LotR3-RotK-Seq13

[alatar]

They're here. - Poltergeist, 1982

Pippin looks out over the city and the battle. Seemingly ants, from this height, both attack and defend. All is dark, and even the multitude of torches give no real light…or hope. Behind him there is movement. The Steward leads a procession, possibly the beginning of a funeral. Denethor’s words about “Thus have I walked,” seem out of context. I can see what PJ intends, but…

And by the by, just how do they keep the body of Faramir from sliding off of that shield-looking thing on which he lies?

As Denethor walks past the Tree and says that there is “no hope for Men,” we see in the foreground one single white bloom. Maybe all is not lost. Pippin follows the Steward down the Rath Dínen, the Silent Street, to the tombs of the Kings. Denethor, looking out on his city, wonders why anyone even tries to escape the tide of death that is overtaking them, as sooner or later, all will die, he thinks. Note that he has time to choose the manner of his death while those below sell themselves so that he has said time. We see in a long shot that Pippin still follows behind, and I assume that, as the hobbit walks in a hunched manner, that he is being stealthy, as so cannot be seen.

We enter one of the tombs (seeing former Kings and Stewards on the sides) and learn what Denethor intends for he and his remaining son. It’s to be a barbecue, and royalty is back on the menu.

Back at the Gate, Grond punches a hole through on the third try. Gandalf pumps up the troops, letting everyone know that, whether Battle Troll or Fuller Brush salesman, the soldiers on Gondor are to stand their ground. Thanks for the advice, oh wise one. Three Battle Trolls (specifically at the request of PJ) enter as the Gate is destroyed. Gandalf looks frightened as these huge beasts make their entrance, and after a pause he gives them a volley. This doesn't seem to slow them, and shortly after this, about a thousand assorted orcs enter through the Gate, which, previously, no enemy has passed. Gandalf and Shadowfax manage to take out one troll, but this is a drop in the bucket.

What I can never figure is why the Gate wasn't plugged with so many enemy dead that entering Minas Tirith would have been slow work? Anyway...

The Gate is open.