I despise the scene in Peter Jackson’s “Return of the King” (extended edition) where the Witch King shatters Gandalf’s staff, but it can’t be denied that there is at least some textual basis for the idea.  What does this tell us about the Witch King and his other encounters?

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Of all the scenes to be left out of Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy, the Ring’s temptation of Sam on the threshold of Mordor may be one of the most inexcusable, since it highlights both his character and teaches us some “plain hobbit sense” in the process.

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Gandalf famously sends the Balrog to the abyss by destroying the Bridge of Khazad-Dum, but the timing of his action may suggest a deeper motivation than simply defeating his foe….

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My old nemesis CinemaSins is at it again, leveling stupid criticisms against another great Lord of the Rings adaptation.  OK, maybe we can quibble about how “great” Bakshi’s film is, but it doesn’t deserve the kind of stuff CS dishes out, and I’ll prove it!

CinemaSins’ full video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BuRF5izrZs

My previous videos debunking CinemaSins’ absurd attacks on Tolkien movies are below:

Fellowship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-KSBOwxn1w

Two Towers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1swNui5SNUc

Return of the King: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51NBQyD43xw

Unexpected Journey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClPQdf2ZN9M

Desolation of Smaug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkBTjocHruQ

Battle of Five Armies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQNUSC7AYIU

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Gollum has reactions to Elvish things that would put even a picky eater toddler to shame, but why?

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I’ve reviewed John Boorman’s awful Lord of the Rings script in four parts (see below for links), but there was another awful adaptation that never got past the scripting phase by Morton Grady Zimmerman, and while I don’t have access to the script itself, Tolkien wrote two letters commenting on it that reveal a good deal, and it’s awful.

The Boorman Script:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhKX7VdMiZU

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbxZU3mVRsc

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7BqeOwPcSE

Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHGpbhTKq0w

And if you want some good Tolkien discussion, please check out my criminally underwatched but fascinating discussion with David Rowe, author of The Proverbs of Middle-earth, on the subject of wisdom in Tolkien’s works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOHLbX0u8EI

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Saruman is said to have lost most of his powers by the end of The Lord of the Rings, but what powers did he have?  How did he lose them?  How is that connected to his position in the order of wizards?

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Some genius writing for CBR.com wrote this article about how The Lord of the Rings has aged poorly, and it might just be one of the worst pieces of criticism I’ve ever seen, starting with the fact that it’s really only a 5-item list expanded artificially to meet some arbitrary count….

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In the Appendices we learn that Aragorn, in the guise of Thorongil, advises Ecthelion II, Denethor’s father, to rely on Gandalf rather than Saruman.  Does this imply anything about Aragorn’s knowledge of Saruman?

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How well do I know my Tolkien from my Bible? I've read both numerous times so a quiz should be a breeze, right? Well, depends on how tricksy the questions are, precioussss, yessss.... If you want to follow along or watch before I go through it, the original video for the quiz is https://youtu.be/-_qjtr3rbKQ

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