Prince Imrahil is one of my favorite characters in the LOTR trilogy. He represents not only the full might of Gondor cavalry but the wisdom of the West. He is the character that made the difference, not just in defending Minas Thirith, but defending Faramir, crying: "Dol Amroth for Gondor! Dol Amroth for Faramir". Just imagine 700 full-armored knights charging against the Nazgul. EPIC!!! Not the mention, he is a healer and general and, unlike Denethor, immediately accepts Aragorn as King Elessar. As for the LOTR movie trilogy, since there was no Tom Bombadil, Elladan& Elrohir, there was just no point in putting him in the movie. Big shame, but still, Tolkien fans will always know the immense value of Dol Amroth ;)
Here’s how I would have included him in the film, during the muster of Rohan scene in which Aragorn speaks with Elrond and gets Anduril there would be notably different dialogue, “You’re outnumbered, Aragorn. You need more men.” Elrond says. “There are none.” Aragorn replies. “Not true.”, says Elrond. “There is a garrison of reinforcements stationed along the river south of Gondor at the harbor of Pelargir the steward Denethor has failed to muster. 500 Gondorian soldiers under the command of Prince Imrahil could be in the city within two days, but the river passage is patrolled by the Corsairs of Umbar.” (Insert shot of the garrison stationed at the harbor of Pelargir, Imrahill and his men, and the corsairs.) Aragorn replies, “Even if Prince Imrahil and his reinforcements could be brought to Minas Tirith, 500 soldiers alone could not turn the tide of battle.” Elrond then says, “There are also those who dwell in the mountain…” Aragorn realizes he is speaking of the Army of the Dead. “The Oathbreakers? Murderers, traitors. You would call upon them to fight? They believe in nothing, they answer to no one.” Elrond replies, “They will answer to the King of Gondor!” *whips out sword* “Anduril, the flame of the west!“ exclaims Elrond. “The man who wields this sword can summon the army of the dead to assist his forces in battle! Call upon the Oathbreakers to drive the mercenaries from their black ships, then use those ships to transport Gondor’s reinforcements into Minas Tirith. Be they living or dead, all men will answer to the man who wields the sword of the king! I have already dispatched an emissary by horseback to the garrison south of Gondor, Prince Imrahill and his knights will be expecting your arrival soon. Put aside the ranger, become who you were born to be.”
If there ever was a last book in a series that could’ve been split into two movies, it’s The Return of The King. Would’ve been so amazing to see The Prince of Dol Amroth and the Drúedain.
I dont blame Peter Jackson for not adding him to the movies, there is only enough time they had to fully flesh out a character, that's why in my opinion Denethor looked so cartoonishly evil, but i do like that in the books the council after the battle of Minas Tirith has him and Eomer instead of legolas and Gimli to decide what to do next, making it clear that this is a war for the world of man and Legolas and gimli are just there to help and not to impose their peoples desires
@@TheMarcHicks I mean the Beacon lighting is an awesome scene and Denethor eating tomatoes is intercut with Faramir's futile charge as a deliberate contrast so works great, so yeah.
For some reason Jackson made Rohan the preminent kingdom of men in Middle-earth. The movie adaptaions included many minor characters from Rohan, but none from Gondor. Excluding Imrahil and the other captains of Gondor, as well as Beregond, his son Bergil, and Ioreth the healer was a poor decision.
Should have known this was coming when i saw the poll !! Imrahil is Super underrated !! Glad you’re giving imrahil the attention his character deserves! Love the video ! His daughter went on to marry Eomer. And as much as i would have liked to see both glorfindel and imrahil in the trilogy - i think it was the right call to leave them out. Leaving out imrahil also made the arrival of rohirrim at the battle of pelennor fields that much more important!!
I thought I knew everything about Tolkien's world, but if I had know I had forgotten that Imrahil's daughter married Eomer....that has really made my day knowing this....thanks!
@@markgallacher902 I've been reading the works of Tolkien for 25 years, teaching Lord of the Rings in formal education settings for 10+ years, and started writing for TBS in August mate.. and I tell you, I find something new every day. Professor Tolkien had worlds and worlds within him, and had he lived for 10 more years, hell, even 5, we'd have even more worlds and worlds to explore. One of the interesting things going in modern Tolkien scholarship comes from the release of the history of middle earth 11 part series, if you have a chance to get a copy, we are starting to get an even better picture of how his writing formed and evolved around what we now as the Silmarillion. It's endlessly fascinating, and there are great channels here on youtube, we just do our part in the great fellowship of content creators. The Tolkien Professor (Dr. Corey Olsen) has really great deep dives at his Sigmund University, insanely deep dives on LoTR sentence by sentence if you're looking to find more precious secrets! You can also check out our back catalog here and learn more man! Thanks for enjoying our videos, friend. A star shines on the our of our meeting :P
Love this video . I did not know he had some blood relation to Rohan by Morwen. Peter could’ve used imrahil and men to be the heroes charging in instead of ghosts which Peter did instead . I appreciate imrahil a lot in the books .
It was a disappointment that The Prince Imrahil was not in Peter Jackson’s film version of Lord of the Rings. I had liked his character very much in the books. Thank you for finally addressing this. I had looked for someone to mention this omission.
First off great video, secondly I don't know if it was a "mistake" per se not to have Prnice Imrahil in the movie but I certainly would've loved him in it. He's probably my favourite character throughout the Return of The King section. Similarly to Erkenbrand in the Two Towers I can see and understand why they were missing but it still would've been great to see them.
Originally from what I've read in the Art of the Return of the King there were indeed plans to include Prince Imrahil in the film (along with other Gondorians like Forlong the Fat as evidenced by a sketch by Alan Lee) but like you said he was probably cut out as to not overbloat an already extensive cast with another new character. It's probably also why Jackson chose to omit Elrond's sons as well as Halbarad and the other rangers that accompany Aragorn at Dunharrow.
Leaving him out of the movies was a shame, but it was understandable. His omission pales compared to the Grey Company, whose inclusion would have tied Aragorn's links to the north and south kingdoms. Plus they were damned cool. 'The Passing of the Grey Company' is one of my favourite chapters.
He was very memorable from the books, so I did miss him when watching the movies. I guess the target audience is people who may not have read that and it'd take a fair bit of effort to show who he was.
He would have been awesome in the movies. I think like a sudden introduction much like Faromir would have worked well. I would have liked it if he was a perceived favorite to take the throne, but then was one of the first to recognize the lineage of Aragorn. That would have been a powerful moment.
I would have liked to see him added to the movie. Even if it was a brief cameo. You don't need to dig into every character shown in the movie. It would have been enough to show some gondor respect to the King.
I don’t feel like the movies lacked by not having this prince in the final movie. That said, this is one of the great benefits of the Tolkien-based RUclips channels: learning about characters who were not in the movies. As many of us first got into the works of Tolkien via the movies, that is our basis of knowledge, even if we ultimately went and read the books afterward (or, in my case, I read both The Hobbit and LOTR after the first LOTD movie). Thanks for continuing to expand our knowledge and love for the vast legendarium.
Another important character that is not included, similar to Glorfindel, important characters that were left out because it was perceived that the story was too complicated for people. Ergo, I am disappointed that Jackson didn't make the story popular, in actual fact he just made another Hollywood film of tripe.
GoT and HOTD prove(in my opinion) that audiences can handle large casts and a large amount of characters, though, i think a remake for lotr is possible i think it'd be much better if it was tv show tho...done right... you could most certainly include many many of the major and minor characters of the books and legendarium
There was a time I would have agreed with you, but sadly I fear with current modern tendencies a LotR TV series would be a disaster. I doubt it would resemble the books that much.
