"It's such a sacrifice when these elves die man, cause they would have lived forever." Love Eric's insight and quotes while watching these movies. And this is a really good take. But I have to push back on this just a bit; when an Elf dies, their soul goes to Valinor, the Undying Lands. Where they might be reincarnated if they did good in life, making them still immortal. But if they linger in life in Middle Earth they have to endure the pain of a suffering world which is what leads Elves to be so forlorn. So basically whether an Elf dies and goes to Valinor or lives and undertakes the journey west while alive makes little difference, because they will continue to suffer regardless if they are not in the undying lands. The lore really puts the tragedy of the Elves existence into perspective and gives even more compelling reason why they're leaving Middle Earth.
Not only that, but if you consider how long the elves have been fighting this war, it makes sense why they just decide to leave. After all, they've been fighting since Morgoth
In the books, in expanded passages, Sauron does have a physical form, but it's not fully healed. He would be not too different from the Nazgul (who are seemingly empty under those old bedsheets). Rohan was a large chunk of Gondor that was given to Rohirrim (formerly Northern Eotheod-horsemen) who rode to Gondor's aid. Gondor originally spread as far north-west as the bottom end of the Shire, including the lands of "Those driven out by the Rohirrim that Saruman are talking to." Orthanc/Isengard was given to Saruman by the King of Gondor around the same time, where he can keep watch on both the northern and southern lands. The Gap of Rohan mention in FOTR is a geographical gateway between the west and east - so Saruman setup there to originally keep an eye on both as part of his role.
Well said. Although I think the furthest northern border of Gondor was at Tharbad on the river Greyflood. Just to the south of Cardolan, which is southeast of the Shire.
Thankyou for the LoTR reactions! I always feel like people these days have forgotten about how fucking amazing this trilogy was, so good of you to make this series ;____; PS: Eric is such a fanboy, I love it :')
interesting how much more context those flashbacks gave to Boromir's character. ironic that before making the journey to Rivendell, he didn't seem to put much importance in the Ring's ability to save his people as his father did that he began to after coming into contact with the Ring at Elrond's council meeting. He also seemed to be much more hopeful about his ppls capability to withstand enemy attacks than his depiction in the first movie. imo, the extended cut's most enduring attribute was showing how much the Ring's influence affected and altered Boromir compared to who he was b4 leaving Gondor.
23:18 Eric: "They're separate kingdoms." Calvin: "Remember there was nine kings of Men. This is one of those kingdoms." None of the Rignwraiths was formerly a Rohan king. Technically the Nine Rings weren't given to kings exclusively. The poem of the Rings doesn't even call them kings: Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for the Mortal Men doomed to die, And One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. And their number doesn't have to correspond with the number of kingdoms of Men. There could have been more, there could have been less, there might have been just nine at the time. After all these years, new kingdoms could have formed while older kingdoms fell into ruin so that the number is no longer the same. Arnor and Gondor didn't exist when the Rings were forged or even after the Nine were handed out to men. Arnor broke up into three kingdoms that eventually deteriorated and are extinct at the time of the story. Rohan wasn't founded until after Gondor. That's already five kingdoms that are post Ringwraiths. What we do know is that three of the Ringwraiths were Númenóreans and at least one was an Easterling lord. None of the Nine were given to any King or Queen of Númenor, so the three Númenórean Ringwraiths were just lesser lords seduced by Sauron. Addendum: It isn't certain, but the Witch-king is most likely one of the three Númenórean Ringwraiths. And since he's called the Witch-king, you would think that should mean he was a king and not just a lesser lord of Númenor. Well he didn't take the title Witch-king until after becoming a Nazgûl. A couple centuries after Sauron returned and established his fortress of Dol Guldur, the Lord of the Nazgûl began to establish the kingdom of Angmar in the northern Misty Mountains. He waged war on the Northern Dúnedain kingdoms. He took the title Witch-king during his rule of Angmar and his wars in the north.
1:52:34 Aragorn and Arwen's love story is in the books just not during the story. It already took place before the War of the Ring. There's a Tale of Aragorn and Arwen in the appendices that summarizes their relationship before and after the story. She had already decided to stay in Middle-earth with him. The movie just wanted some drama.
2:47:20 Not all the Elves have left in the books. The kingdoms of Elves east of the Misty Mountains are mostly Silvan Elves, Elves that have never seen the sea and don't have as strong a desire to sail across the sea. Their kingdoms will last many years after the story before they finally abandon the forests of Middle-earth. And right now during the story, they're busy defending their own lands. Sauron isn't just attacking Gondor, he's attacking all the Free Peoples that oppose him. Lórien showing up here in the movie is one of my biggest gripes with this movie. Haldir is leading these Elves from Lórien, the logistics don't make any sense at all. The Fellowship left Lórien over two weeks ago. These Elves would have had to leave at nearly the same time as the Fellowship to get here. When the Fellowship left there was no plan of the Fellowship going to Rohan. So why did the Elves spend two weeks marching to Rohan and then across Rohan's lands to reach Helm's Deep? Were they expecting the entirety of Rohan to be holed up here? They don't have any historical ties with Rohan that would make this generosity expected. And most concerning of all, an army of Isengard marches on Helm's Deep. Helm's Deep is on the western edge of Rohan, the furthest point in Rohan from Lórien. Isengard is nearly next door to Helm's Deep. The Elves would have trouble avoiding an army marching on their destination from such a close origin and it would be unlikely for them to reach Helm's Deep before this much closer army. Meanwhile, Lórien will suffer the first of three attacks in about a week. They are situated very close to Dol Guldur, Sauron's stronghold in southern Mirkwood. Even sending a small regiment of Elves leaves them in a weaker position against a more proximate threat. There's no sound strategy in weakening their lands to aid Rohan. Finally, the Elves don't form alliances with Men like this anymore. They're still kind of unhappy at the failure of Isildur to destroy the Ring the last time they fought Sauron. There's a reason the previous war is known as The Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Why does it seem like Helm's Deep is now the Last Alliance of Elves and Men? The Elves defend their lands, they don't defend the lands of Men.
2:59:55 In the books, the Entmoot lasted three days. So they didn't deliberate the state of the world for less time than it took to make their greetings. Also the Ents decided to go to war in the books.
