10 Things which made no Sense in LOTR review.

I'm one of the first I know to point out plot holes. And I KNOW that the LOTR movies especially were riddled with them. So, I was actually kind of interested to read this to see if the ones I noticed were pointed out. They weren't.

That's OK. But, most of these aren't actually things which make no sense. And some would be forgivable were it not for the fact that this isn't JUST stating that these are plot holes in the movies, but also the books.

So, let's dispense with ripping this apart.

Isildur's Post War Reign

The movie makes this seem more odd than it is. A lack of background details almost makes it seem like Elrond knew that Sauron could revive himself so long as the ring remained. And it also discredits the standing of men during this time frame in Middle Earth's history.

But, the books make it clear. The line of men during this age was strong and well respected. So much so that Isildur was present at the final battle and was the one to cut the ring from Sauron's hand. With Sauron believed dead, it would not have be seen as worth pushing the matter overly far to strain relations between allied nations at this time.

Furthermore, it was only known that Sauron had corrupted the other rings to be under the control of the one ring. There was no one aware at this point that the one ring itself could corrupt its holder. In fact, the lesser rings themselves would likely have been seen as safe as well at this point as the force used to corrupt through the one ring was destroyed.

As to why no one attempted to take the ring. This is a baseless conjecture and at odds with ring lore. Isildur was powerful and, as a human, corruptible. He was the perfect host for the ring. He was also powerful and paranoid. Without the ring actively seeking to change possession, it would be folly to assume that anyone would try and take it from him. To any casual observer, the king of men likely had far greater treasures. The question is a daft as questioning why no one ever tried to steal those. 

I don't personally think anything about this point lacks sense. While he may have been growing mad, the madness was not the same as what possessed other ring holders. There is no indication that he did anything to provoke another nation to intervene. And even less indication that he gave anyone a valid reason to presume that the ring was the source of his madness.

Bilbo Quits Cold Turkey

This is another one which ignores a lot of lore from the book. Bilbo is actually noted as making attempts to pass the ring onto Frodo, but never being able to part with it. He has also, for much of this time, been given no appreciable reason to do so. Also, he doesn't simply go cold turkey. He goes cold turkey and puts substantial physical distance between himself and the object of his addiction.

What tends to make going cold turkey difficult for most addictions is that the thing which you're addicted too is still readily available to you and you may not have yet even truly accepted your addiction. Bilbo puts weeks between himself and Frodo, and Gandalf has helped make it apparent that he is in fact being manipulated by the ring. Not to mention, he is living with one of the foremost experts on the rings of power who is no doubt helping him with this addiction.

In short, after failing to part with the ring many times, he makes a rather rational decision. AND he almost doesn't even follow through. It actually requires Gandalf's intervention while Bilbo is heading out the door.

Again, I wouldn't say any of this is at all senseless.

Aragorn vs. the Ringwraiths

On this one, I will say that I feel that the movies provide not enough detail, but definitely enough insight. And the books certainly provide enough detail.

Sauron's power and that of his minions is still weak, especially earlier on in the series. And his influence is weaker further from Mordor. Earlier in the series the wraiths are largely still lacking physical form. At Weathertop, the full nine have only just been able to come back together.

Now, I won't deny that the premise is a tad questionable. But, it isn't as though the books did not attempt to address it. And this whole gradual development of power is really quite critical to explain why Sauron didn't just start attempting to revive from the shadows immediately after his defeat.

If you read the books it is clear, Mordor was NOT active for most of the period of time after Sauron's initial defeat. In fact, it is made pretty clear that he doesn't become active again until Bilbo retrieves the ring from Gollum and brings it out from the depths of the Earth again and Sauron's "spirit" can detect its presence.

In fact, another point you probably don't gather is that even by the end of the movie Sauron and his army are NOWHERE near the strength they were during the battle where Sauron first fell. Which is why, even without the aid of the dwarves and the drastically reduced numbers of elves and the weakened line of men against a newer stronger breed of trolls and the rest of Sauron's minions they are able to hold the line long enough for Frodo to destroy the ring.

So, I mean, I will give half points here. But, I still have a hard time saying that this makes no sense.

The Elves Journey to the Undying Lands

I'm not sure whether to leave this one be or not. There is some slight justification here. But, I too have wondered on the rationale here.