Today it would actively seek to rewrite the Tolkiens work, his Christian messages would be gone(half of Gandalf basically cut, same as faramir was in Jackson’s movies) and not a trace of his characters, either Sam and Frodo or Legolas and Gimli would be homosexual, there would probably be explicit scenes, just because representation matters(bs excuse tbh) and sex is everywhere. Not the right time…
He's one of my favourite characters in the books. He pretty much takes over the battle of Pelennor fields and hands Sauron's forces a right thrashing with his Swan knights and leadership.
Gondor was not really known for its cavalry but the swan knights were the Elie of the elite and unlike the rest of gondor, from the top of its ruling class to even the bottom of the it's ordinary folk the gifts and heritage of numenor still lived within them including long life, wisdom and strength even down to the common soldier and civilian of dol amroth
Tolkien mentions Gondorian cavalry a number of times. Eärnur, the Last king of Gondor, is described as having his knights accompany him when he accepted Morgul's challenge to combat. Gondorian cavalry were in the expedition that helped Arvedui of Arthedain against the Witch King of Angmar.
I think Peter Jackson did an amazing job of making the huge LOTR novel into a trilogy of great movies! With his team's comprehensive knowledge of the lore allowed them to focus on the key plots and subplots. Inevitably such a huge book meant a lot of careful decisions as not everything and everyone would make it into the final cut! Regarding Prince Imrahil, how many readers even remember that character from the book? And of those how many missed him in The Return of the King?
I am sorry, but this is but one mistake (in my humble opinion) that Jackson made. Tom Bombadil and Prince Imrahil are but two characters that were sorely missed. The sons of Elrond should have had mentioned and portrayed in the movies, even if only in passing. I believe the 3 parts/movies could easily have been extended to 4 (maybe even 5?). I hope I live long enough for CGI to become cheap enough for independents to make videos so as to see a movie/video that accurately and fully portrays the "Lord of the Rings" as Tolkien last updated it. The Silmarillion would be beyond hope.
@@sandrabonner8208 it would have thrilled established Tolkien fans, but doing a “perfect” page to screen adaptation was physically and financially impossible. Doing justice to all of the characters would have stretched the film running times and might have hurt the box office draw-and if that had happened with ANY of the first trilogy, it would have killed any chance of the rest being made, as well as “The Hobbit” (that sort of thing is why you’re not likely to see a theatrical remake of “War and Peace”. The 1956 production is almost as hard to watch as the original novel is to read). Even just mentioning a lot of the names would likely have had the same effect-which is why Elendil, Gil Galad, etc. were seen, but not named along the way.
Would have been fun to watch a scene from the perspective of Pippen as all the knights and their bannerlords entered the city. Gandalf could have been on the wall pointing them out. Pippen would have been enamored by their armor while helping to count the size of the various armies, while Gandalf was searching for more political allies inside the walls and brave heroes to combat foes outside. Perhaps Gandalf might have been weighing if Imrahil was positioning himself as a rival to Aragorn, for the throne of Gondor.
There's something deeper in Imrahil being cut. Jackson knew he was making a simplified version of the books, with simplified characters, and he wanted Gandalf and Aragorn to be the truly good hero-leaders. They save Gondor from stagnation and defeat. Having someone like Imrahil already there, the audience would probably be saying "why doesn't this Prince guy rule? Why do they need Aragorn to be king so desperately? Why do they need Gandalf to organise the battle?" Because of the decision for streamlined characters, the role of Imrahil would diminish the story being put on screen. Personally, I never liked the depiction of Gondor as weak, leaderless, stupid and naive. Doesn't really build with the wonder we're supposed to feel for this kingdom. Jackson clearly liked the Rohirim more.
I think this is mostly right. The depiction of Gondor in the movies really suffers from having no characters that we can really "root" for after Faramir is wounded. But I think PJ was fine with that, he wanted to show Gondor as a stagnant, weak kingdom in need of saving....no, I don't like it either.
While "weak" is a strong word, it can't be denied that Gondor is on a serious decline. And same goes for the term "leaderless". Denethor isn't exactly in mint condition. My dislike for the film interpretation comes more from how they depicted Denethor. Rather than showing how struggle and fighting Sauron has erroded the man ( and the place), we get the feeling it's simply because of an old fart's stupidity. It is, nonetheless, under "diminished" rule. None of the leaders from the Fiefdoms could take the throne, really, and crumbling central power would most likely lead to partition among these lords rather than the rise of Imrahil (or rather, his father more likely) to the rule of Gondor as a whole. They very much still need the return of the King as a way to come back from the brink. What I do understand in this is that it would be an absolute nightmare to put to film in a condensed manner.
I had this deep feeling when I kept listened to the Battle of Gondor music..it was very Epic but watching the movies and only saw what was in the movies and never read the book..now I realized this Prince was missing
@@robertnguyen2025 Yes. The movies don't quite capture the grandeur of Gondor. This is a kingdom that has stood for 3000 years and once dominated most of the south of Middle Earth, including Mordor.
One regret is their absence from the movies. Imrahil was a true lord. Loyal and brave. I'm sure he cared for his nephews and no wonder he made a friendship with eomer. I would've loved to see dol amroth though. The very last numenorian city left in gondor
I love your answer, but I would like to make a slight suggestion. Instead of saying the very last Numenorian city left in Gondor, I think it's more accurate to say the very last city in Gondor with full/true Numenorian culture and values. For example, wisdom, strength, and courage of the Numenorians are shown explicitly through the soldiers of Dol Amroth and in particular Prince Imrahil. Also, the people of Dol Amroth do embrace Adunaic greatly. In terms of soldiery, very likely only the citadel and fountain guards of Minas Tirith followed the ways of their ancestors fully where this is opposite in Dol Amroth's soldiers. However, in terms of design, most if not all of Gondor's cities would be of Numenorian design since the faithful settled there before Elendil's arrival. Minas Tirith in particular would be more Numenorian than Dol Amroth as its first ring is likely completely of Numenorian design, and it's home to the White Tree of Gondor (a symbol of Gondor's loyalty to the Valar/Eru) which itself is a descendant from the Tree Nimloth of Numenor. Sad they weren't included all the same :(.
Well, Jackson mucked up RotK so much in any case, that his inability to incorporate Imrahil is of little suprise. Still, a very interesting character. Great video!
I have many beefs with the Jackson trilogy - the climax first, Faramir's portrayal second - but Imrahil is a character I hardly noticed the first four of the five times I read the books. I think cutting him was one of Jackson's easier and better choices. I learned a lot from this video.
Jackson wanted to finish film two at the end of helm's deep, and with Frodo approaching minas morgal. Because of that, he added in 45 minutes to the theatrical cut of scenes that were not in the books. He also massively extended the helms deep battle, which only covers about 10 pages. Because of this decision to fluff out film two, he had no room to cover the brilliant characters like Imrahil, and the Grey company, who could have been fresh additions to a heavy third film. Saying nothing of course about cutting the entire chapter about the march on the black gate or the ride of Aragorn to pelargir. It's a huge shame that Jackson made this decision. I think the original chapters cut from film three were far more interesting than the "battle of the wargs" or "Frodo is abducted to Osgiliath"
It´s complicated. I also miss these in the movies, but he was trying to make the viewers understand what was happening when, aka when Frodo was in Shelob´s lair and what the others were doing, so he moved it to the third film. Then he had to move things around. A shame, but that´s the trouble of adaptations. I also don´t think he massively extended the Helm´s Deep battle, I mean yes, it is a big "scene", but most of it happened in the book and it´s ok for Tolkien to write they raised ladders, in the movie you have to show it and it takes time.
