December 10, 2003

Re: Palantir Clip
Danny

(MAJOR SPOILERS CONTAINTED)




(CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED)





I agree that this little clip leaves lots of questions to be answered. It is cool to see, and I am glad that Pippin using the Palantir is not left out of the story, but this does make me wonder how this is supposed to work. The big question like you said is why did Aragorn faint. In the books, he endured Sauron's presence and showed him Anduril as a gesture of strength and defiance. It seems strange to take that interpetation and get this out of it. Perhaps it will be done that way to show Aragorn's courage to take the Palantir again to face Sauron. I didn't mind the dramatic scene with Pippin though. Perhaps they have Aragorn faint as a demonstration of how the Hobbits are always more resistant to the evil power of Sauron. Aragorn did however have the strength to take the Palantir from Pippin's grip at least. An interesting note is that Saruman never actually touches the Palantir when using it. Perhaps that is a deliberate distinction and explains why it was so harmful to Aragorn and Pippin.

So here is my big question. If Sauron can detect Isuldur's heir from that brief moment with the Palantir, then things get interesting. That would mean that Sauron would know that the Hobbit who held the Palantir (Sauron's idea for the ring bearer) is not likely to be at Isengard. If Sauron could see Gandalf from the Palantir, or sense him then Gandalf's status as Gandalf the White is revealed earlier than Gandalf wished it to be known to Sauron in the books.

Here is what I hope is the deal, and is not too much of a stretch. Sauron didn't see more than Pippin and then a different set of hands taking it from him. He probably knew it wasn't Saruman, but didn't know it was Aragorn. Seeing that Aragorn's rise to the throne is a major theme in this book, and his rising to the occasion from doubt and lack of confidence is a major theme in the film, this sets the stage nicely for Aragorn to overcome his fear and challenge Sauron later and declare himself as heir to the throne of Gondor and wielder of Narsil reforged.