risking taking longer roads around her lands) Éowyn: “Be gone, foul Dwimmerlaik, Lord of carrion. Leave the dead in peace!”
Lord of the Nazgûl: “Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey or he will slay thee in turn!”
Éowyn: “Do what you will. I will hinder it, if I may!”
Lord of the Nazgûl: “Hinder me? Thou fool. Dost thou not know the prophecy? ‘No living man may hinder me.’ “
Éowyn: “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Eowyn am I. You stand between me and my Lord and kin. Be gone for living or dark undead, I will smite you if you touch him!”
Being severely injured by The Black Breath(plague type poison had taken over Eowyn & her Hobbit friend, Éowyn was immediately healed by Aragorn, who saved her just in time before she certainly would have died of her wounds. She remained behind to heal, while also meeting and falling in love with Faramir. At Éowyn's behest, Merry was made a knight by her brother, the newly-named king of Rohan. After the War of the Ring, Éowyn married Faramir just outside of Ithilien and became its lady while Faramir became its king. Together, they had one child together named Elboron and a grandson named Barahir.
And the dramatic silence from the WitchKing is palpable in the books.
Ladies of Rohan often rode to battle with everyone else but the significance was she was the only woman on the battlefield that day. This is what caused the witch king in the books to give a deafening silence of pause. He knew it was an auspicious moment.
I love that the Witch King was stunned silent by the presence of Eowyn. The dialogue between them from the books is too good. It's also nice to know that she married Faramir.
@@flowstatereactions you’ll get to see this in the animated version of this trilogy.
Denethor, the son of Ecthelion II, was considered bold and brave, clever, far-sighted and learned in his youth. By chance - according to Gandalf - the blood of Númenor runs almost unadulterated through his veins. . After the early death of his beloved wife Finduilas, (who died giving birth to Faramir) he constantly became bitter, became more sullen and spent many hours alone in his tower. As Steward (from 2984 D.Z.) he ruled imperiously and as he saw fit. He suspected that Mordor would start a war with Gondor within his lifetime and finally, confident in his own strength, dared to look into the Palantír of Minas Tirith. It is believed that this is also how he found out that Aragorn, under the code name Thorongil, had been in the service of Ecthelion. Since the fall of Minas Ithil (Minas Morgul), no king or steward had ever dared to look into the Palantír, as the Palantir of Minas Ithil was now owned by Sauron. So Denethor gained great knowledge, but due to the constant struggle with Sauron, he aged far before his time. Sauron took advantage of Denethor's fear and confused his mind. Denethor made a series of bad decisions. For example, he ordered the withdrawal of troops on the southern and eastern borders of Gondor, so that Easterlings and Haradrim angrily invaded Mordor. Ithilien's rangers alone made it more difficult for Sauron's allies to invade. Denethor became more and more moody and took this out especially on his younger son Faramir. He behaved differently towards his firstborn son Boromir; in him he saw his younger image.
In the book, Denethor climbs onto the pyre and burns himself with the Palantir in his hands. It is later said that only someone with great willpower was able to use the Palantir, as otherwise all you could see were two old hands burning in the Flames
I wonder why they chose to leave out so much for Denethor's character? This is all very interesting. Thank you for the insight.
@@flowstatereactions the fact they chose to simplify denethir for the layman audience and push Théoden good Denethor Bad…. Is so weird to me
The look on your face when Shelob the spider made her appearance. That had me rolling.
As always, loving you and your reaction to this epic trilogy.
I hope one day you get the opportunity to see this on the big screen.
Love ya!
Funny thing is she not her mother are “spiders”. Heck. Even Shelob was the one out of thousands of children that escaped being eaten alive by her eldrich terror mother. ❤
Oh my god, that spider was a lot more gigantic than I thought it was going to be. The effects were very good too, because I believed I was looking at a terrifying tarantula. Thanks for watching. :)
@@flowstatereactions Sauron actually called her his cat. Haha. He let her be to do her on thing as she blocked his only weak spot.
At 17:52, most reactors don't understand why Denethor would burn himself and his son alive. Denethor's actions are the actions of despair. He sees no outcome of this battle other than death: "Better to burn sooner than late, for burn we must."
Yes, he took a rather different stance. Our group ran right into the supposed defeat shouting "Death!" as the battle cry.
"Farewell Frodo Baggins, I give you the light of Earendil, our most beloved star. May it be a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out."
In 2022 the Hubble Space Telescope discovered the earliest and most distant known star, at a distance of 28 billion light-years, and it was named...Earendil :)
I love how you ended your statement with a knowing smile. Yes, that is quite delightful to hear. Thank you for sharing that with us. 😊
Earendil, the star named for Earendil the famous mariner from the First Age in our times is known as Venus.
@@jerryward3311 Elrond’s father
@@Makkaru112 yep!
