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Preview Comments
Leonard S.

Truly awesome, we can only hope the worst Arwen rumors are untrue because this is visually beautiful.

1. The hordes of troops walking in front of the volcano may not be Orcs hurrying to confront Aragorn at the Gates of Mordor. They seem to be heading south if we are looking from the Mountains of Shadow. This may be a shot from the end of the Second Age when the Last Alliance of Elves and Men entered Mordor. This could be a shot of the Alliance heading back to Minas Ithil across the Plain of Gorgoroth after Sauron's defeat for the Prologue to the Fellowship. This would explain the lack of darkness.

2. The Orcs running in daylight may not be the Uruk-Hai. They could be the smaller orcs of Moria or Barad-Dur running across the Wold in Rohan.  Remember the Uruk-Hai of Isengard forced the lesser orcs to run in the daylight.

3. Boromir with the ring maybe an attempt to convey his growing temptation for the Ring. He might be dreaming of taking the ring during their journey through the Eregion. In the book, Aragorn carried Frodo through the snow on Caradhas. Perhaps, here in the movie Boromir does and he can't resist looking at the ring. Of course, that would invite a reaction from Frodo. Or, this could be after the escape from Moria when Sam and Frodo lagged behind the others due to their injuries. Boromir and Aragorn carried them down the mountain for a while. Tolkien didn't say which one carried Frodo.

Cirdan, who got to see a longer version of this preview, told me yesterday that this scene did indeed take place near Amon Hen. Boromir supposedly met with Frodo to discuss the Ring (and hold it, I guess). -- MATTHEW

4. I doubt that is a shot for Ents since there are boots on the long legs.

5. The matte painting when you look at it in whole looks like Lorien. The presence of Gandalf is probably just a mistake in an early sketch.

6. The tower (not shown here) looks more like Tolkien's sketches of Orthanc than of Barad-Dur. Christopher Tolkien included his father's sketches of Orthanc on Pages 138-139 of Sauron Defeated, Volume IX of The History of Middle Earth. 

7. The computer image (not shown here) that the programmer was manipulating facially might be Gollum. If it is, then Gollum will look very changed from the hobbit he was originally. 

8. The reptilian half-face and eye (not shown here) could be either the Balrog or the Pteradon/Pteradactyl that the Nazgul flew. Or is that Sauron himself? Jackson has a great leeway when it comes to Sauron's shape at the end of the Third Age.