3:11:00 Exactly Aaron, how did the Ents get here? Treebeard walks for miles, and moments after crying out everyone he left is right behind him ready to attack. For a race that is being characterized as slow, the script sure likes to move them fast when it suits them. 3:11:23 Yep. The biggest question is, how can one Ent, overturn the collective decision without any input from the others? If it takes so long for Ents to decide things, why was there no deliberation? And if Treebeard is just finding out about this destruction now, why were they holding their war council earlier? Was one Orc chasing two Hobbits a border violation? If that's the case, I can see why they only took one night to debate the point and decided against a hasty decision like war over a single trespasser. As I said before, the books don't mangle this plot. Treebeard is aware of what's going on in his forest, so this destruction was part of their three days of debate. I don't hate the movie for this change, they wanted to give Merry and Pippin more agency and responsibility in rousing the Ents. But it does feel cheap to me that their plan is show Treebeard things he doesn't know about the forest that is literally his world. One thing I miss from the books is their interactions with Quickbeam. An uncharacteristically hasty Ent that decided much more quickly than the rest to go to war. He spent a large portion of the Entmoot with the Hobbits while the rest of the Ents were debating.
3:36:48 "The Tower of Barad-dûr and the Tower of Orthanc, and that's the Two Towers." At least in the movie those are the two towers. Tolkien could never really settle on two specific towers as he had multiple pairings in his mind. Tolkien considered combinations of five different towers: Barad-dûr, Cirith Ungol, Minas Morgul, Minas Tirith and Orthanc. Orthanc and Cirith Ungol go very well with the two stories being told in Vol II. Orthanc launches the attacks against Rohan and is the ultimate destination for the Fellowship in Rohan by the end of Book III. Meanwhile Cirith Ungol is the final destination of the Ring Bearers in Book IV. Barad-dûr and Minas Tirith's opposition is frequently brought up in the story. The capital fortress of Mordor and the capital fortress of Gondor. Minas Morgul and Minas Tirith are also two opposing fortresses. Being closer in proximity to each other they constantly serve as bases to which Mordor and Gondor issue in their border skirmishes. Barad-dûr and Orthanc represent the two bases of Sauron and Saruman and thus the alliance of Isengard and Mordor. This is what the film makers went with. While we saw none of the other towers in the film. Cirith Ungol is a major part of Frodo and Sam's story in The Two Towers. It was pushed back to the third movie because of simultaneous story telling. In the book, Frodo's chapters in The Two Towers cover far more time than the rest of the Fellowship's chapters. On March 4th, Frodo, Sam and Gollum reach the Black Gate. Meanwhile the Battle of the Hornburg is won and the siege of Helm's Deep is relieved. This is why Tolkien didn't want the stories told simultaneously. Their climactic events happen at different points in time. Speaking of events in the next movie. Pippin is in Minas Tirith when Frodo and Sam see the armies set out from Minas Morgul. Frodo and Sam see this during Two Towers and Pippin doesn't get to Minas Tirith till the first chapter of Return of the King. Frodo and Sam go further in Two Towers running into Shelob and finally ending with Sam thinking Frodo is dead, taking the Ring and then observing the Orcs take Frodo into the Tower of Cirith Ungol this is March 13th. In Return of the King, Aragorn will be capturing the fleet of the Corsairs with the army of the Dead on March 13th. This is why Osgiliath exists in this movie. Not to make Faramir seem more entrapted by the Ring. They needed to have the hobbits do something climactic during Helm's Deep before entering Mordor so they could syncronize the stories for the third move. Probably my most disappointing thing in the movies is how much I anticipated Shelob and it wasn't even in the movie.
@@karljonson3287 yeah they are super good at times tbf especially things like Smaug and Gollum! I think just sometimes it has a bit of a dodgy moment and it seems quite full to the brim with CGI..i suppose any other film would get away with it but people compare to the realism of Lord of the Rings i suppose and it does get a bit over the top at times in comparison i think. But generally i agree it's good :)
It's already long and they're talking throughout so I understand, but I'd like to see maybe a mini discussion at the end of the movie just saying your feelings on the movie as a whole. Great commentary though guys. Can't wait for Return of the King commentary, one of my all time favorite films.
57:50 You know what's funny about moments in this trilogy where a character talks about there being no hope around Aragorn? Aragorn's elven name is Estel which means hope. So there's always hope cuz he's there hahaha.
It really sucks that they didn't keep any scenes with Boromir for the theatrical version. He isn't a villain, just the weakest one of the fellowship against the ring's power, and I feel it could have been portrayed a bit better. Love the reactions though! Movie commentary is a brilliant idea.
those extended flashbacks used to always made me think about the possibilities of how different the story might have played out if Faramir had been chosen to make the journey to Rivendell eventually joining the fellowship while Boromir stayed behind to guard Osgiliath. Would both brothers have survived to face the battles ahead or would Faramir's inclusion changed a key event to make the final outcome worse?
A little bit of history for those, who are interested: The Kingdom of Rohan was founded some 500 years before the events in the LotR-Trilogy. Back then Gondor was under heavy attack from Easterlings and the Stewart called for aid from a nomadic horse-people, the so called "Eotheod". Their 16-year old Prince Eorl "the Young" and his riders came just in time to secure Gondors victory in the Battle of Celebrant-Fields. For that aid, the Eotheod were official gifted with the fertile plains in the north of Gondor. The nomadic Eotheod settled down and called their new found country "Rohan" and themselfs "Rohirrim". So young Eorl "leveled up" from Prince to King and became the first King of Rohan. Thats why the battlecry of Theoden is always: "Forth Eorlingas!" = sons of Eorl.
The funniest part of the books are during the Hobbit descriptions. I thought it was really boring the first time reading it, but the second time, I was laughing so hard, because I really understood the world better, so it was like learning inside jokes.
I feel like the guy Aaron recognises might be Jed Brophy? He's not the Rohirrim guy that turns into Warg-bait but he does kinda look like him....he plays Nori in The Hobbit and he was in Shanara Chronicles and lots of films that Peter Jackson did because they're buddies :) He plays loads of people in LOTR. He's one of Rohirrim when they find Theodred...he's the high pitched orc that Eric mentioned Andy Serkis doing the voice for..and he's the Uruk on the Warg that takes Aragorn over the edge...he probably pops up as an elf and possibly a Nazgul at some point. Also his son plays Aragorn and Arwen's son in the vision Arwen has in the 3rd movie. He's awesome.
