May 19, 2003

Eye See You!
Brett C.

In the movie Sauron see's Frodo every time he puts on the Ring, or at least becomes aware of him. This is a dramatic instruement on PJ's part. In the books Frodo wears the Ring tow or thre times wihtout drawing the attention of the Dark Lord, notably in Bombadil's. Even in the attack on Weathertop , where he is revealed to the Nazgul, he is not openly revealed to the Dark Lord.

The reason seems to be one of location. The closer Frodo get to Mordor in the novel, the easier he is to spot wearing the Ring. On Amon Hen he is picked out only when he sits in the 'Chair of Seeing' on the summit [as seen in the movie]. Bilbo never goes anywhere near Mordor so he is never spotted.

Getting back to the movie, rationalizations are more difficult. If you want my explanation, it is that when Bilbo wears the Ring after the party, Sauron is not aware of it's discovery and is not actively searching near the Shire. When Frodo puts on the Ring in the Prancing Pony, the Nazgul are immediatedly aware of him. We know they have no will but that of Sauron, so I would extrapolate that the Wraiths awareness of the Ringbearer was channeled back to their Master, who immediately turned all his thought on that location. Frodo has just enough time to become aware of the difference in his surroundings while wearing ing the Ring before the Great Eye begins to zero in on him, as we saw on screen as it appears behing the sillouettes of some of the patrons, growing larger as Sauron's awareness become greater. [You could even deduce that the people the Eye appears behind are in the South-East corner of the taproom, the direction to Mordor from Bree.]