Missed this again. I’ll just post some things for ya. Happy diving into The Hobbit and the behind the scenes documentary made by the cast and crew together that’s on the playlist by pajasek99
Ok thank you. I'll get to those too.
what Gandalf tells Pippin about afterlife is actualy taken from description of Valinor from the end of the book - how Frodo sees it from the elven boat :)
The description was so heartwarming. :)
@@flowstatereactions Its one of the best scenes IMO - Gandalf knows that they are loosing and Pippin knows it too. But Pippin is - comparing his years to our years - a 16 - 17 year old. And he comes from a peaceful, green place. In the Shire some old rich families got some rusty swords hanging above the mantelpiece, but thats all they knew about wars :) So I think Gandalf consoles him that way before their last stand. Its actualy very impresive about PJ that he added such a scene - you know in most of the movies today, the heroes in their last stand are so absolutely strong and brave and never waivering, bc they are soldiers, warriors or X-men or whatever - but this story is about hobbits :) a farming people a bit over a meter tall, the tallest of them got 1m 30 cm (in the movie they actualy seem taller in many scenes) :) so war is not their way of life, of think, they were included in such absolutely abstract situation from their point of view. But Pippin and Merry were trained though briefly by Boromir whom they idolised (of course) and so Pippin here kind of wants to make Boromir proud and do smt for what Boromir did for them in exchenge.
Here is Shelob's description from the book. "There agelong she had dwelt, an evil thing in spider-form, even such as once of old had lived in the Land of the Elves in the West that is now under the Sea, such as Beren fought in the Mountains of Terror in Doriath, and so came to Lúthien upon the green sward amid the hemlocks in the moonlight long ago. How Shelob came there, flying from ruin, no tale tells, for out of the Dark Years few tales have come. But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dur; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness. Far and wide her lesser broods, bastards of the miserable mates, her own offspring, that she slew, spread from glen to glen, from the Ephel Dúath to the eastern hills, to Dol Guldur and the fastnesses of Mirkwood. But none could rival her, Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world."
You asked how the ghosts could affect the battle, whether they could actually do physical harm. You'll have to take that up with Peter Jackson. Tolkein knew better. In his book, the spirits of the dead could cause fear and panic, and not against the orcs, but only against the human crews of the corsair ships. Once those crews had jumped overboard and basically drowned themselves, the army of Prince Imrahil, who was trying to hold them off from his city at the mouth of the river, was able to board the ships and sail to the aid of Minas Tirith. It was not the ghosts running rampant on the fields under the walls of Minas Tirith, but the soldiers of Prince Imrahil.
As someone who has had panic attacks, I would say that the dead had a very powerful weapon because fear can be rather paralyzing.
But introducing Imrahil and his team would have added at least another twenty minutes to an already gigantic film. Novels in general are the wrong length to adapt for film: novellas are a better length, and LOTR is longer than many novels. Jackson sometimes had to make character X, required elsewhere in the films, do the action of book character Y, who does nothing else. Pippin, Treebeard, Arwen, Legolas and Eomer are other examples of characters who take an extra action done in the books by someone else. Jackson had to make the ghosts double up too.
That's a fair point. Thank you.
@@zoesumra9152 Absolutely, I would never argue otherwise. There were many changes and omissions from the books, most of which were necessary for brevity. Some were necessary to make the story more palatable for contemporary audiences (the need to enlarge Arwen's role, for one). My criticisms in that regard are mostly minor, some of which include adding gratuitous scenes for the sake of drama which took up time that could have been used to fill out the actual story. But whether necessary or not, it's an unfortunate fact that those changes in detail at times led to situations that simply didn't make logical sense, if you thought about them in any depth. Since our hostess *does* think about such things in depth, these little continuity glitches are going to occasionally jump out at her.
I've been waiting for this! 😃
I hope you enjoy! 😊
Denethor (& Faramir) was done dirty: Denethor was way more noble & mighty in the books. Not to mention he contended wills with Sauron for decades nonstop & ontop of that even now he was never broken nor could Sauron alter what Denethor would see in the palantir even then he couldn’t control what Denethor had control of which was how he CHOSE to INTERPRET the visions given to him. Using it all to Gondor’s advantage! ❤ he also lit the beacons and got the women & children far away from the city longer ahead of time. So the movie butchered him as well as faramir but they didn’t butcher faramir as badly thankfully. He could have been shown to give Pippen his newest order to light the beacons so then it wouldn’t change the scene much at all as presented! The story here is Faramir’s birth ended up killing his mother Finduilas(named after an elvish princess from the era of Children Of Hùrin was set in);she was a Numenorean woman of the Faithful which her ancestors survived the Cataclysm of Númenor by the way! He was hurt deeply by her death and ontop of that Faramir had the likeness both in temperament as well as his appearance/bearing so he ways reminded of his wife over and over again by Faramir who was just like her, and all it took was a simple look or what-have-you to drive the knife in deeper into his heart about his wife. But also Aragorn when he went by the name gifted to him as Thorongil Denethor’s father basically overshadowing him from his own father so he is as psychology goes: treated Boromir the same way his father treated Aragorn/Thorongil. Note that Boromir and Faramir are half Númenorean which is a big thing as far as the legendarium goes! And it’s something to note that he treated Boromir like his father treated the clandestine Aragorn as Thorongil.