The elven cities were also under attack. Lothlórien and the Woodland Realm were fairly close to Dol Guldur, and Lórien was assailed three times, though Galadriel drove Sauron's forces back. So they had no soldiers to spare.
When they were running Orlando Bloom had fallen off a horse and broken a rib. He broke his back when he was younger falling 3 stories. Had to learn to walk again and all sorts. Not the same accident :)
A year later, but ya this is driving me crazy as someone who’s seen Aaron defend GOT S8 and The Star Wars sequels to the death. It’s like he’s actively trying to dislike them even though there is an answer to literally every question he has
@@jaydee7257 It was a joke comment tbh I think he likes to professionally critique something that he's not seen much off. He defends star wars and such because he grew up on it so he has that emotion to it whereas new things he likes to understand them fully :)
@@mysterygamer8675 that’s fair, just technically speaking tho these movies are nearly flawless and the way he seems to almost shit on them grinds my gears a bit. This is the first time Aaron has ever got on my nerves so I shouldn’t let it get to me haha, just feels rare from him
@@mysterygamer8675 I get what you mean but I think Rick is just an extremely technical person that usually at least has reasoning for why he dislikes something, rather than just blindly hating on it especially when the answers are there. Either way not a big deal tho, it’s just not something I’m used to seeing from Aaron
i know we can vote on what they watch but i really want the dark knight trilogy and Jurassic park 1. Also hopefully return of the king next week. fingers crossed.
The Legion of Evil Men entering Mordor via the Black Gate were men of Rhun or Easterlings as they are called by the Men of the West.Rhun is a land in the East with many different kingdoms and nations all sworn to Sauron so these band up together and march west but the men of Gondor categorize them all as Easterlings because they come from the East.I think you were refering to the Southrons aka the Haradrim who do come from Harad which is a land in the south of Middle Earth.Sauron has many servants some of which are evil men such as the above mentioned and also the Black Numenoreans who come from Umbar and the Men of Khand who come from the South East,they are described as short bearded and swathy men wielding great axes and having the skill to ride almost as well as the Rohirrim in the battle of the Pellenor fields.Other than that great reaction guys keep it up and i hope you post the 3rd movie soon!
This must be a bit heartbreaking for content creators. Meaning, I can tell Eric in particular really enjoys watching/filming this commentary, and yet these videos receive far less views than a lot of their other content. Fun to do but not practical from a business stand point otherwise we would have a lot more of these commentary videos. Nevertheless I love it and hope they continue to do commentary.
Well even for someone like me who watches the trilogy at least once a year, the couple of times when I watched it with these commentaries, it's a bit distracting. That's why, even when I'm a Four-sight Rider patron, I rarely watch full lenght reactions. I prefer to watch any show or film on my own and then watch the highlight reaction video.
"They're not dead." Well... the place that used to be their gardens is now called the Brown Lands because Sauron fouled it up to slow down the Last Alliance. So, they might just all be dead.
The Rohirrim are not people who came from Gondor, They came from somewhere else a few centuries ago (further north, near Mirkwood, if I remember correctly) and were given the lands because they helped Gondor in battle. The wild men were the people who lived on those lands before and they were driven away.
Saruman is actually WAYYY more powerful than you give him credit for. Saruman was one of the few individuals that Sauron was ACTUALLY afraid of that’s how powerful he was.
Not sure if anyone will see this but at around 2:47:10 I believe the elves go help other places...or they have to fight on their doorsteps. I'm not sure but I could have sworn they fight somewhere.
So I just want to point out for everyone, faramir and Frodo never met until the end of the books. Peter Jackson decided to put that entire sub arc to fix the time gap between Frodo's group and Gandalf's group. In the second book, I do believe they end up climbing the stairs, while Gandalf is helping to secure Rohan. But the light show as the Witch King leaves happens while Gandalf is in Gondor. I don't mean to offend Eric, but I think he needs to reread the books.
BlindWave, did you know that footage was shot and cut for Arwen to show up with the elves to help Helms Deep ? look at the making of bts looks! you can barely see her in thr finished film wearinga purple garb in the final fight when Gandalf shows
My man Olorin just spent some time flying through spacetime in the afterlife before being tossed back to Arda; can't blame him for forgetting some of his however many names, and who's using which name.
That’s leftover footage from when Arwen was originally in that scene. They eventually cut her out of that part of the plot so that she and Aragorn are separated until the end of RotK.
4:18 If you want to get technical, no he didn't. Winds of Winter hasn't been written yet and we don't know for a certainty that he'll come back in the books.
@@CrimsonCharan Lady Stoneheart isn't Catelyn, though. Sure. It's Catelyn's body, but Stoneheart is a significantly different character. If Jon does come back in the books, I imagine he would also be significantly changed. When Gandalf was brought back, he was a different person. He was less aloof and more wise. But his allegiance and overall goodness hadn't changed at all. Stoneheart is far more sinister than Catelyn.
I hope it's synced this time, because in Fellowship i was suddenly ahead a few minutes despite starting it at the same time....how is that possible? (Fellowship had entered Moria and done with the Kraken while in your Video they just had opened the Door...)
@@lykan2 hahah same so do I..so i have the same problem..i think the frame rates are evvvvverrr so slightly different but it means after a while one version pulls ahead. It's annoying haha i just have to listen to the commentary and remember the film hahah
@@dajtoad1 In the Etymologies (a linguistic manuscript from ca. 1937-8 published posthumously) is stated that "the Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than Human."[4][5] In another linguistic manuscript (from ca. 1959-60), the Elvish connection between ears and leaves is again noted:
Because nowhere in the Hobbit or LOTR themselves are pointed ears mentioned. And as descriptive as Tolkien is, you would think there would be at least one reference.
@@dajtoad1 No its a published work. Was meant as more if dictionary. I have all books related to LOTR. Hence why I got crossed up. However, he did define it. Just not in the books themselves. So technically I stand corrected. Thanks :) nothing wrong with being wrong.
We can all agree The Hobbit movies were good, just not as good as LotR, right? I feel like a lot of the hate they get from people who grew up watching LotR is the same as people who grew up on the original Star Wars trilogy hating on the prequels. Just gotta appreciate them for what they are instead of holding them up against some of the best movies ever made. Just a side note, some of the effects in LotR are far, far worse than in the Hobbit. Let’s be real here.
