[Movie] The Hobbit Trilogy - Page 58

- It's made pretty clear that heat alone, however strong, will not destroy the ring. It's the connection (seemingly magical) between the ring and fire in which it was forged which allows it to undo the thing. It is said dragonbreath would be enough to destroy rings of power, but gandalf speculates that for the one ring, not even ancalagon (the greatest dragon in the history of arda) would not be able to destroy it.

- The eagles aren't on anyone's speed dial. They are not some goodly creatures only to be summoned up whenever the good guys need them (I blame this misconception on Jackson and his idiotic moth idea). They are descendants of messengers of the chief of the valar (gods). They were originally sent out to middle earth to watch and observe. Direct intervention has never been their thing, especially so after thousands of years has changed their ways. Even if Gandalf, Elrond, or even Galadriel herself had somehow tracked the eagles down and asked them to fly to morder, they would not accept, at least willingly. And if you recall, the events of the war of the ring unfolded rather quickly. Gandalf simply did not have time to spend looking for them, on the chance that they might accept. Even if they had somehow accepted, we(as in the readers) know it wouldn't have been an easy road. Sauron possessed at least one palantir which he could keep track of his land. If he saw eagles approach morder, he would've sent his nazgul after them.

- Well, first of all, they refused to be left behind or sent back. They said they would have to be tied up in a sack and carried back to stop them going with frodo and sam. I do not think the elves had a mind to do that. Also, gandalf vouched for them. He knew there was strength in hobbits that many overlooked. He foresaw that they would play important parts in the events to come.

- The ring might've had a will of its own, but we don't know that for sure. Gandalf only speculates as to whether it might've had. I always saw it more as a primal desire, only strong enough to mess with chance & cause freak incidents. As for Bilbo finding the ring, it is said in the hobbit that orcs and goblins stayed away from where gollum dwelt, for he murdered them and ate them. That explains why it wasn't picked up by them. And why is it so hard to believe that bilbo happened to chance upon the ring? If you think these coincidences and chance events in fiction are too convenient, you should look at the stuff that happens in real life.

- You mean in the film? Well, obviously it's because the actor has aged, and they didn't want to pull a Clu on the character. In the books, it is clearly shown that his aging slowed down after coming into possession of the ring, and it came back rapidly as soon as it left him.

- As I've already said, how the ring works is still a mystery. It might've not had a direct hand in Isildur being ambushed, but it could also have drawn the orcs to it. It could also just be a reverse rabbit's foot.

- Most orcs fled to the deep and remote places of the world after Sauron was defeated at the end of the second age. And the heavy casualties suffered by the alliance meant they did not have the time nor the resources to somehow track them all down and rout them. Also, after the fall of gil-galad and elendil/isildur, the alliance all but disbanded. Most though the threat over. And after many years of peace, why would they actively hunt them down? It is in Men's nature to accept what they see in front of their eyes.

- Gandalf does not give a definitive reasoning as to why he instigated, or at least facilitated the quest of the mountain. It could be that he perceived smaug to be a threat and wanted to remove him from the picture, though he also doubts a weakened sauron would've had much control over a dragon as arrogant as smaug. As for the orcs and golbins, they weren't a big threat as long as there was none to unite them and drive them forward. So he was much more concerned about the necromancer than them. So why focus on smaug over orcs? Well, it could be that thorin was immovable in his desire to take his home back, and gandalf reluctantly helped him for fear of their utter failure without his help. If any group was adamant in warring against the orcs, I'm saure gandalf would have offered aid. And you give him too much credit. He is not so blindly loved and trusted that he can raise armies to war on a perceived threat. Let's not forget that Saruman was still the head of his order at this time. As for why he only gathered a small party for the quest? Well, first of all, it was not gandalf's party but thorin's. And give how stubborn he was concerning the treasures at erebor, I doubt gandalf could've openly convinced him to enlist help from elsewhere, at the expense of a part of his treasure.

- He does use them when it's absolutely necessary. There are constraints and limitations as to what he can do, and how much. It's not like he as an infinite mana hack enabled. If you read the books, whenever he or his companions are in grave peril, he does bust his mojo out.