And, to be fair, the justification which does exist does not come from LOTR, but rather the Silmarillion. So, it is fair to say that the books and movie don't cover this point.

To sum... living forever makes shit boring. Elves basically get all emo and embark on a mass exodus to a land so far away that only badass Elves can get there. This other land is beautiful and basically inhabited with the gods who created them.

So, yes, if you only watch the movies and read the books you might be like "WTF". However, if you do have the rest of the background information it isn't as crazy as it sounds.

Basically, the desire to leave is described as almost an affliction of sorts. All Elves eventually find the longing too strong to ignore. So, even if it made no sense and would guarantee their destruction... they would still eventually do it. Also, there is somewhat of a presumption that even Sauron cannot find or get to this place. And, even if he did, he wouldn't necessarily be more powerful than the other inhabitants of this land.

But, I am tempted to say it still lacks a bit of something. Clearly, Elrond and company are still not so drawn in that they can't choose to stay. And, Sauron was basically the same kind of being as Gandalf and proved himself willing and able to make himself even stronger. Not to mention incredibly resourceful. So, it seems prudent to assume that he could eventually make his way to this other land and perhaps even overthrow beings more powerful than he should be.

Boromir's Presence

Boromir's words were dangerous, but they weren't necessarily any indication that he was under the influence of the ring. And in fact neither the books nor the movie really make it clear if he is or not. In fact, there is kind of an allusion that he came to the council with the intent of taking the ring back despite having never been in its presence before. Therefore, it is actually quite rational to believe that his desire, at least initially, was in not way influenced by the ring.

Beyond that, he is next in line to rule a land bordering where they must go. It would have required a great deal of certainty that he was under the grips of the ring to throw out such a valuable ally.

Saruman's Hold Over Theoden

Questionable? Yes. Nonsensical? I don't think so. But, this is really more subjective I think. Theoden is King and he wasn't always just a puppet king. He rode with the Rohirrim for many years. So, while perhaps questionable, it doesn't seem impossible to me that with a smear campaign via Wormtongue and Theoden's banishment that people might just accept it.

The Absent Riders of Rohan

This is one where I think a critical piece of information is left out. The Uruk Hai are not normal trolls. Normal trolls cannot travel in daylight. These ones can. They are also stated as being stronger and faster than normal trolls.

I would think that the Rohirrim likely do most of their patrolling at night. If the armies passed through during the day, it is a lot easier to believe that they went unnoticed.

But, whatever the case, the patrolling is for the purpose of protecting their home. Not everyone else. So, even in broad daylight with a single patrol out in broad daylight it seems pretty likely that an army could go unnoticed.

The Taking of Osgiliath

Honestly, I can't remember how clear the movies were on this. Denethor was loopy AF and borderline hated Faramir. It seemed pretty clear to me that he didn't expect Faramir to live. It was fundamentally a suicide mission. Denethor only started to care about Faramir after he discovered Boromir's death,

Gandalf vs. the Witch King

Well, I'll call this a duplicate of the Aragorn one. Because take either away and there is no even potential conflict. But, at this point in the series Sauron has grown in power. His gaze is fixed upon them, and they are basically on the borders of Mordor. The Witch King is also mounted on a flying ****king dragon thing, whereas they were on foot at Weathertop.

The Eagles

Deus Ex Machina? Yeah, the Eagles are weird. Really seemed like Tolkien would write himself into a corner and the Eagles would be his way out.

I don't think any Tolkien lore really sheds any more light on this particular aspect.

You can come up with reasons, but it is hard to believe those coming off as anything other than weak excuses. I'm not saying that there is nothing which can save this plot device. But, it does require a bit of being open to BS'ing yourself.

I mean, Gandalf summons these things by talking to a butterfly. So, it is hard to imagine that there is any complex political reason for this. They can't have that extensive of a language after all. At the same time, they seem to be able to know exactly where you want them to go, so it doesn't seem an intelligence thing either.

So it really does seem like, if you can convince them to pick up and Sam and Frodo, that you probably could have convinced them to just fly all or most of the way there.

The best I can offer is that it might be too conspicuous. Giant birds with riders flying straight into Mordor. They only rescued Sam and Frodo after the ring and the threat were eliminated after all. But, even still, it is hard to believe that they couldn't have shaved some travel time by travelling at least part of the journey via eagle.