I think he WAS in the extended cut, but just a brief on screen appearances and one or two lines. He kind of looked like an elf with regular ears and some facial stubble.
The way he was described in the ROTK, moved me to tears of admiration. Well, not really, but I thought him to be Lordly...even as Lord's go. Hey, take it easy. I'm stoned.
He was featured in the old Lotr trading card game. Where they used screens from the movies. So presumably (they sometimes added "movie shots" of characters that were's actually in the movies, like Bombadil or his Lady) he was in there, but was not mentioned. You can find the pic by searching his name and typing "lotr tcg". Maybe someone can recognize the scene. Also, the green-eyed elf stepping aside to reveal Arwen in the scene of her coming to crowned Aragorn is no other than Glorfindel. I really loved the game for that lore add-ons. Also did you know there was Radagast before the Radagast from Hobbit movies? He was also an additional photoshoot like Bombadil. It was all blessed by the New Line Cinema so I always considered it a part of the movie canon.
Prince imriahil was one of my biggest gripes in the movie right next too, making faramir an a-hole, making aragon so unsure of himself, and anduril not being in aragorns possession for most of the movies, among others things
I would have loved to see the Prince in the film. You know his armor would have been 🔥 but it's not a mistake. His presence would have made Aragorn look less special and he's of such high moral character that any deviation would have had fans in an uproar. Just look at the discussion about Faramir (Movie Faramir is awesome, dont @ me) He's a fantastic literary character but wouldn't have fit the film's goals. A LotR quality tv series could have had him, though.
I would have loved to have seen prince Imrahil. But it would have been better if he was introduced in the two Towers. But I think it was the best idea that PJ. Did what he did. As it would have made another side character.
What-if video idea for you to do: What if Gandalf never fell at the Bridge of Khazad-dum and continued with the fellowship to Lothlorien and on forward?
First, we'd have to have a very easy to beat balrog. Then, probably constant hounding from the Nazgul. He wouldn't even get his white robe upgrade. I would not think Gandalf continuing the Fellowship after Kazad-Dum would be a good idea.
Yeah it's a shame they did not have him in Peter Jackson's adaptation.... I know many people are saying that it would have taken away from the army of the dead and the rohiram but I think they could have squeezed it in there and I think they could have squeezed in a few parts for the character and it wouldn't have crowded it I mean in an already crowded movie what's one more character LOL I mean it's kind of ridiculous not to put him in the movie I think it just would have added to the already incredible battle scene with three forces converging on sauron's forces so no it would not have taken away I think it would have added to it.... I mean when you're already going all out for a movie and it's already bloated go ahead and bloat a little more...
Prince Imrahil is probably my favorite character in LOTR and I would have loved to see him in the film. However, given the large number of characters already in the film, I can understand why he was cut.
This is a case of not only how something is adapted but the medium into which it is being adapted forces the hand of the adaptor. Now if this was a full fledged TV series with one or two chapters making up an episode with each of the 6 actual books being a season then you can have the Prince, but for 3 two to 3 hour films...
Great video! I have one question. Tolkien contradicts himself. He says: "There werevthree unions of the Eldar and the Edain: Luthien and Beren; Idril and Tuor; Arwen and Aragorn." So Imrahil's ancestors are not even mentioned! Yet Tolkien says that Imrahil was descended from elves! So that would be FOUR unions!
According to another vid I've seen, prince imrahil is the blonde long haired man at minas tirath when faramir is brought to rest at the dead tree, after failing to reclaim osgiliath, in the return of the king movie. Theres a yr short called imrahil strong swordsman which has an image of the character from the movie rotk.
I hate that they left the southern Gondor armies out of the movies, the army of the dead at minas tirith IMO is much is much worse than elves at helms deep
all the defenders of Minas Tirith are depicted as being more or less identical. The 'reality' is a coming together of troops from all over Gondor. I think showing that would have created the impression of great peril, at the same time creating a platform for Dol Amroth. Even without a part for Imrahil it would have been a spectacle I'd have loved to have seen
You are right in that his appearance would have been epic but a movie that was already long and following many separate plot lines his inclusion would have bloated the story. Jackson made the right decision yet for us LoTR steadfast fans it would have been awesome to see it. The appearance of Aragorn and the army of the dead coming to the battlefield was done instead of adding in Imrahil to keep the focus on Aragorn as the true and rightful coming of the king. Having another leader appear, even if just a prince would have taken away from that.
'And so the companies came and were hailed and cheered and passed trough the Gate, men of the Outlands marching to defend the City of Gondor in a dark hour; but always too few, always less than hope looked for or need asked. The men of Ringlo Vale behind the son of their lord, Dervorin striding on foot: three hundreds. From the uplands of Morthond, the great Blackroot Vale, tall Duinhir with his sons, Duilin and Derufin, and five hundred bowmen. From the Anfalas, the Langstrand far away, a long line of men of many sorts, hunters and herdsmen and men of little villages, scantily equipped save for the household of Golasgil their lord. From Lamedon, a few grim hillmen without a captain. Fisher-folk of the Ethir, some hundred or more spared from the ships. Hirluin the Fair of the Green Hills from Pinnath Gelin with three hundreds of gallant green-clad men. And last and proudest, Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, with gilded banners bearing his token of the Ship and silver Swan, and a company of knights in full harness riding grey horses; and behind them seven hundreds of men at arms, tall as lords, grey-eyed, dark-haired, signing as they came. ' That's my favourite passage from The Lord of The Rings, Removing Prince Imrahil from the Peter Jackson interpretation was indeed a shame.
I think they could have put him in the film as a minor character. Obviously, with a 3.5 hour length, it becomes difficult but there's at least 3-5 minutes of film time that could've been cut to showcase Gondor's Council and Imrahil's role (showcase his knights being of a different realm of Gondor and counseling Denethor during Gandalf's visits). Same with Elrond's sons. Have them stay after Elrond visits and maybe they stay with the Riders of Rohan rather than go w/ Aragorn....explaining to a few of the panicked Rohirrim that Aragorn will seek out a path while they must do their part. Of course, they have a company of Elves with them, as well who help take down an oliphant or something.
I most regret Imrahil missing from the movies because what we got instead was the ridiculous "army of the dead" disembarking with Aragorn and company which was akin to using a cheat code in a computer game and the battle was over just like that.
Actually, Imrahil did appear in the Peter Jackson movies, just like how Glorfindel appeared. But because he had little screentime, its easy to miss. Imrahil was the man who was on the top level of MinasTirith who told Denethor that the Gondorian Knights were killed.
That character was invented for the film and named Irolas, but given a simplified version of one of Imrahil's roles; to retrieve Faramir after his doomed charge.
Irolas was originally meant to be Beregond but when that character was reduced to barely any screen-time they separated him from that. The Lord of the Rings: Trading Card Game retconned the character as Imrahil.
Eventually I’ll be able to see the Swan Knights charging across the battlefield to link up with the Rohirrim on a Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game table. I’ve already corrected history by creating the Grey Company, the division from Dol Amroth is next!
There was a knight in Minas Tirith, the only human in the city with spoken lines besides Denathor and Faramir. Tall, long blond hair, full armor... I assumed that he was the prince, although he was never named in the movie.