Gwyneth Mullins i didn’t like them for a while, because of how much they changed from the book specifically, but looking back and becoming a writer/screenwriter, i don’t fault the choices to change. The Hobbit was a BEDTIME story. It was meant to put Christopher Tolkien to sleep. It is boring. It had no true antagonist throughout the movie, so the added one that had been technically killed off earlier in the history of ME. Overall, most of the characters acted like they should from the books, and Benedict Cumberbatch’s acting as Smaug was incredible as well as Armitage and Freeman. Both Lotr and Hobbit have their pros/cons in animations vs real/models, and Lotr takes the cake for overall story, but i think their is value in the Hobbit and agree with you. But i see it as a separate work from the book, more something based on Tolkien’s work then trying to directly replicate it as much as possible like Lotr.
Thing is, LOTR needed to be 3 films. The Hobbit didn't because it was one small children's book. So there is more crap in The Hobbit movies. Good effects can't overcome minimal story and bad acting. Some LOTR effects have aged slightly worse but you dont really notice it because the story is so deep. The Hobbit is so shallow that superficial thrills can't make them good.
Anyone notice or get as annoyed as much as me when Eric makes a point about a show and all Calvin does is say "Ya!" like hes contributing to the convo. Its stuff like this and his random pseudo explanations of things he half knows about and is usually wrong about, that makesCalvin my least favourite wave member
I've literally never heard anyone say they prefer lotr's wargs. It's moments like these and "the cave troll has better cgi than the goblin king" that make me think the lotr bias is getting to you. I mean obviously they're much better movies but you'd be stupid to think the cgi on a 20 year old creature is anywhere nearly as advanced as one made 12 years after. Also, the Wargs in this movie are some weird hyena creatures whereas hobbit's wargs are far more faithful to the book.
You're obviously some kind of technocrat. Art is subjective. They're not saying that the CGI on the LOTS wargs is better, they're just saying that they like them more. The Hobbit relied too much on CGI and it felt like a video game. Fuck "advanced". Technology doesn't make a good movie. Sometimes it make movies worse because it drains the budget. And it never looks as good as practical effects because there is no trade-off for the material you can get on an actual set.
In a literal sense, the CGI creations in The Hobbit look better. They’re higher res, and have far more accurate motion capture. However, in LotR, greater care is given to the way CGI elements are framed and composited, to blend into the scene. In The Hobbit, because the digital effects are more advanced, the camera tends to center them, which accentuates the fact that they’re artificial. In other words, the filmmakers got cocky with the new tech and the film suffered. That’s why the cave troll still looks more believable, even though it’s technically less detailed than the Goblin King. For the record, I love both trilogies, so this isn’t coming from a place of bias.
Literally everything in LOTR looks better than the Hobbit Trilogy. The Wargs are distinctive- I cant even remember what the wolves in the Hobbit looked like.
Spotz - why not? This isn't exactly an 'old' movie (it's less than 20 years old). Hope you aren't one of those people/kids that look down on films older than themselves...
"They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!"
Isengard gard gard
“Tell me, where is Gandalf? I much desire to speak with him. T-T-Tell me, where is Gandalf, I much desire to speak with him.”
“Theoden King stands alone”
“Not alone”
“Eomer!”
“Rohirrim!!”
“TO THE KING!!!!”
Only real ones know just how epic this part was.
That scene was so epic you don't have to be a real one to know how epic it was, you just need to not be an idiot.
"It's such a sacrifice when these elves die man, cause they would have lived forever."
Love Eric's insight and quotes while watching these movies. And this is a really good take. But I have to push back on this just a bit; when an Elf dies, their soul goes to Valinor, the Undying Lands. Where they might be reincarnated if they did good in life, making them still immortal. But if they linger in life in Middle Earth they have to endure the pain of a suffering world which is what leads Elves to be so forlorn. So basically whether an Elf dies and goes to Valinor or lives and undertakes the journey west while alive makes little difference, because they will continue to suffer regardless if they are not in the undying lands. The lore really puts the tragedy of the Elves existence into perspective and gives even more compelling reason why they're leaving Middle Earth.
Not only that, but if you consider how long the elves have been fighting this war, it makes sense why they just decide to leave. After all, they've been fighting since Morgoth
In the books, in expanded passages, Sauron does have a physical form, but it's not fully healed. He would be not too different from the Nazgul (who are seemingly empty under those old bedsheets).
Rohan was a large chunk of Gondor that was given to Rohirrim (formerly Northern Eotheod-horsemen) who rode to Gondor's aid. Gondor originally spread as far north-west as the bottom end of the Shire, including the lands of "Those driven out by the Rohirrim that Saruman are talking to." Orthanc/Isengard was given to Saruman by the King of Gondor around the same time, where he can keep watch on both the northern and southern lands. The Gap of Rohan mention in FOTR is a geographical gateway between the west and east - so Saruman setup there to originally keep an eye on both as part of his role.
Well said. Although I think the furthest northern border of Gondor was at Tharbad on the river Greyflood. Just to the south of Cardolan, which is southeast of the Shire.
Thankyou for the LoTR reactions! I always feel like people these days have forgotten about how fucking amazing this trilogy was, so good of you to make this series ;____;
PS: Eric is such a fanboy, I love it :')
Look beneath every lotr battle scene on RUclips, litteraly filled with people praising it and shitting on GOT lmao
@@gilgamesh8334 as they should.
Literally nobody has forgotten how good it is, and the Amazon show basically encouraged people to see how a REAL adaptation is done..... Smgdh.....
I absolutely loved the flashbacks of Boromir in this version, it really gives his character more depth in the first movie.
interesting how much more context those flashbacks gave to Boromir's character. ironic that before making the journey to Rivendell, he didn't seem to put much importance in the Ring's ability to save his people as his father did that he began to after coming into contact with the Ring at Elrond's council meeting. He also seemed to be much more hopeful about his ppls capability to withstand enemy attacks than his depiction in the first movie. imo, the extended cut's most enduring attribute was showing how much the Ring's influence affected and altered Boromir compared to who he was b4 leaving Gondor.
23:18 Eric: "They're separate kingdoms."
Calvin: "Remember there was nine kings of Men. This is one of those kingdoms."
