November 17, 2002

Response to Arwen, and Bomabadil
Mithril Miner

I, for one, completely agree with you about Arwen. But I suppose for all the romance-lovers it was a great addition (not to mention a very strong teaser for TTT. Aragon cheating on Arwen? it reels 'em in!).

Bombadil would have been a funny (and vexing) part of the movie, and he is one of my favorite characters. However, I suppose he isn't essential to the plot, and the movie being as long as it is already...

However, I don't quite agree with you on The Scouring of the Shire (I know you are expecting this, but, hey, gotta get my two cents in!).

For one thing, it's the revenge of Sauruman (not to mention his death). And for another, it shows the change in Merry, Pippin, Frodo, and Sam. They change so much throughout their adventure. Before their adventure Merry and Pippin and Sam would just have run and hid in their hobbit-holes if Sharkey had come to The Hill (I'm not sure what Frodo would do. He is, after all, Bilbo's first or second cousin, depending on which side of the family you follow; and the Took is still there :). But they go on an adventure and come back dressed in hauberks with daggars (or short swords, depending on who's point of view you follow) at their belts, and are highly known throughtout Middle Earth and are good friends of a long-lost king (not to mention fighting in wars and getting chased by spiders, being skewed like wild boars, having a wrestling match a two-thousand year old was-once-hobbit-like-but-now-is-just-a-schitzophrenic-maniac, not to mention destroying the most formidible opponent the good people of Middle Earth have ever seen; plus Merry and Pippin grow SEVERAL inches). There's no getting around it. The hobbits changed, and that change has to be shown.

P.S. The Scouring of the Shire is also a transition into the leaving of the Ring-Bearers. I am going to be very disappointed if they don't show Sam, Rosy, Sauruman, and The Gray Havens in ROTK.