LAST King of Gondor?

[Lalaith]

Maybe this has been tackled already on the forum (although I can't find any sign of it). But, Legolas, in explaining the Paths of the Dead, explains that the *last* King of Gondor, who he later calls Isildur, had called on the aid of the Dead Men and subsequently cursed them. Unless, of course, my ears were deceived by some spell.

[Carrûn]

It was Isildur who cursed the Dead. As far as him being the "last" King of Gondor that seems to be a plot simplification by the moviemakers since there were quite a few before Aragorn. However I believe Aragorn was the first since Isildur to rule both the Southern and Northern kingdoms.

[Lalaith]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>since there were quite a few before Aragon <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Certainly were! Isildur was the second king, after his father Elendil, and the kingship lasted for nearly two thousand years after his death...the last king was Earnur. <BR>But can anyone confirm that Legolas did say "last king"? And if so, why? Surely just "king" would have been enough...

[The Saucepan Man]

Yes, I noticed that on my second viewing. It concerned me at first, since I thought that the film Oathbreakers had been cursed by the last king of Gondor <B>rather than</B> Isildur. I was much relieved when it subsequently became clear that it was indeed Isildur who had cursed them.<P>So, yes. In the film version of the story, Isildur was the last king of Gondor. As Carrûn said, it's a plot simplification. And, as far as I am concerned, it works provided that you bear in mind that the history of Gondor in Jackson's adaptation need not be the same as that in the book. In the film version of the story, Isildur could have been the 50th or the 500th king of Gondor, and there is no reason why he should not have been last. I think that they made him the last king so as to tie his story in with that of the Stewards, ie it was in consequence of film Isildur's death (an indirect result of him claiming the Ring as his own) that the line of the Stewards came to rule Gondor.<P>Or maybe I am just reading too much into it. In any event, it is much less of a change than many others which have been made. The key point is that it was Isildur who cursed the Oathbreakers, since it is his true heir (ie Aragorn) who calls on them in the War of the Ring.

[Olorin_TLA]

I noticed it 1st time, and I think it was stupid, mainly because it gets rid of a sense of history. They don't have to list all the kings from Isildur to Earnur , just not say he's the last king. Hey, maybe people would think those statues in Minas Tirith's trhone room meant soemthing. <P>Seriously thoguh, this won't help those people I know who after seeing FotR thought Aragorn was Isildur's son.

[Lathriel]

I agree with the Saucepan man. I know some of my friends who have not read the books and they would get completely confused. Besides think of all the explanation that has to be done. People with a short attention span (and there are many!) would just get bored.<BR>Some people even think the Council of Elrond is boring, well they would never survive an explanation of the Gondorian Kings!

[Arothir]

I did not notice the Isildur is the Last King Moment, but in a visual guide to FOTR he is called the last High King of Gondor. Yes my friend thought Aragorn was his son.

[Gorwingel]

I have not noticed this, but it is Legolas who said it, and why should we pay attention to him I always wondered during this part how Legolas got to know so much about the high Kings of Gondor, and the history of the haunted mountain while growing up in Mirkwood? <BR>Does anyone else think this is weird?

[Kalimac]

Gorwingel - Nah, not really. We don't know how old he is, after all. He's probably had a lot of time to study history, and who's to say if he hasn't been travelling before, at least a little? And I'm betting that Thranduil and Elrond probably keep in touch, if not very often. Besides, Mirkwood seems like the kind of place Strider would have encountered at some point or another.<P>As for the change in the movies - it made sense enough. We've seen Isildur take the Ring, be betrayed by it to horrible death, and then we find out that "the line of kings of broken." It makes sense for the movie to tie that breaking directly with the Ring - make it something else for the Ring to be responsible for. And also, to explain how it actually happened in the books would probably waste several minutes of exposition and still leave people confused, in a "Well, that was random," sort of way. And as Saucepan Man pointed out, for all we know from the movies, Isildur could have been the 500th King of Gondor, and breaking that line would really mean something.

[Beanamir of Gondor]

I think mayhap they might have been overstating the fact that Isildur the Instigator was extremely important to War of the Ring and the fate of Middlearth. After all, his screwup and loss of the ring led to its disappearance for how many years, and Gollum's finding it, and its passing to Bilbo, and thenceforth, the whole story of the Lord of the Rings. If he hadn't been such a dork in the first place and just destroyed it [mental note, always listen to Elrond!], then the entire story might not have happened. Maybe that's why PJ happened to name him as the last king, because as Saucepan said, his death was sort of linked to the line of Stewards; which is why we hate Isildur as much as Denethor.