None of the Rignwraiths was formerly a Rohan king. Technically the Nine Rings weren't given to kings exclusively. The poem of the Rings doesn't even call them kings:
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for the Mortal Men doomed to die,
And One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
And their number doesn't have to correspond with the number of kingdoms of Men. There could have been more, there could have been less, there might have been just nine at the time. After all these years, new kingdoms could have formed while older kingdoms fell into ruin so that the number is no longer the same.
Arnor and Gondor didn't exist when the Rings were forged or even after the Nine were handed out to men. Arnor broke up into three kingdoms that eventually deteriorated and are extinct at the time of the story. Rohan wasn't founded until after Gondor. That's already five kingdoms that are post Ringwraiths.
What we do know is that three of the Ringwraiths were Númenóreans and at least one was an Easterling lord. None of the Nine were given to any King or Queen of Númenor, so the three Númenórean Ringwraiths were just lesser lords seduced by Sauron.
Addendum: It isn't certain, but the Witch-king is most likely one of the three Númenórean Ringwraiths. And since he's called the Witch-king, you would think that should mean he was a king and not just a lesser lord of Númenor. Well he didn't take the title Witch-king until after becoming a Nazgûl. A couple centuries after Sauron returned and established his fortress of Dol Guldur, the Lord of the Nazgûl began to establish the kingdom of Angmar in the northern Misty Mountains. He waged war on the Northern Dúnedain kingdoms. He took the title Witch-king during his rule of Angmar and his wars in the north.
1:52:34 Aragorn and Arwen's love story is in the books just not during the story. It already took place before the War of the Ring. There's a Tale of Aragorn and Arwen in the appendices that summarizes their relationship before and after the story. She had already decided to stay in Middle-earth with him. The movie just wanted some drama.
2:47:20 Not all the Elves have left in the books. The kingdoms of Elves east of the Misty Mountains are mostly Silvan Elves, Elves that have never seen the sea and don't have as strong a desire to sail across the sea. Their kingdoms will last many years after the story before they finally abandon the forests of Middle-earth. And right now during the story, they're busy defending their own lands. Sauron isn't just attacking Gondor, he's attacking all the Free Peoples that oppose him.
Lórien showing up here in the movie is one of my biggest gripes with this movie. Haldir is leading these Elves from Lórien, the logistics don't make any sense at all. The Fellowship left Lórien over two weeks ago. These Elves would have had to leave at nearly the same time as the Fellowship to get here. When the Fellowship left there was no plan of the Fellowship going to Rohan. So why did the Elves spend two weeks marching to Rohan and then across Rohan's lands to reach Helm's Deep? Were they expecting the entirety of Rohan to be holed up here? They don't have any historical ties with Rohan that would make this generosity expected. And most concerning of all, an army of Isengard marches on Helm's Deep. Helm's Deep is on the western edge of Rohan, the furthest point in Rohan from Lórien. Isengard is nearly next door to Helm's Deep. The Elves would have trouble avoiding an army marching on their destination from such a close origin and it would be unlikely for them to reach Helm's Deep before this much closer army.
Meanwhile, Lórien will suffer the first of three attacks in about a week. They are situated very close to Dol Guldur, Sauron's stronghold in southern Mirkwood. Even sending a small regiment of Elves leaves them in a weaker position against a more proximate threat. There's no sound strategy in weakening their lands to aid Rohan.
Finally, the Elves don't form alliances with Men like this anymore. They're still kind of unhappy at the failure of Isildur to destroy the Ring the last time they fought Sauron. There's a reason the previous war is known as The Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Why does it seem like Helm's Deep is now the Last Alliance of Elves and Men? The Elves defend their lands, they don't defend the lands of Men.
2:59:55 In the books, the Entmoot lasted three days. So they didn't deliberate the state of the world for less time than it took to make their greetings. Also the Ents decided to go to war in the books.
3:11:00 Exactly Aaron, how did the Ents get here? Treebeard walks for miles, and moments after crying out everyone he left is right behind him ready to attack. For a race that is being characterized as slow, the script sure likes to move them fast when it suits them.
3:11:23 Yep. The biggest question is, how can one Ent, overturn the collective decision without any input from the others? If it takes so long for Ents to decide things, why was there no deliberation? And if Treebeard is just finding out about this destruction now, why were they holding their war council earlier? Was one Orc chasing two Hobbits a border violation? If that's the case, I can see why they only took one night to debate the point and decided against a hasty decision like war over a single trespasser.
As I said before, the books don't mangle this plot. Treebeard is aware of what's going on in his forest, so this destruction was part of their three days of debate. I don't hate the movie for this change, they wanted to give Merry and Pippin more agency and responsibility in rousing the Ents. But it does feel cheap to me that their plan is show Treebeard things he doesn't know about the forest that is literally his world.
One thing I miss from the books is their interactions with Quickbeam. An uncharacteristically hasty Ent that decided much more quickly than the rest to go to war. He spent a large portion of the Entmoot with the Hobbits while the rest of the Ents were debating.
3:36:48 "The Tower of Barad-dûr and the Tower of Orthanc, and that's the Two Towers."
At least in the movie those are the two towers. Tolkien could never really settle on two specific towers as he had multiple pairings in his mind. Tolkien considered combinations of five different towers: Barad-dûr, Cirith Ungol, Minas Morgul, Minas Tirith and Orthanc.
Orthanc and Cirith Ungol go very well with the two stories being told in Vol II. Orthanc launches the attacks against Rohan and is the ultimate destination for the Fellowship in Rohan by the end of Book III. Meanwhile Cirith Ungol is the final destination of the Ring Bearers in Book IV.
Barad-dûr and Minas Tirith's opposition is frequently brought up in the story. The capital fortress of Mordor and the capital fortress of Gondor.
Minas Morgul and Minas Tirith are also two opposing fortresses. Being closer in proximity to each other they constantly serve as bases to which Mordor and Gondor issue in their border skirmishes.
Barad-dûr and Orthanc represent the two bases of Sauron and Saruman and thus the alliance of Isengard and Mordor. This is what the film makers went with. While we saw none of the other towers in the film.