- I don't really get your issue here. You are complaining that the way and actions of the istari was not perfect? Well, of course! They were not some robots or slaves. They all had their own motivations and dispositions, no matter what the reason for their coming to middle-earth was. They were not beyond corruption or being distracted/trapped by their fancies. After all, if the greatest of the valar, melkor, could fall, what makes you think the lesser maia, and indeed their earthly forms are immune? Their fall also highlights gandalf's faithfulness and loyalty. That he faced the same temptations and desires as they did, but remained true to the mission, just shows you how much affection he had for the people of middle earth. As for what he did during all those years, he was mainly a watcher and a helper. We forget that when he came to middle earth, it was a time of relative peace. Sauron had not yet come back in full, and the foul beasts stayed in their remote regions. There was no need for any great deed to be done, nor did he properly understand what was to come. Gandalf did all he could be travelling around the world and familiarising himself to the people of middle earth, so that when/if the time came, they would heed his warning. Gandalf knows the war cannot be won by him or his order. It is up to the peoples of middle earth to do that, and he did all he could to help them along. As aragorn says, he was the greatest mover of all things that was put into motion during the war against sauron.

- You are right in saying that melkor/morgoth did not have the power to create new beings, for the understanding of the
flame imperishable was not in him. So, instead he took existing creatures, elves, dwarves, men, and other things to twist into his evil ways. You also say all other valar could create life, but those were different circumstances. They could only create with the help of iluvatar. As for what you see in the films, I do not think Jackson was showing that they were created from the earth, but bred and birthed in the deep places. No one really knows how orcs, goblins and etc., breed and multiply, but they certainly aren't magically carved from the earth.

- It is pretty impossible to truly comprehend how the valar think. They have always been reluctant to directly intervene. It took a titanic effort by earendil, and the prospect of morgoth's utter victory to rouse them. Even so, they did not come themselves, but sent their emissaries. Also, after the fall of numenor, they removed themselves from the circle of the world and further distanced themselves from middle earth. It doesn't mean they completely abandoned them. It was they who sent the istari to aid the people. Trying to understand why they were reluctant to help is like trying to understand why god, if he exists, doesn't just kill the devil and bring everyone to his utopia. It cannot be understood, or made sense of.

- It was not only the valar's decree that restricted them, but their earthly forms that they had to take in order to come to middle earth. And you cannot think of tolkien's wizards like your traditional ones. Whilst they possess some magical prowess, their true powers were more subtle. I'm sure this confusion is caused by the films, where saruman is shown to possess great magical power, but that was of a different kind in the books. His power was his voice, his speech, his ability to sway the hearts of men. That's what made him so great, and fearful. We also don't know if he, or any of the istari could've just shed their restrictions and regain their former powers. Perhaps it was impossible and that's why he was so interested in creating rings of power, and indeed finding the one ring. We can also note that Gandalf had to die and be sent back when his powers increased. That means perhaps their bodies act as their shackles.

- Huh? It takes more than just some villain to unite and dominate the wills of those foul creatures. Even the witch king of angmar did not have sufficient strength to completely destroy the north. You say Sauron was a weak spirit, but he was not so when he actually made open war on middle earth. He was returned to morder, his tower, barad-dur rebuilt, and his nazgul all serving under him. You really need to read the books.

- As you say, one of tolkien's main themes in his work is that power waxes throughout the passage of time. So, simply put: there was none to replicate or even surpass the deeds of feanor or celebrimbor. This is not hard to understand though. Middle earth and arda as a whole has been locked in an endless war. Death and destruction was frequent enough that no proper root in advanced culture or technology took place. Even when it was close to being so, it was ripped down by morgoth and his malice. The drowning of beleriand pretty much hit the reset button, and the people never fully recovered. Perhaps it is a different story in aman where the valar and other elves live.

- I guess you haven't read the silmarillion and the akallabeth. It explains how, and why numenor was destroyed. What escaped to middle earth was certainly not insignificant, but it simply did not compare to what numenor was. Gondor also suffered heavily at the hands of sauron, in terms of constant war and devastating plagues. They also, as we humans do, let their power and arrogance get the better of them. It actually makes perfect sense that numenor fell, and gondor was indeed declining. It perfectly reflects civilisations, empires and kingdoms from our own history.

- The nazgul are not invisible because they wear rings of power, though it might've started that way They have been wraiths for so long, it was completely changed their bodies. It is different to frodo putting on the one ring, which I might add is completely different to the rings sauron gave to the nazgul. They might've not made the wearers invisible at all. Also, the superpowers you speak of are mostly present in the film adaptations. In the books, the greatest power they employ is to strike fear in the hearts of men. Mostly they just ride around on their horses or winged creatures. You can also assume the rings grants them some preternatural power, though we do not know how much.

- Clearly not. Although how it exactly works is unexplained, I see it like this: if you claim ownership or the ring, than it starts to affect you.

- This actually made me laugh. We do not know if the invisibility is just a side effect of the power it contains. After all, the ring was made by sauron, for him alone. I doubt turning you invisible is all it does. As for the rings given to the nazgul, as I said before, we don't know exactly what it did. We can clearly see the rings of power are not to be trifled with though. Just look at the three elven rings and what they accomplished.