In a movie you can only do so much. A paragraph of dialogue can add a superfluous, but interesting, bit of world building. In a movie or tv show that needs to be backed up by meaning. That’s why I think the written word is the superior form of world building.
From my memory of the boot, Dol Amroth was a militarily significant person, but in plot terms wasn't a significant protagonist. The films did him about the appropriate amount of credit. It doesn't much matter how much coverage he gets in the book, what matters is his impact and I remember the name and the role and couldn't tell you a single thing he said/did...... so the film gave him a representative presence.
I understand why they left him out of the movies it doesn't take away the impact he would of had and how awesome he was, I think it would of have been important to show more then 2 kingdom of Middle earth and I think it would of given much more impact to the corsair wars
I believe Peter Jackson joked in the commentary track for Return of the King that he should have gotten Arnold Schwarzenegger to wear a wig and armor and have a one line cameo and state that he was Prince Imrahil and that he was there to help.
I understood why Peter Jackson made the decision to leave out Imrahil but at the same time I wish that Peter Jackson had made 2 versions of the movie(s). The Theatrical release minus Imrahil, Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Wights and then a much longer extended version for the fans that left nothing out (Gildor, the Old Forest, bombadil, Goldenberry, Glorfindel, Imrahil ect). I think Jackson's version made Gondor look weaker than it actually was and the Rohirrim to be stronger than they were. The Knights of Dol Amroth were the heavy calvary of Gondor, while Anorien & Lebennin would have possessed medium calvary. Rohan provided the bulk of the medium to light calvary forces which is keeping with their historic role (as Northmen allies) in Gondor's military system though Theoden's Eored would have been considered as Heavy Calvary. The Rohirrim were better riders but not as well equiped as Gondor's. Jackson also does not take into account the attributes of Gondor's largely Dunedine population that were physically bigger and stronger (though declining) than most other men.
For as long as it was the third installment seemed a bit disjointed in places, even in the expanded editions. I think the addition of Prince Imrahil could have remedied this, if done properly. He could be a bit part yet still be played in a strong manner to show his import in Tolkien's writings. If one's only exposure to the story was the movies then they are left with a lot of questions regarding the various armies of men seen in the film, on both sides of Mordor.
I still dislike the army of the dead more than any other part of the entire trilogy. Cool looking? Perhaps for a moment or two, but too easy. This would have made so much more sense and would have been a victory for men, whose time was rising, not ghosts of men, traitors.
Prince Imrahil "outranked" Denethor. Denethor was steward by appointment, though hereditary, but a temporary title, he kept the city and its lands, this gave him place and rank to marry Imrahil's sister; Imrahil was a prince by blood and lineage. Note how easily the stewardship was moved from Faramir to Imrahil - this does not happen with a prince decended from Numenor in Tolkien's world.
@@LordBloodraven Man, I wrote this script and didn't even think of how many characters have been inspired by Imrahil despite his non-appearance in the movies. if you scroll down on all of our videos from august forward, you'll see the writing credit and link to my twitter if you ever wanna troll me in person! :P
They should have included him: they should have cast Brian Blessed, not given him any lines, just have him on screen in Dol Amroth armour and livery. Anyone who had read the book would have got it!
my reading of the appendixes indicates Mithrellias was not entirely "willing" in her 'marriage' to Imrazor as she winds up leaving him and her children long before there death and it is NOT accounted as one of the unions of eldar and edain (it would make the 4th one) which if 'legitimate' it should be; we also no from the story of Eol that under elven law a male could 'force' espousal on a female but in that case the male would not gain 'kinship'.
I've read the books. Yet I don't understand them in the sense of more seasoned readers. Personally, I feel they really missed out on having him in there. However, it is ok for him to not be. However, I'd like to add one thing, however "pot stirring" it may be. Why not "remake" the movies, and add what wasn't? New cast, New everything. Peter Jackson's version is a 9.5/10 imo, so I'm casting no shade.
Although I would have appreciated the presence of the Prince of Dol Amroth and his knights , I understand why PJ left them out. Introducing another main character would be confusing for the audience . Even in the extended edition, it would have been impossible to give him enough screen time and provide an adequate backstory for him
While I would happily watch a Lord of the Rings movie for days so every small detail gets covered (provided it's done right and closely follows the source material) I don't think it was a mistake to leave out either Glorifindal or Imrahil. As great as those characters were, there really wasn't enough to time to develop those characters. The people who just saw the movie would not miss them.
He was there, but only for few seconds. Prince Imrahil came to Denethor with wounded(nearly dead) Faramir⬇️. ruclips.net/video/lSE4LcgQiwQ/видео.html (0:57 I think)
@@johanabigasova6770 "That character was invented for the film and named Irolas, but given a simplified version of one of Imrahil's roles; to retrieve Faramir after his doomed charge."
a think in the film you can see on the streets a glimps of baner of Dol Amroth.......is that mean that in Minas Thirit there alredy was someon form DA? Jackson only knows...
@@BenFrayle I don't find it funny. Andy Serkis does dozens of characters in the audiobooks, and when you listen to him doing Imrahil, you really believe you're listening to a mature, middle-age, noble man. I am trying to convey that, and you're attempting humor that can't be recognized as such, so you need to mention it. how lame.
Prince Imrahil is one of my favorite characters in the LOTR trilogy.
He represents not only the full might of Gondor cavalry but the wisdom of the West. He is the character that made the difference, not just in defending Minas Thirith, but defending Faramir, crying: "Dol Amroth for Gondor! Dol Amroth for Faramir". Just imagine 700 full-armored knights charging against the Nazgul. EPIC!!!
Not the mention, he is a healer and general and, unlike Denethor, immediately accepts Aragorn as King Elessar.
As for the LOTR movie trilogy, since there was no Tom Bombadil, Elladan& Elrohir, there was just no point in putting him in the movie. Big shame, but still, Tolkien fans will always know the immense value of Dol Amroth ;)
Here’s how I would have included him in the film, during the muster of Rohan scene in which Aragorn speaks with Elrond and gets Anduril there would be notably different dialogue, “You’re outnumbered, Aragorn. You need more men.” Elrond says. “There are none.” Aragorn replies. “Not true.”, says Elrond. “There is a garrison of reinforcements stationed along the river south of Gondor at the harbor of Pelargir the steward Denethor has failed to muster. 500 Gondorian soldiers under the command of Prince Imrahil could be in the city within two days, but the river passage is patrolled by the Corsairs of Umbar.” (Insert shot of the garrison stationed at the harbor of Pelargir, Imrahill and his men, and the corsairs.) Aragorn replies, “Even if Prince Imrahil and his reinforcements could be brought to Minas Tirith, 500 soldiers alone could not turn the tide of battle.” Elrond then says, “There are also those who dwell in the mountain…” Aragorn realizes he is speaking of the Army of the Dead. “The Oathbreakers? Murderers, traitors. You would call upon them to fight? They believe in nothing, they answer to no one.” Elrond replies, “They will answer to the King of Gondor!” *whips out sword*
“Anduril, the flame of the west!“ exclaims Elrond. “The man who wields this sword can summon the army of the dead to assist his forces in battle! Call upon the Oathbreakers to drive the mercenaries from their black ships, then use those ships to transport Gondor’s reinforcements into Minas Tirith. Be they living or dead, all men will answer to the man who wields the sword of the king! I have already dispatched an emissary by horseback to the garrison south of Gondor, Prince Imrahill and his knights will be expecting your arrival soon. Put aside the ranger, become who you were born to be.”
Alas the budget.