Denethor actually did many things the movie shows him not doing or neglecting. He was VERY competent and mighty in many craft and (even a lore-master to a degree). He had quite alot of mental and “magical” might which is why he could contend with Sauron too without being harmed in there process in any way!
Well that's something that I would've never considered. Denethor actually had "magical" might? Dang. I wish they had included that in his character.
@@flowstatereactions yeah. He’s of númenorean decent just like his sons as well as his wife of the faithful númenoreans of Dol Amroth. Prince Imrahil was noted to also have elvish blood thst legolas sensed and spoke about openly. ❤️
That was the Director, Peter Jackson, who got "accidentally" shot by Legolas on the pirate boat... 🙂
That made me chuckle. Thanks lol
I've heard that P.Jackson got arachnophobia and that he told the crew to make this spider so nasty, that he could not watch it :D He wanted them to make it as nasty as they can :D
I love their job and yet though I love spiders its the nastiest spider I ever seen on screen :D
OMG...I agree. It was the most horrid jump scare of a spider I have ever experienced. They did a great job, because I did not see that coming.
You know someone's really into the movie when they stop saying "what will they do" and start saying "what will we do". She's on the team LOL.
Yes, this movie pulled me in and won't let go. I'm definitely on the team now. Thanks for joining me. :)
The other change Peter Jackson made which was directly against the books was to try to make the witch king appear to be more powerful than Gandalf when the opposite was true. Gandalf is a Maia, an immortal angelic spirit an order of magnitude higher in power even before he had his level raised as Gandalf the White and he would have wiped the floor with the witch king and it would not be close in any way.
That's true. Even though we are grossly outnumbered at every turn, knowing that Gandalf is on our side puts us at a plus that no other side has. He has always come through for us.
@@flowstatereactionsthey didn't mention it in the movie, but Gandalf fought the Balrog for 10 days and nights before killing it. The Balrog was also a Maia.
Yes, the only being who could have broken Gandalf's staff at that point was Sauron. I wish they had either not broken the staff or shown Sauron's eye, briefly, in the Witch-King's face.
@@anni.68 I strongly suggest not in the "human" category any more.
@@anni.68 good question, I don't know but I would guess the witch king would have been a wraith spirit at that point that could be banished but wouldn't have been "killed" as such.
Considering the size of the oliphants Eowyn's idea with cutting at the legs would not do too much damage though maybe more than these arrows :D But in the book the oliphants were not such big, but more like regular elephants, or maybe just a bit bigger, but surely they were not as big as houses :D
lmao @as big as houses. If that's not the truth, I don't know what is. They were outrageously large lol
@@flowstatereactions I think that PJ made a mistake of making them so enormous, they were more like regular elephants, and only in the silly rhyme that Sam has known from his childhood, a legendary oliphant was "big as a house, grey as a mouse". Thats probably where the size of them come from in the movie, but actualy it was a kindergarten rhyme of hobbits who never seen real oliphant, and for whom everything in the outside world, including houses look so much bigger :) so this was exagerated :)
Hobbit feet have leathery soles. Mine are similar. I lived barefoot as a youth, went barefoot for 7 years. The only time I wore shoes was to go into the city once every couple of months. My feet got very tough.
Oh really? I understand going barefoot from time to time, but for 7 whole years? Wow. That's quite an interesting thought.
@@flowstatereactions I was in the Amazon rainforest.
Um...I have so many questions now
@@flowstatereactions I have some fun stories.
Lol...I bet you do
Peter Jackson did a huge disservice to Denethor by not showing a very short scene of him wrestling with Sauron through the seeing stone like Pippin did earlier and being driven mad with despair over years of contacts.
Denethor was a noble man in the books but in the movie he just comes off as a total scumbag with no reason.
Oh I see. Yes, that bit of information would go a long way to strengthen Denethor's character in our eyes. Very interesting that they chose to leave it out.
More annoyingly, they clearly considered it, because Denethor's palantir appears on set briefly at one point. But they didn't follow through!
(He was a crap father even in the books, though)
@@flowstatereactions check out my deep dive of Denethor in my recent comment.
@@zoesumra9152he was a great father in the books. A lot of faramir is just like his father. The most like his father. Both had the Númenorean blood and culture strong within them
Now you definitely need to read the books.
I could not agree more ;)
The ghosts being able to touch flesh etc is a movie thing. But in the context of the movie it works, so whatever. In a world inhabited by dragons, angels, demons, mobile trees and all sorts of races and creatures magical and otherwise, some ghosts being able to manipulate physical objects won't wreck my suspension of disbelief.
lmao...touche' I'm totally with you on that one. I'm all in. I just thought there may be a reason for it, but if it's just fantasy, then I have no problem with that either.