Re: TTT EE is a fantastic improvement

"Aris Katsaris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> How about Galadriel seemingly seeking Elrond's permission to send
> troops from Lothlorien at Helm's Deep?

I think the whole point of this segment was not to portray Galadriel
as deferring to Elrond; it was to show a warming in Elrond's stance
towards Men. Remember how pessimistic and bitter he was in the Council
scenes in FotR? In order to end the films with Elrond consenting (even
grudgingly) to Arwen's wedding, Jackson has to move him from that
bitterness to a more positive attitude, and this is a way to show that
change. And since Haldir and crew have already appeared earlier in the
film, it's easier for Jackson to introduce a troop of archers from
Lothlorien rather than Rivendell.

Another possible reason: might Galadriel want to confer with Elrond
before dealing with Men because Elrond is Half-Elven and therefore
might have a better insight into things Mannish than a pure Noldo like
Galadriel?

> How about Gandalf and Aragorn encouraging Theoden to meet
> Saruman's much more numerous forces in open field rather than
> in a fortress, an obviously lunatic move?

Isn't this bit in the original Tolkien? I don't think it's a
Jacksonian invention. Anyway, Gandalf wasn't there in Helm's Deep to
egg Theoden on; that was all Aragorn's doing. Perhaps it isn't quite
so lunatic if you assume that the Rohirrim are lousy siege defenders
but really great cavalry.

> How about Treebeard not knowing about the devastation Saruman
> caused in the forests, and Gandalf not bothering to tell him even though
> he told him to keep the hobbits safe?

The point of making Treebeard be so ignorant of events on his own
borders was to give Merry and Pippin more of a role in the film. By
making them the cause of Treebeard's change of heart, Jackson has made
the hobbits' actions in Fangorn Forest instrumental to mobilizing the
Ents; in the book, they just happened to be in the right place at the
right time.

> How about Gondor's people in Ithilien knowing that Saruman is
> attacking Rohan's forces in Helm's Deep, something that not even
> Theoden himself could know until Aragorn told him?

Hmm. Maybe Denethor saw this via palantir, and passed the intelligence
on to his troops?