[Man-of-the-Wold]

I think his death is simply 'cuz someone has to dies. In no way was it supposed to be all that momentous like Boromir.<P>Haldir dies to remind us that some of the good guys die, too, whereas its unclear about Hama.<P>Also, I think he's killed off, so that Aragorn and Legolas can lead his remaining contingent of archers, perhaps as a substitute for the Grey Company, for which the movie would have had hard time trying to explain about other rangers and all that, which goes unsaid in Film-FoTR.<P>I think the coming of that contingent makes sense. It shows that Middle-Earth elves are serious warriors, and that even if it takes some convincing of the Films' rather inexplicably pessimistic/skeptical Elrond by a telepathic Galadriel, they are still willing to help. <P>As others have pointed out, to otherwise convey information from Appendix I/II about the battles against Dol Guldor and the Easterlings that cross the Carnen would not really be possible, especially on top of trying to dramatize the whole Arwen Dilemma and what not, which is almost entirely Appendix-derived.<P>What I would have liked from Halmir is that in noting Elrond's decision to honor old alliances that he also described their arrival as a "Gift of the Lady"<P>All & all, I liked that element despite the obvious discrepency with the books.