Why was Merry at the last battle?

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Lariren Shadow

As for Aragorn(which I now have to look at to make sure its spelled right, damn Tudor history) beheading the Mouth of Sauron, he needed to die. Who else better to kill him than Aragorn? Plus, as it has been said, it's the movie, it looks good.

Sorry... but it looks AWFUL. It was during the PARLEY, for Christ's sake! If you kill an enemy ambassador during a parley, then you are no better then an Orc. In fact, you are worse. Even Orcs knew the rules, see what they cried to Aragorn when he stood above the gates in Helm's Deep:

'Get down or we will shoot you from the wall,' they cried. 'This is no parley. You have nothing to say.'-LOTR, Helm's Deep

In the Books, the Mouth came forth, secure in his belief in Gondor's honor. And he was not mistaken:

‘I am a herald and ambassador, and may not be assailed!’ he cried.
‘Where such laws hold,’ said Gandalf, ‘it is also the custom for ambassadors to use less insolence. But no one has threatened you. You have naught to fear from us, until your errand is done- LOTR, The Black Gate opens.

The Movie Mouth was a naive guy, trusting the wannabe King (who only won the crown by bringing the green jelley to the Plennor) and the ragtag wizard (who so dearly loved to beat mad Denethor on the head with his staff). No wonder the Mouth got his head chopped off in the most treacherous fashion.

[thewichtking]

Originally Posted by Gordis

Sorry... but it looks AWFUL. It was during the PARLEY, for Christ's sake! If you kill an enemy ambassador during a parley, then you are no better then an Orc. In fact, you are worse. Even Orcs knew the rules, see what they cried to Aragorn when he stood above the gates in Helm's Deep:


In the Books, the Mouth came forth, secure in his belief in Gondor's honor. And he was not mistaken:


The Movie Mouth was a naive guy, trusting the wannabe King (who only won the crown by bringing the green jelley to the Plennor) and the ragtag wizard (who so dearly loved to beat mad Denethor on the head with his staff). No wonder the Mouth got his head chopped off in the most treacherous fashion.

thats true and kinda funny

[Beregond]

Originally Posted by Gordis

Sorry... but it looks AWFUL. It was during the PARLEY, for Christ's sake! If you kill an enemy ambassador during a parley, then you are no better then an Orc. In fact, you are worse. Even Orcs knew the rules, see what they cried to Aragorn when he stood above the gates in Helm's Deep:

Oh no, don't get me started. That's one of those incomprehensible scenes that make no sense in any dimension or reality. Aragorn loses all credibility right there. Like you said, Gordis, he becomes no better than the enemy. Certainly the history of war is rife with trickery and deceit, but this is ARAGORN, not Ulfang the Accursed, and killing the Tooth Decay of Sauron accomplishes nothing! Was PJ hoping the rabble would appreciate the death of one such horrible being, regardless of method? Have we sunk so low as a society that honour is meaningless? Maybe.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Did people whoop and holler when the head flew off? Then that's all there is to it. I don't want the film to be compromised for such people, but it's not about what I want - it's about how ridiculously successful the films were. Yes, many subtleties were lost in this version, but you had to expect that.

[Lush]

Well, they really took the whole "we captured and tortured Frodo" thing and laid it out there, hence giving Aragorn a reason to lose his temper (and he is very different from the book Aragorn, of course). Not a very great or convincing reason, because even the movie Aragorn was more restrained and thoughtful than that, but it worked visually, Eomer is right. And the Mouth wasn't really a guy, was he? He seemed more like a reanimated corpse - a direct extension of Sauron.

I personally didn't how he spoke with a very obvious foreign accent - Middle Eastern, was it? Guess I'm just sick of the "dark, barbaric foreigner" meme. Coupled with the "men of the West line," complete with terrible delivery from Viggo (an excellent Strider, imho, and a pretty bad King), it was just so blatant, there was no nuance. And I'm as big of a fan of dark, Other-izing tales as... um, other people?

[thewichtking]

i always thought the mouth of sauron was a sorcerer in the service of sauron who came over from the east many, many years ago and honesty i don't Viggo um um i don't remember his last name right now you know who i'm talking about. anyway i dont think he did a good aragorn

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Lush

And the Mouth wasn't really a guy, was he? He seemed more like a reanimated corpse - a direct extension of Sauron.

I personally didn't how he spoke with a very obvious foreign accent - Middle Eastern, was it? Guess I'm just sick of the "dark, barbaric foreigner" meme. Coupled with the "men of the West line," complete with terrible delivery from Viggo (an excellent Strider, imho, and a pretty bad King), it was just so blatant, there was no nuance. And I'm as big of a fan of dark, Other-izing tales as... um, other people?

Actually, the Mouth of Sauron was a man, and a Black Numenorean at that, so his accent should have been Aussie like Faramir and Denethor.

[Lush]

The way they presented him the movies - there was just no context. He was a monster. And a scary one at that.

[Lindale]

Originally Posted by Lush

The way they presented him the movies - there was just no context. He was a monster. And a scary one at that.

Compare it with Orlando Bloom Legolas. When the first movie was shown I was in my sixth grade in an all-girl school. Everybody was just... crazy for that. And I found myself suddenly flocked by questions on what Legolas is supposed to be.

It's the movies, and... it's commercialized.