And then they could have used the oathbreakers just to defeat the corsairs at Pelagir and have Aragorn charge in with the Knights of the Silver Swan.
If there ever was a last book in a series that could’ve been split into two movies, it’s The Return of The King. Would’ve been so amazing to see The Prince of Dol Amroth and the Drúedain.
I dont blame Peter Jackson for not adding him to the movies, there is only enough time they had to fully flesh out a character, that's why in my opinion Denethor looked so cartoonishly evil, but i do like that in the books the council after the battle of Minas Tirith has him and Eomer instead of legolas and Gimli to decide what to do next, making it clear that this is a war for the world of man and Legolas and gimli are just there to help and not to impose their peoples desires
he was in the movies
for about two seconds
The last debate...actually happened on the Pellenor fields near where Theoden was killed
Yet he had time for a ludicrously long scene of Pippin lighting the beacon, & Denethor demolishing cherry tomatoes......
@@TheMarcHicks I mean the Beacon lighting is an awesome scene and Denethor eating tomatoes is intercut with Faramir's futile charge as a deliberate contrast so works great, so yeah.
@@hurin_thalion11 no he wasnt that guy is called Irolas and was an officer of the citadel guard.
Many praises to the Silver Swan of Dol-Amroth! Some of the best knights in Middle Earth. Keep up the great work Mellon! "ECTHELION!"
For some reason Jackson made Rohan the preminent kingdom of men in Middle-earth. The movie adaptaions included many minor characters from Rohan, but none from Gondor. Excluding Imrahil and the other captains of Gondor, as well as Beregond, his son Bergil, and Ioreth the healer was a poor decision.
Should have known this was coming when i saw the poll !! Imrahil is Super underrated !! Glad you’re giving imrahil the attention his character deserves! Love the video !
His daughter went on to marry Eomer.
And as much as i would have liked to see both glorfindel and imrahil in the trilogy - i think it was the right call to leave them out. Leaving out imrahil also made the arrival of rohirrim at the battle of pelennor fields that much more important!!
You should have seen this coming because we at TBS love our viewers :P
I thought I knew everything about Tolkien's world, but if I had know I had forgotten that Imrahil's daughter married Eomer....that has really made my day knowing this....thanks!
@@markgallacher902 I've been reading the works of Tolkien for 25 years, teaching Lord of the Rings in formal education settings for 10+ years, and started writing for TBS in August mate.. and I tell you, I find something new every day. Professor Tolkien had worlds and worlds within him, and had he lived for 10 more years, hell, even 5, we'd have even more worlds and worlds to explore. One of the interesting things going in modern Tolkien scholarship comes from the release of the history of middle earth 11 part series, if you have a chance to get a copy, we are starting to get an even better picture of how his writing formed and evolved around what we now as the Silmarillion. It's endlessly fascinating, and there are great channels here on youtube, we just do our part in the great fellowship of content creators. The Tolkien Professor (Dr. Corey Olsen) has really great deep dives at his Sigmund University, insanely deep dives on LoTR sentence by sentence if you're looking to find more precious secrets! You can also check out our back catalog here and learn more man! Thanks for enjoying our videos, friend. A star shines on the our of our meeting :P
7:10 If you look closely in the crowd at Aragorn's coronation, you can actually see a banner displaying the White Swan of Dol Amroth.
Love this video . I did not know he had some blood relation to Rohan by Morwen. Peter could’ve used imrahil and men to be the heroes charging in instead of ghosts which Peter did instead . I appreciate imrahil a lot in the books .
It was a disappointment that The Prince Imrahil was not in Peter Jackson’s film version of Lord of the Rings. I had liked his character very much in the books. Thank you for finally addressing this. I had looked for someone to mention this omission.
First off great video, secondly I don't know if it was a "mistake" per se not to have Prnice Imrahil in the movie but I certainly would've loved him in it. He's probably my favourite character throughout the Return of The King section. Similarly to Erkenbrand in the Two Towers I can see and understand why they were missing but it still would've been great to see them.
Originally from what I've read in the Art of the Return of the King there were indeed plans to include Prince Imrahil in the film (along with other Gondorians like Forlong the Fat as evidenced by a sketch by Alan Lee) but like you said he was probably cut out as to not overbloat an already extensive cast with another new character. It's probably also why Jackson chose to omit Elrond's sons as well as Halbarad and the other rangers that accompany Aragorn at Dunharrow.
Leaving him out of the movies was a shame, but it was understandable. His omission pales compared to the Grey Company, whose inclusion would have tied Aragorn's links to the north and south kingdoms. Plus they were damned cool. 'The Passing of the Grey Company' is one of my favourite chapters.
Nah Shelob's lair.
Been obsessed with this guy for years and years. Seemed a great character in the books.
He was very memorable from the books, so I did miss him when watching the movies. I guess the target audience is people who may not have read that and it'd take a fair bit of effort to show who he was.
He would have been awesome in the movies. I think like a sudden introduction much like Faromir would have worked well. I would have liked it if he was a perceived favorite to take the throne, but then was one of the first to recognize the lineage of Aragorn. That would have been a powerful moment.
I would have liked to see him added to the movie. Even if it was a brief cameo. You don't need to dig into every character shown in the movie.
It would have been enough to show some gondor respect to the King.
I don’t feel like the movies lacked by not having this prince in the final movie. That said, this is one of the great benefits of the Tolkien-based RUclips channels: learning about characters who were not in the movies. As many of us first got into the works of Tolkien via the movies, that is our basis of knowledge, even if we ultimately went and read the books afterward (or, in my case, I read both The Hobbit and LOTR after the first LOTD movie). Thanks for continuing to expand our knowledge and love for the vast legendarium.
Excellent Information yet again.
Another important character that is not included, similar to Glorfindel, important characters that were left out because it was perceived that the story was too complicated for people. Ergo, I am disappointed that Jackson didn't make the story popular, in actual fact he just made another Hollywood film of tripe.
Of all the characters left out, he was absolutely the most missed. I would have loved to see him in the movie.
GoT and HOTD prove(in my opinion) that audiences can handle large casts and a large amount of characters, though, i think a remake for lotr is possible i think it'd be much better if it was tv show tho...done right... you could most certainly include many many of the major and minor characters of the books and legendarium
There was a time I would have agreed with you, but sadly I fear with current modern tendencies a LotR TV series would be a disaster. I doubt it would resemble the books that much.
Today it would actively seek to rewrite the Tolkiens work, his Christian messages would be gone(half of Gandalf basically cut, same as faramir was in Jackson’s movies) and not a trace of his characters, either Sam and Frodo or Legolas and Gimli would be homosexual, there would probably be explicit scenes, just because representation matters(bs excuse tbh) and sex is everywhere. Not the right time…
He's one of my favourite characters in the books. He pretty much takes over the battle of Pelennor fields and hands Sauron's forces a right thrashing with his Swan knights and leadership.
Gondor was not really known for its cavalry but the swan knights were the Elie of the elite and unlike the rest of gondor, from the top of its ruling class to even the bottom of the it's ordinary folk the gifts and heritage of numenor still lived within them including long life, wisdom and strength even down to the common soldier and civilian of dol amroth
Tolkien mentions Gondorian cavalry a number of times. Eärnur, the Last king of Gondor, is described as having his knights accompany him when he accepted Morgul's challenge to combat. Gondorian cavalry were in the expedition that helped Arvedui of Arthedain against the Witch King of Angmar.
@@urseliusurgel4365 sigh.
