More than two decades later, The Return of the King continues to be at the center of a long-debated issue
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| Image Credit: New Lion Cinema |
Just over two decades ago, Peter Jackson's acclaimed film trilogy The Lord of the Rings concluded its run on the big screen with the arrival of its massive third installment, The Return of the King. The film went on to snatch up Oscars, giving fans some truly heart-warming moments along with some of the most thrilling battle sequences in cinema history. However, one particular sequence continues to haunt fans to this day. Around the 18th minute of the Extended Edition of The Return of the King, we see Saruman being stabbed by Grima with his body falling from the tower of Orthanc.
After he crashes, the Palantír known as the Orb of Orthanc, one of the ancient seeing stones, held by the Istari in his home, emerges from his robes. This is picked up by Pippin, who holds it in his hand for a few moments while observing it. Gandalf, seeing the dangerousness of the artifact, immediately confiscates it to avoid unpleasant inconveniences. A few sequences later, Pippin gets up during the night while everyone is asleep to go and see the Palantír held tightly by a sleeping Gandalf. The young hobbit picks it up again, however it “activates” putting Sauron in direct communication with Pippin, to the latter’s great suffering.
But why had the seeing stone not had the same effect before? A thread on the Reddit page dedicated to The Lord of the Rings shows how fans are still wondering about the scene, which still creates more than a few doubts today. Although the thing may not be at all immediate for those who have only seen the films, there seems to be a reasonable answer, although not very intuitive. The Palantíri can only communicate with other Palantíri in Middle-earth, the actual number of which is uncertain, although some are well known, and at least one of these is known to be in the hands of Sauron. They can also only see if they are facing the same direction.
In light of this, it is clear that when Pippin raised the Orb of Orthanc again, it was facing the fortress of Barad-dûr, where Sauron resides. In other words, it would have been nothing more than a mere coincidence or, better yet, a particularly unfortunate circumstance that confirms once again the great danger of the ancient seeing stones.
Source: Reddit