July 16, 2003

The Sewers of Osgiliath
Mr. Underhill

Whoa whoa, settle down Lilly. There is a perfectly logical explanation for including the Sewers of Osgiliath in the SE. (And Actually it would fill up one of TTT's biggest plot holes.)

Here's why.

When Frodo and Sam take off for Mordor at the End of FOTR, they cross the River Anduin. They are on the Eastern Side of the River. If you look at your Middle Earth map, you'll notice that Mordor, the Black Gate, et. al. are all on the Eastern side. Then in TTT, Faramir takes Gollum and the Hobbits to what is definitely the Western Side of the River (The Orcs control the Eastern shore) yet we never see them cross Anduin again. Then after Faramir lets Frodo, Sam and Gollum go, they are suddenly back on the Eastern side. And while PJ could have simply used a tunnel under the city for Frodo and co. to cross the river, I'm all for the sewers. It should be a dark, dank, creepy envioronment and there should be some interesting dialogue (hopefully) installed in that scene. Hope this alleviates your pain.

Hobbitly Yours,

Underhill... my name's Underhill

P.S. - Just thought this was interesting from reading the map of Middle Earth. Osgiliath is located surprisingly close to Minas Morgul and Cirith Ungol. So Faramir was actually taking the hobbits sort of in the right direction. :-\