@@fricholas7608 mutters, semi-audibly.
I think Peter Jackson did an amazing job of making the huge LOTR novel into a trilogy of great movies! With his team's comprehensive knowledge of the lore allowed them to focus on the key plots and subplots. Inevitably such a huge book meant a lot of careful decisions as not everything and everyone would make it into the final cut! Regarding Prince Imrahil, how many readers even remember that character from the book? And of those how many missed him in The Return of the King?
An unfortunate but easy to understand cut for the films
kind of like Khan-Buri-Khan and his crucial intelligence for the Rohirrim?
JRR was a signals officer, he knew the value of info on your enemy.
Two things can be true. The Jackson Trilogy is immaculate. And I love and missed Prince Imrahil in them.
I am sorry, but this is but one mistake (in my humble opinion) that Jackson made. Tom Bombadil and Prince Imrahil are but two characters that were sorely missed. The sons of Elrond should have had mentioned and portrayed in the movies, even if only in passing. I believe the 3 parts/movies could easily have been extended to 4 (maybe even 5?). I hope I live long enough for CGI to become cheap enough for independents to make videos so as to see a movie/video that accurately and fully portrays the "Lord of the Rings" as Tolkien last updated it. The Silmarillion would be beyond hope.
@@sandrabonner8208 it would have thrilled established Tolkien fans, but doing a “perfect” page to screen adaptation was physically and financially impossible. Doing justice to all of the characters would have stretched the film running times and might have hurt the box office draw-and if that had happened with ANY of the first trilogy, it would have killed any chance of the rest being made, as well as “The Hobbit” (that sort of thing is why you’re not likely to see a theatrical remake of “War and Peace”. The 1956 production is almost as hard to watch as the original novel is to read).
Even just mentioning a lot of the names would likely have had the same effect-which is why Elendil, Gil Galad, etc. were seen, but not named along the way.
Once again…lotro does a great job of portraying dol amroth, the swan knights at the gate of Minas tirith and Imrahil
Would have been fun to watch a scene from the perspective of Pippen as all the knights and their bannerlords entered the city. Gandalf could have been on the wall pointing them out. Pippen would have been enamored by their armor while helping to count the size of the various armies, while Gandalf was searching for more political allies inside the walls and brave heroes to combat foes outside. Perhaps Gandalf might have been weighing if Imrahil was positioning himself as a rival to Aragorn, for the throne of Gondor.
A great character in the books, an unfortunate but easy cut for the movies
There's something deeper in Imrahil being cut.
Jackson knew he was making a simplified version of the books, with simplified characters, and he wanted Gandalf and Aragorn to be the truly good hero-leaders. They save Gondor from stagnation and defeat.
Having someone like Imrahil already there, the audience would probably be saying "why doesn't this Prince guy rule? Why do they need Aragorn to be king so desperately? Why do they need Gandalf to organise the battle?"
Because of the decision for streamlined characters, the role of Imrahil would diminish the story being put on screen.
Personally, I never liked the depiction of Gondor as weak, leaderless, stupid and naive. Doesn't really build with the wonder we're supposed to feel for this kingdom. Jackson clearly liked the Rohirim more.
I think this is mostly right. The depiction of Gondor in the movies really suffers from having no characters that we can really "root" for after Faramir is wounded. But I think PJ was fine with that, he wanted to show Gondor as a stagnant, weak kingdom in need of saving....no, I don't like it either.
While "weak" is a strong word, it can't be denied that Gondor is on a serious decline. And same goes for the term "leaderless". Denethor isn't exactly in mint condition. My dislike for the film interpretation comes more from how they depicted Denethor. Rather than showing how struggle and fighting Sauron has erroded the man ( and the place), we get the feeling it's simply because of an old fart's stupidity. It is, nonetheless, under "diminished" rule. None of the leaders from the Fiefdoms could take the throne, really, and crumbling central power would most likely lead to partition among these lords rather than the rise of Imrahil (or rather, his father more likely) to the rule of Gondor as a whole. They very much still need the return of the King as a way to come back from the brink. What I do understand in this is that it would be an absolute nightmare to put to film in a condensed manner.
That is not deeper, that is just at length explaining the simplification reason.
I had this deep feeling when I kept listened to the Battle of Gondor music..it was very Epic but watching the movies and only saw what was in the movies and never read the book..now I realized this Prince was missing
@@robertnguyen2025 Yes. The movies don't quite capture the grandeur of Gondor. This is a kingdom that has stood for 3000 years and once dominated most of the south of Middle Earth, including Mordor.
One regret is their absence from the movies.
Imrahil was a true lord.
Loyal and brave. I'm sure he cared for his nephews and no wonder he made a friendship with eomer.
I would've loved to see dol amroth though.
The very last numenorian city left in gondor
I love your answer, but I would like to make a slight suggestion. Instead of saying the very last Numenorian city left in Gondor, I think it's more accurate to say the very last city in Gondor with full/true Numenorian culture and values. For example, wisdom, strength, and courage of the Numenorians are shown explicitly through the soldiers of Dol Amroth and in particular Prince Imrahil. Also, the people of Dol Amroth do embrace Adunaic greatly. In terms of soldiery, very likely only the citadel and fountain guards of Minas Tirith followed the ways of their ancestors fully where this is opposite in Dol Amroth's soldiers. However, in terms of design, most if not all of Gondor's cities would be of Numenorian design since the faithful settled there before Elendil's arrival. Minas Tirith in particular would be more Numenorian than Dol Amroth as its first ring is likely completely of Numenorian design, and it's home to the White Tree of Gondor (a symbol of Gondor's loyalty to the Valar/Eru) which itself is a descendant from the Tree Nimloth of Numenor. Sad they weren't included all the same :(.
Better question to ask: Who could even play this cool guy? Not Sean Bean for sure since he's already Boromir.
Well, Jackson mucked up RotK so much in any case, that his inability to incorporate Imrahil is of little suprise. Still, a very interesting character. Great video!
I have many beefs with the Jackson trilogy - the climax first, Faramir's portrayal second - but Imrahil is a character I hardly noticed the first four of the five times I read the books. I think cutting him was one of Jackson's easier and better choices. I learned a lot from this video.
Jackson wanted to finish film two at the end of helm's deep, and with Frodo approaching minas morgal. Because of that, he added in 45 minutes to the theatrical cut of scenes that were not in the books. He also massively extended the helms deep battle, which only covers about 10 pages.
Because of this decision to fluff out film two, he had no room to cover the brilliant characters like Imrahil, and the Grey company, who could have been fresh additions to a heavy third film. Saying nothing of course about cutting the entire chapter about the march on the black gate or the ride of Aragorn to pelargir.
It's a huge shame that Jackson made this decision. I think the original chapters cut from film three were far more interesting than the "battle of the wargs" or "Frodo is abducted to Osgiliath"
It´s complicated. I also miss these in the movies, but he was trying to make the viewers understand what was happening when, aka when Frodo was in Shelob´s lair and what the others were doing, so he moved it to the third film. Then he had to move things around. A shame, but that´s the trouble of adaptations. I also don´t think he massively extended the Helm´s Deep battle, I mean yes, it is a big "scene", but most of it happened in the book and it´s ok for Tolkien to write they raised ladders, in the movie you have to show it and it takes time.
Good you make an video about the athor princes and Nobels of gondor
I think he WAS in the extended cut, but just a brief on screen appearances and one or two lines. He kind of looked like an elf with regular ears and some facial stubble.
