March 7, 2003

Re: Justin, How to End RotK
Colin

In relation to speculation about how ROTK might end, this might prove useful.

On the Extended FOTR DVD commentary featuring Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, at one point Fran Walsh mentions that ROTK will end with a narration by Galadriel. Unfortunately, there was no detail beyond this, and I can't even remember when she says it (an important factor, I know, when we're talking about a 3hr+ commentary!).

But, this suggests (to me anyway) that ROTK will have an Epilogue sequence, just to tie up a few loose ends - possibly along the lines of the written Epilogue that Tolkien rejected (details of which can be found in 'The History of Middle earth - Sauron Defeated'). I also remember seeing on a website somewhere that Sarah McLeod (Rosie) said that she filmed some small sequences for ROTK, so hopefully we'll see Sam and Rosie happily married!

Whatever the case, I suspect that any Epilogue will be quite short, probably shorter than FOTR's Prologue. As many on this Forum have noted, there's a lot of (for want of a better word) mandatory plot points still to be seen in ROTK - Shelob, Paths of the Dead, siege of Minas Tirith / Battle of Pelennor Fields etc. I for one would love to see Aragorn and the Dead fighting the Corsairs of Umbar in 'real time', rather than flashback.

I'll conclude on a random note, to hopefully spark off a bit of fresh debate: I'm sure lots of you have seen the storyboard / animatic alternative Prologue sequence on the Extended FOTR DVD. Does anyone agree with my wish that the filmmakers would've made this for the FOTR, rather than the final version? Even though it goes into a lot more detail, it feels a lot more authentic in terms of delving deeper into the peoples and history of Middle earth.