Cirith Ungol is a major part of Frodo and Sam's story in The Two Towers. It was pushed back to the third movie because of simultaneous story telling. In the book, Frodo's chapters in The Two Towers cover far more time than the rest of the Fellowship's chapters. On March 4th, Frodo, Sam and Gollum reach the Black Gate. Meanwhile the Battle of the Hornburg is won and the siege of Helm's Deep is relieved. This is why Tolkien didn't want the stories told simultaneously. Their climactic events happen at different points in time.
Speaking of events in the next movie. Pippin is in Minas Tirith when Frodo and Sam see the armies set out from Minas Morgul. Frodo and Sam see this during Two Towers and Pippin doesn't get to Minas Tirith till the first chapter of Return of the King. Frodo and Sam go further in Two Towers running into Shelob and finally ending with Sam thinking Frodo is dead, taking the Ring and then observing the Orcs take Frodo into the Tower of Cirith Ungol this is March 13th. In Return of the King, Aragorn will be capturing the fleet of the Corsairs with the army of the Dead on March 13th.
This is why Osgiliath exists in this movie. Not to make Faramir seem more entrapted by the Ring. They needed to have the hobbits do something climactic during Helm's Deep before entering Mordor so they could syncronize the stories for the third move. Probably my most disappointing thing in the movies is how much I anticipated Shelob and it wasn't even in the movie.
"It looked like an effect from the Hobbit" "WOAH RICK CALM DOWN WOW"
Effects from Hobbit are awesome. Idk what people are talking about.
@@karljonson3287 yeah they are super good at times tbf especially things like Smaug and Gollum! I think just sometimes it has a bit of a dodgy moment and it seems quite full to the brim with CGI..i suppose any other film would get away with it but people compare to the realism of Lord of the Rings i suppose and it does get a bit over the top at times in comparison i think. But generally i agree it's good :)
@@JeM130177 yeah in the third one it gets sketchy.
I'm sooo stealing that though... mean as it is :D
Thx dad for taking 7-9yr old me to you see one of the best Trilogy’s ever
It's already long and they're talking throughout so I understand, but I'd like to see maybe a mini discussion at the end of the movie just saying your feelings on the movie as a whole. Great commentary though guys. Can't wait for Return of the King commentary, one of my all time favorite films.
I love. Love. Love these movie commentaries
57:50 You know what's funny about moments in this trilogy where a character talks about there being no hope around Aragorn? Aragorn's elven name is Estel which means hope. So there's always hope cuz he's there hahaha.
1:50:50 Fun fact, Aragorn is actually 88 during this half of the story. His 88th birthday was when he met Gandalf in Fangorn.
Me: clicks on the video
Wifi: YOU FOOL!!!
It really sucks that they didn't keep any scenes with Boromir for the theatrical version. He isn't a villain, just the weakest one of the fellowship against the ring's power, and I feel it could have been portrayed a bit better. Love the reactions though! Movie commentary is a brilliant idea.
those extended flashbacks used to always made me think about the possibilities of how different the story might have played out if Faramir had been chosen to make the journey to Rivendell eventually joining the fellowship while Boromir stayed behind to guard Osgiliath. Would both brothers have survived to face the battles ahead or would Faramir's inclusion changed a key event to make the final outcome worse?
Next week will be Return of the King 😁
Meats back on the menu boys, REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
This is great to listen to while I work thanks guys
A little bit of history for those, who are interested: The Kingdom of Rohan was founded some 500 years before the events in the LotR-Trilogy. Back then Gondor was under heavy attack from Easterlings and the Stewart called for aid from a nomadic horse-people, the so called "Eotheod". Their 16-year old Prince Eorl "the Young" and his riders came just in time to secure Gondors victory in the Battle of Celebrant-Fields.
For that aid, the Eotheod were official gifted with the fertile plains in the north of Gondor. The nomadic Eotheod settled down and called their new found country "Rohan" and themselfs "Rohirrim". So young Eorl "leveled up" from Prince to King and became the first King of Rohan. Thats why the battlecry of Theoden is always: "Forth Eorlingas!" = sons of Eorl.
If I remember correctly, Aragorn is a descendent of the Kings of numenor, the first of which being Elros - Elrond’s twin whom chose a mortal life.
The funniest part of the books are during the Hobbit descriptions. I thought it was really boring the first time reading it, but the second time, I was laughing so hard, because I really understood the world better, so it was like learning inside jokes.
Really glad to stumble on these guys, this is awesome. Who is it doing voice impressions here and there? Really brilliant!
Shadow of mordor playthrough with rick, Eric and Calvin or just one would be so good
I had no idea that Calvin and Eric knew so much about lotr
Right? Colour me surprised. Especially Calvin. Calvin is one of us now😂
I feel like the guy Aaron recognises might be Jed Brophy? He's not the Rohirrim guy that turns into Warg-bait but he does kinda look like him....he plays Nori in The Hobbit and he was in Shanara Chronicles and lots of films that Peter Jackson did because they're buddies :) He plays loads of people in LOTR. He's one of Rohirrim when they find Theodred...he's the high pitched orc that Eric mentioned Andy Serkis doing the voice for..and he's the Uruk on the Warg that takes Aragorn over the edge...he probably pops up as an elf and possibly a Nazgul at some point. Also his son plays Aragorn and Arwen's son in the vision Arwen has in the 3rd movie. He's awesome.
I was waiting for this so bad...
I really love these commentary videos!!
The elven cities were also under attack. Lothlórien and the Woodland Realm were fairly close to Dol Guldur, and Lórien was assailed three times, though Galadriel drove Sauron's forces back. So they had no soldiers to spare.
When they were running Orlando Bloom had fallen off a horse and broken a rib. He broke his back when he was younger falling 3 stories. Had to learn to walk again and all sorts. Not the same accident :)
I don't know why but I get the suspicion that Aaron isn't a fan of the Lord of the rings lol
A year later, but ya this is driving me crazy as someone who’s seen Aaron defend GOT S8 and The Star Wars sequels to the death. It’s like he’s actively trying to dislike them even though there is an answer to literally every question he has
@@jaydee7257 It was a joke comment tbh I think he likes to professionally critique something that he's not seen much off. He defends star wars and such because he grew up on it so he has that emotion to it whereas new things he likes to understand them fully :)
@@mysterygamer8675 that’s fair, just technically speaking tho these movies are nearly flawless and the way he seems to almost shit on them grinds my gears a bit. This is the first time Aaron has ever got on my nerves so I shouldn’t let it get to me haha, just feels rare from him
@@jaydee7257 everyone has their opinions lol look at rick he often hates good films but that just means he has a unique taste same as anyone
@@mysterygamer8675 I get what you mean but I think Rick is just an extremely technical person that usually at least has reasoning for why he dislikes something, rather than just blindly hating on it especially when the answers are there. Either way not a big deal tho, it’s just not something I’m used to seeing from Aaron
Thank you my friends..