The way he was described in the ROTK, moved me to tears of admiration. Well, not really, but I thought him to be Lordly...even as Lord's go. Hey, take it easy. I'm stoned.
Most importantly he was in the book. A great character, honourable and courageous.
Was an instant and great favourite when I first read the LOTR many years ago.
He was featured in the old Lotr trading card game. Where they used screens from the movies. So presumably (they sometimes added "movie shots" of characters that were's actually in the movies, like Bombadil or his Lady) he was in there, but was not mentioned. You can find the pic by searching his name and typing "lotr tcg". Maybe someone can recognize the scene. Also, the green-eyed elf stepping aside to reveal Arwen in the scene of her coming to crowned Aragorn is no other than Glorfindel. I really loved the game for that lore add-ons. Also did you know there was Radagast before the Radagast from Hobbit movies? He was also an additional photoshoot like Bombadil. It was all blessed by the New Line Cinema so I always considered it a part of the movie canon.
Fun to hear of him when Imrahil is an complete new character for me :)
This was awesome.
Prince imriahil was one of my biggest gripes in the movie right next too, making faramir an a-hole, making aragon so unsure of himself, and anduril not being in aragorns possession for most of the movies, among others things
In the tabletop battle game, this guy is a BEAST.
Basically the same stats as Aragorn.
I would have loved to see the Prince in the film. You know his armor would have been 🔥 but it's not a mistake.
His presence would have made Aragorn look less special and he's of such high moral character that any deviation would have had fans in an uproar. Just look at the discussion about Faramir (Movie Faramir is awesome, dont @ me)
He's a fantastic literary character but wouldn't have fit the film's goals. A LotR quality tv series could have had him, though.
As BFME said, KNIGHTS OF THE SILVER SWAN!!
I would have loved to have seen prince Imrahil. But it would have been better if he was introduced in the two Towers. But I think it was the best idea that PJ. Did what he did. As it would have made another side character.
What-if video idea for you to do:
What if Gandalf never fell at the Bridge of Khazad-dum and continued with the fellowship to Lothlorien and on forward?
First, we'd have to have a very easy to beat balrog. Then, probably constant hounding from the Nazgul. He wouldn't even get his white robe upgrade. I would not think Gandalf continuing the Fellowship after Kazad-Dum would be a good idea.
Yeah it's a shame they did not have him in Peter Jackson's adaptation.... I know many people are saying that it would have taken away from the army of the dead and the rohiram but I think they could have squeezed it in there and I think they could have squeezed in a few parts for the character and it wouldn't have crowded it I mean in an already crowded movie what's one more character LOL I mean it's kind of ridiculous not to put him in the movie I think it just would have added to the already incredible battle scene with three forces converging on sauron's forces so no it would not have taken away I think it would have added to it.... I mean when you're already going all out for a movie and it's already bloated go ahead and bloat a little more...
An unfortunate but easy to understand cut for the films
Everyone who guessed right in the community post RISE UP. Called it
Prince Imrahil is probably my favorite character in LOTR and I would have loved to see him in the film. However, given the large number of characters already in the film, I can understand why he was cut.
This is a case of not only how something is adapted but the medium into which it is being adapted forces the hand of the adaptor. Now if this was a full fledged TV series with one or two chapters making up an episode with each of the 6 actual books being a season then you can have the Prince, but for 3 two to 3 hour films...
Great video! I have one question. Tolkien contradicts himself. He says: "There werevthree unions of the Eldar and the Edain: Luthien and Beren; Idril and Tuor; Arwen and Aragorn." So Imrahil's ancestors are not even mentioned! Yet Tolkien says that Imrahil was descended from elves! So that would be FOUR unions!
They should have had him in the movies!!!
According to another vid I've seen, prince imrahil is the blonde long haired man at minas tirath when faramir is brought to rest at the dead tree, after failing to reclaim osgiliath, in the return of the king movie.
Theres a yr short called imrahil strong swordsman which has an image of the character from the movie rotk.
He could have been the Boba Fett of the LotR movies. Super awesome looking guy in the background, but we don’t know much about him.
I hate that they left the southern Gondor armies out of the movies, the army of the dead at minas tirith IMO is much is much worse than elves at helms deep
I would have loved seeing him in the movies!
all the defenders of Minas Tirith are depicted as being more or less identical. The 'reality' is a coming together of troops from all over Gondor. I think showing that would have created the impression of great peril, at the same time creating a platform for Dol Amroth. Even without a part for Imrahil it would have been a spectacle I'd have loved to have seen
You are right in that his appearance would have been epic but a movie that was already long and following many separate plot lines his inclusion would have bloated the story. Jackson made the right decision yet for us LoTR steadfast fans it would have been awesome to see it. The appearance of Aragorn and the army of the dead coming to the battlefield was done instead of adding in Imrahil to keep the focus on Aragorn as the true and rightful coming of the king. Having another leader appear, even if just a prince would have taken away from that.
'And so the companies came and were hailed and cheered and passed trough the Gate, men of the Outlands marching to defend the City of Gondor in a dark hour; but always too few, always less than hope looked for or need asked. The men of Ringlo Vale behind the son of their lord, Dervorin striding on foot: three hundreds. From the uplands of Morthond, the great Blackroot Vale, tall Duinhir with his sons, Duilin and Derufin, and five hundred bowmen. From the Anfalas, the Langstrand far away, a long line of men of many sorts, hunters and herdsmen and men of little villages, scantily equipped save for the household of Golasgil their lord. From Lamedon, a few grim hillmen without a captain. Fisher-folk of the Ethir, some hundred or more spared from the ships. Hirluin the Fair of the Green Hills from Pinnath Gelin with three hundreds of gallant green-clad men. And last and proudest, Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, with gilded banners bearing his token of the Ship and silver Swan, and a company of knights in full harness riding grey horses; and behind them seven hundreds of men at arms, tall as lords, grey-eyed, dark-haired, signing as they came. '
That's my favourite passage from The Lord of The Rings, Removing Prince Imrahil from the Peter Jackson interpretation was indeed a shame.
Amazing..never hear of him..going have to read the Damn Book !!
The Swan Knights are one of my two armies for the LotR Table Top.
A man of high quality indeed!
I think they could have put him in the film as a minor character.
Obviously, with a 3.5 hour length, it becomes difficult but there's at least 3-5 minutes of film time that could've been cut to showcase Gondor's Council and Imrahil's role (showcase his knights being of a different realm of Gondor and counseling Denethor during Gandalf's visits).
Same with Elrond's sons. Have them stay after Elrond visits and maybe they stay with the Riders of Rohan rather than go w/ Aragorn....explaining to a few of the panicked Rohirrim that Aragorn will seek out a path while they must do their part. Of course, they have a company of Elves with them, as well who help take down an oliphant or something.
Seems like a pretty important character.
I most regret Imrahil missing from the movies because what we got instead was the ridiculous "army of the dead" disembarking with Aragorn and company which was akin to using a cheat code in a computer game and the battle was over just like that.
Actually, Imrahil did appear in the Peter Jackson movies, just like how Glorfindel appeared. But because he had little screentime, its easy to miss. Imrahil was the man who was on the top level of MinasTirith who told Denethor that the Gondorian Knights were killed.
That character was invented for the film and named Irolas, but given a simplified version of one of Imrahil's roles; to retrieve Faramir after his doomed charge.
Irolas was originally meant to be Beregond but when that character was reduced to barely any screen-time they separated him from that. The Lord of the Rings: Trading Card Game retconned the character as Imrahil.
Why would you invent a caricature when you could simply use Imrahil . Also he was in the scene when they come into the city .
I would say both. It would have been great to see him and the swan knights, but the movies were already quite full.
Eventually I’ll be able to see the Swan Knights charging across the battlefield to link up with the Rohirrim on a Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game table. I’ve already corrected history by creating the Grey Company, the division from Dol Amroth is next!
There was a knight in Minas Tirith, the only human in the city with spoken lines besides Denathor and Faramir. Tall, long blond hair, full armor... I assumed that he was the prince, although he was never named in the movie.
My favorite BFME2 shock troops.
In a movie you can only do so much. A paragraph of dialogue can add a superfluous, but interesting, bit of world building. In a movie or tv show that needs to be backed up by meaning. That’s why I think the written word is the superior form of world building.
I approve of this video
From my memory of the boot, Dol Amroth was a militarily significant person, but in plot terms wasn't a significant protagonist. The films did him about the appropriate amount of credit. It doesn't much matter how much coverage he gets in the book, what matters is his impact and I remember the name and the role and couldn't tell you a single thing he said/did...... so the film gave him a representative presence.
Thanks!
Thank you so much :D
I understand why they left him out of the movies it doesn't take away the impact he would of had and how awesome he was, I think it would of have been important to show more then 2 kingdom of Middle earth and I think it would of given much more impact to the corsair wars
I wish they made the movies into 2 or 3 movies instead of one cause there is so much good stuff missed in each film
"I hold the Lord Aragorn as my liege Lord, and to me, his wish is my command"
I believe Peter Jackson joked in the commentary track for Return of the King that he should have gotten Arnold Schwarzenegger to wear a wig and armor and have a one line cameo and state that he was Prince Imrahil and that he was there to help.
Potentially great part, but to include Imrahil would have required Return of the King being split into two films, with 6-8 hours of total runtime.
I understood why Peter Jackson made the decision to leave out Imrahil but at the same time I wish that Peter Jackson had made 2 versions of the movie(s). The Theatrical release minus Imrahil, Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Wights and then a much longer extended version for the fans that left nothing out (Gildor, the Old Forest, bombadil, Goldenberry, Glorfindel, Imrahil ect). I think Jackson's version made Gondor look weaker than it actually was and the Rohirrim to be stronger than they were. The Knights of Dol Amroth were the heavy calvary of Gondor, while Anorien & Lebennin would have possessed medium calvary. Rohan provided the bulk of the medium to light calvary forces which is keeping with their historic role (as Northmen allies) in Gondor's military system though Theoden's Eored would have been considered as Heavy Calvary. The Rohirrim were better riders but not as well equiped as Gondor's. Jackson also does not take into account the attributes of Gondor's largely Dunedine population that were physically bigger and stronger (though declining) than most other men.
For as long as it was the third installment seemed a bit disjointed in places, even in the expanded editions. I think the addition of Prince Imrahil could have remedied this, if done properly. He could be a bit part yet still be played in a strong manner to show his import in Tolkien's writings. If one's only exposure to the story was the movies then they are left with a lot of questions regarding the various armies of men seen in the film, on both sides of Mordor.
They should have added him the ride beside the White Horse banner the White Horse and the white swan Banner riding side-by-side B would be it Epic
I would love to see him but there would be way to many characters and not enough time
I still dislike the army of the dead more than any other part of the entire trilogy. Cool looking? Perhaps for a moment or two, but too easy. This would have made so much more sense and would have been a victory for men, whose time was rising, not ghosts of men, traitors.
Prince Imrahil "outranked" Denethor. Denethor was steward by appointment, though hereditary, but a temporary title, he kept the city and its lands, this gave him place and rank to marry Imrahil's sister; Imrahil was a prince by blood and lineage. Note how easily the stewardship was moved from Faramir to Imrahil - this does not happen with a prince decended from Numenor in Tolkien's world.
It's a shame as the charge of the swan knights just before the siege is a fantastically written part of the book
He loved music and companionship more than sword play... sounds like Prince Rhaegar.
Prince Rhaegar sounds a lot like him* :P
@@Brandon-a-writer Isn't it strange we never see them in the same place at the same time... just saying.
@@LordBloodraven Man, I wrote this script and didn't even think of how many characters have been inspired by Imrahil despite his non-appearance in the movies.
if you scroll down on all of our videos from august forward, you'll see the writing credit and link to my twitter if you ever wanna troll me in person! :P
@@LordBloodraven *brain explodes*
They should have included him: they should have cast Brian Blessed, not given him any lines, just have him on screen in Dol Amroth armour and livery. Anyone who had read the book would have got it!
my reading of the appendixes indicates Mithrellias was not entirely "willing" in her 'marriage' to Imrazor as she winds up leaving him and her children long before there death and it is NOT accounted as one of the unions of eldar and edain (it would make the 4th one) which if 'legitimate' it should be; we also no from the story of Eol that under elven law a male could 'force' espousal on a female but in that case the male would not gain 'kinship'.
I've read the books. Yet I don't understand them in the sense of more seasoned readers.
Personally, I feel they really missed out on having him in there.
However, it is ok for him to not be.
However, I'd like to add one thing, however "pot stirring" it may be.
Why not "remake" the movies, and add what wasn't?
New cast, New everything.
Peter Jackson's version is a 9.5/10 imo, so I'm casting no shade.
Although I would have appreciated the presence of the Prince of Dol Amroth and his knights , I understand why PJ left them out. Introducing another main character would be confusing for the audience . Even in the extended edition, it would have been impossible to give him enough screen time and provide an adequate backstory for him
While I would happily watch a Lord of the Rings movie for days so every small detail gets covered (provided it's done right and closely follows the source material) I don't think it was a mistake to leave out either Glorifindal or Imrahil. As great as those characters were, there really wasn't enough to time to develop those characters. The people who just saw the movie would not miss them.
One of my favorite characters in the trilogy. Fearless and loyal. They did him dirty by not having in the movies.
He was there, but only for few seconds.
Prince Imrahil came to Denethor with wounded(nearly dead) Faramir⬇️.
ruclips.net/video/lSE4LcgQiwQ/видео.html (0:57 I think)
@@johanabigasova6770 Go on. Which scene was he in? Cheers.
@@Greenmick6982 on RUclips is video LOTR The Return of the King Denethor gives in to despair. There (0:57) is Prince Imrahil.
It's an unfortunate but very understandable cut.
@@johanabigasova6770 "That character was invented for the film and named Irolas, but given a simplified version of one of Imrahil's roles; to retrieve Faramir after his doomed charge."
Totally missed out wqithout Imrahil in the movies.
a think in the film you can see on the streets a glimps of baner of Dol Amroth.......is that mean that in Minas Thirit there alredy was someon form DA? Jackson only knows...
Andy Serkis does Imrahil's voice perfectly
How do you know?
@@BenFrayle because I listened to the audiobook he narrated...smfh...
@@hurin_thalion11 Imrahil recorded an audiobook?
What I mean is, how do you know what Imrahil sounded like to say that Serkis did his voice perfectly (note: this is a 'joke')
@@BenFrayle I don't find it funny. Andy Serkis does dozens of characters in the audiobooks, and when you listen to him doing Imrahil, you really believe you're listening to a mature, middle-age, noble man. I am trying to convey that, and you're attempting humor that can't be recognized as such, so you need to mention it. how lame.
Budget Cuts, the Bane and true archfoe of all minor characters.
Without yet more time, like a miniseries, I don't see how they could have done him justice, like Glorfindel. A shame, but entirely understandable.