Aaron is such a hater in this video
i know we can vote on what they watch but i really want the dark knight trilogy and Jurassic park 1. Also hopefully return of the king next week. fingers crossed.
ok a year later and i have no memory of this comment.
The Legion of Evil Men entering Mordor via the Black Gate were men of Rhun or Easterlings as they are called by the Men of the West.Rhun is a land in the East with many different kingdoms and nations all sworn to Sauron so these band up together and march west but the men of Gondor categorize them all as Easterlings because they come from the East.I think you were refering to the Southrons aka the Haradrim who do come from Harad which is a land in the south of Middle Earth.Sauron has many servants some of which are evil men such as the above mentioned and also the Black Numenoreans who come from Umbar and the Men of Khand who come from the South East,they are described as short bearded and swathy men wielding great axes and having the skill to ride almost as well as the Rohirrim in the battle of the Pellenor fields.Other than that great reaction guys keep it up and i hope you post the 3rd movie soon!
This must be a bit heartbreaking for content creators. Meaning, I can tell Eric in particular really enjoys watching/filming this commentary, and yet these videos receive far less views than a lot of their other content. Fun to do but not practical from a business stand point otherwise we would have a lot more of these commentary videos. Nevertheless I love it and hope they continue to do commentary.
Well even for someone like me who watches the trilogy at least once a year, the couple of times when I watched it with these commentaries, it's a bit distracting. That's why, even when I'm a Four-sight Rider patron, I rarely watch full lenght reactions. I prefer to watch any show or film on my own and then watch the highlight reaction video.
Lotr elves (basically) respawn in Valinor when they die, so really you just save them the boat ride... In exchange for some bad memories
AHHHHH.... My Sunday programming is here!!!👌🏽 ❤️
"They're not dead." Well... the place that used to be their gardens is now called the Brown Lands because Sauron fouled it up to slow down the Last Alliance. So, they might just all be dead.
rohan calls gandalf stormcrow becaus he comes only before trouble... before the storm
so he's like a bad omen
Hey guys left many of use waiting for episode 2 of Chernobyl. Hope is soon!
The Rohirrim are not people who came from Gondor, They came from somewhere else a few centuries ago (further north, near Mirkwood, if I remember correctly) and were given the lands because they helped Gondor in battle. The wild men were the people who lived on those lands before and they were driven away.
love the movie commentaries need to do prequels of star wars and finish batman series
Saruman is actually WAYYY more powerful than you give him credit for. Saruman was one of the few individuals that Sauron was ACTUALLY afraid of that’s how powerful he was.
Not sure if anyone will see this but at around 2:47:10 I believe the elves go help other places...or they have to fight on their doorsteps. I'm not sure but I could have sworn they fight somewhere.
Would love to see you guys do revenge of the sith the best Star Wars movie I know Eric would have great commentary
So I just want to point out for everyone, faramir and Frodo never met until the end of the books. Peter Jackson decided to put that entire sub arc to fix the time gap between Frodo's group and Gandalf's group. In the second book, I do believe they end up climbing the stairs, while Gandalf is helping to secure Rohan. But the light show as the Witch King leaves happens while Gandalf is in Gondor. I don't mean to offend Eric, but I think he needs to reread the books.
BlindWave, did you know that footage was shot and cut for Arwen to show up with the elves to help Helms Deep ? look at the making of bts looks! you can barely see her in thr finished film wearinga purple garb in the final fight when Gandalf shows
I've been waiting for this so much
The soldiers marching through the black gate are from RHÛN
Beards looking very Aragorn//Thorin boys.
Again i appear to be several seconds ahead, despite starting it at the same time. Is the US Version different from the EU Version in length or Speed?
It’s the difference in frame rate between PAL and NTSC.
Well...I don't need to rest anyway.
Now I have to wait another two weeks for return of the King
It always bothered me that Gandalf met the treants and Pip/Merry, who almost assuredly called him Gandalf, yet he forgets again when he sees the trio.
My man Olorin just spent some time flying through spacetime in the afterlife before being tossed back to Arda; can't blame him for forgetting some of his however many names, and who's using which name.
@@MultiWhatever007 but he literally just left the Hobbits with Treebeard, were they too dumbfounded to say "Gandalf"?
@@ItThatLed maybe he went hard on some of that local fangorn pipe-weed while waiting for the trio
@@MultiWhatever007 And who could blame him!? :)
we NEED a movie commentary for Spider-Man 3. Its so hilarious and fun.
RETURN OF THE KING
The tower that Gandolf and durins bane (balrog) fights on is durins tower
Also Rick you must give in revenge of the sith the best Star was movie 😂
So did you guys see Arwyn and another Elf fighting in the background just after the Rohirim charged down??
That’s leftover footage from when Arwen was originally in that scene. They eventually cut her out of that part of the plot so that she and Aragorn are separated until the end of RotK.
Edoras = Whiterun
if i remember right arwen never apeared in the books (or only in the very end) and was only ever mentioned
4:18 If you want to get technical, no he didn't. Winds of Winter hasn't been written yet and we don't know for a certainty that he'll come back in the books.
True. But even so, George brought Catelyn back to life as Lady Stoneheart, making the red wedding significantly less impactful.
@@CrimsonCharan Lady Stoneheart isn't Catelyn, though. Sure. It's Catelyn's body, but Stoneheart is a significantly different character. If Jon does come back in the books, I imagine he would also be significantly changed. When Gandalf was brought back, he was a different person. He was less aloof and more wise. But his allegiance and overall goodness hadn't changed at all. Stoneheart is far more sinister than Catelyn.
I'm so glad GoT is over. People can stop arguing about who's dead or not. They should have all died.
@@johnjungkook2721 You're fun.
All Hail Gandorf!
Why do they watch Movies in a different room?
can we cut it with the hobbit hate? They werent bad by any means
I hope it's synced this time, because in Fellowship i was suddenly ahead a few minutes despite starting it at the same time....how is that possible? (Fellowship had entered Moria and done with the Kraken while in your Video they just had opened the Door...)
Do you have the dvd rather than blu-ray? I think the frame rate is slightly different
@@JeM130177
I've got the DVD, BluRay wasn't a Thing back then :P
@@lykan2 hahah same so do I..so i have the same problem..i think the frame rates are evvvvverrr so slightly different but it means after a while one version pulls ahead. It's annoying haha i just have to listen to the commentary and remember the film hahah
I highly recommend upgrading to the Blu-ray. The DVDs for the extended editions were pretty low quality from compression.
@@gwynethmullins3221
If you give me the Money for it? I don't see the Point.
Do the Hobbit series too plz....
You guys should watch Damnation!
Man Aaron really really struggles to understand anything that's not Marvel or Star Wars
pointed ears were in the book. just to clarify. Re-reading the books as we speak so I can add that :)
Trending InterActive Studios where did Tolkien mention pointy ears? You mean for hobbits or for elves?
@@dajtoad1 In the Etymologies (a linguistic manuscript from ca. 1937-8 published posthumously) is stated that "the Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than Human."[4][5] In another linguistic manuscript (from ca. 1959-60), the Elvish connection between ears and leaves is again noted:
Trending InterActive Studios a manuscript by Tolkien, you mean?
Because nowhere in the Hobbit or LOTR themselves are pointed ears mentioned. And as descriptive as Tolkien is, you would think there would be at least one reference.
@@dajtoad1 No its a published work. Was meant as more if dictionary. I have all books related to LOTR. Hence why I got crossed up. However, he did define it. Just not in the books themselves. So technically I stand corrected. Thanks :) nothing wrong with being wrong.
If i remember right, there were only 1-2 elves in the group that went to assist with Helm's Abyss battle, most of them were Dúnedain like Aragorn.
Yikes 4 years late, but the entwives are all dead
great commentary but lots of detail errors
Do they hear eachothers voices through the headset too?
yes they do!
8?
Better than Starwars
🧢
React Goblin Slayer please!
Ganandalf
I want them to react to the 3 hobbit movies extended edition those movies are good
Time stamps please lol
It’s at the bottom of the screen
We can all agree The Hobbit movies were good, just not as good as LotR, right? I feel like a lot of the hate they get from people who grew up watching LotR is the same as people who grew up on the original Star Wars trilogy hating on the prequels. Just gotta appreciate them for what they are instead of holding them up against some of the best movies ever made.
Just a side note, some of the effects in LotR are far, far worse than in the Hobbit. Let’s be real here.
Gwyneth Mullins i didn’t like them for a while, because of how much they changed from the book specifically, but looking back and becoming a writer/screenwriter, i don’t fault the choices to change. The Hobbit was a BEDTIME story. It was meant to put Christopher Tolkien to sleep. It is boring. It had no true antagonist throughout the movie, so the added one that had been technically killed off earlier in the history of ME. Overall, most of the characters acted like they should from the books, and Benedict Cumberbatch’s acting as Smaug was incredible as well as Armitage and Freeman. Both Lotr and Hobbit have their pros/cons in animations vs real/models, and Lotr takes the cake for overall story, but i think their is value in the Hobbit and agree with you. But i see it as a separate work from the book, more something based on Tolkien’s work then trying to directly replicate it as much as possible like Lotr.
Thing is, LOTR needed to be 3 films. The Hobbit didn't because it was one small children's book. So there is more crap in The Hobbit movies. Good effects can't overcome minimal story and bad acting. Some LOTR effects have aged slightly worse but you dont really notice it because the story is so deep. The Hobbit is so shallow that superficial thrills can't make them good.
About half of the questions you answered or facts you gave out were wrong.
You guys should do How I Met Your Mother
Yikes. Dunno if they'd like it. Especially the ending.
The ending is good, but it's the journey their that the show is about
Tge thewoers
What I want to see are jojo references
Anyone notice or get as annoyed as much as me when Eric makes a point about a show and all Calvin does is say "Ya!" like hes contributing to the convo. Its stuff like this and his random pseudo explanations of things he half knows about and is usually wrong about, that makesCalvin my least favourite wave member
Especially showing he’s not listening when he does that to aaron asking who’s ever ridden an elephant bugs me every reaction/commentary
Or when he repeats what someone else just said but changes a couple of words
I've literally never heard anyone say they prefer lotr's wargs. It's moments like these and "the cave troll has better cgi than the goblin king" that make me think the lotr bias is getting to you. I mean obviously they're much better movies but you'd be stupid to think the cgi on a 20 year old creature is anywhere nearly as advanced as one made 12 years after. Also, the Wargs in this movie are some weird hyena creatures whereas hobbit's wargs are far more faithful to the book.
You're obviously some kind of technocrat. Art is subjective. They're not saying that the CGI on the LOTS wargs is better, they're just saying that they like them more. The Hobbit relied too much on CGI and it felt like a video game. Fuck "advanced". Technology doesn't make a good movie. Sometimes it make movies worse because it drains the budget. And it never looks as good as practical effects because there is no trade-off for the material you can get on an actual set.
They were talking about the design, Eric literally said he prefers the hyena-look. And I agree.
In a literal sense, the CGI creations in The Hobbit look better. They’re higher res, and have far more accurate motion capture. However, in LotR, greater care is given to the way CGI elements are framed and composited, to blend into the scene. In The Hobbit, because the digital effects are more advanced, the camera tends to center them, which accentuates the fact that they’re artificial. In other words, the filmmakers got cocky with the new tech and the film suffered. That’s why the cave troll still looks more believable, even though it’s technically less detailed than the Goblin King.
For the record, I love both trilogies, so this isn’t coming from a place of bias.
Literally everything in LOTR looks better than the Hobbit Trilogy. The Wargs are distinctive- I cant even remember what the wolves in the Hobbit looked like.
why such an old movie..
Because it's what people voted for
And plus, this (along with the rest of the trilogy) are some of the best films ever. Fullstop.
You must be born after 2000
Spotz - why not? This isn't exactly an 'old' movie (it's less than 20 years old). Hope you aren't one of those people/kids that look down on films older than themselves...
lol you're fucked for life. Just stop trying.