Treebeard’s Bravest Moment Was REMOVED From ‘The Two Towers’

Welcome to Ep. 32 of Movies vs. Manuscripts: Lord of the Rings edition! Today, we are finishing up "The Two Towers" film in this series and discussing our four hobbits and their respective journeys. Merry and Pippin have some business in Isengard with Treebeard and the Ents! Plus, our beloved Sam, Frodo, and Gollum are heading into Osgiliath. What differences will we discover today?

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Music:
"Arthur-Marie Brillouin - Bien-Aimée" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license.
@arthur-mariebrillouin4496

"Scott Buckley - The Long Dark" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license.

"Alexander Nakarada - Frost" is under a Creative Commons (BY 3.0) license:
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Timestamps:
0:00 'The Two Towers' Finale!
2:05 Movie Recap...
5:35 Character, Timeline, and Location Changes
7:10 Plot Changes
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Sources:
"The Fellowship of the Ring," directed by Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema, 2001.
"The Two Towers," directed by Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema, 2002.
"The Return of the King," directed by Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema, 2003.
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#tolkien #tolkienlore #lordoftherings #lotr #peterjackson #newlinecinema #warnerbros #jrrtolkien

[ericsommers]

Quickbeam is one of my favorite characters despite his short stint in the story. He isn’t just skipping the Entmoot to hang with Merry and Pippen, but he’s already decided he will go to war with Isengard because they cut down some of his favorite trees. Although he is ready to fight, he isn’t shown as angry or tough, he’s often laughing and enjoying the beauty of nature. It’s one of the moments that we see a character who isn’t here to fight against the Enemy, but to preserve the beauty of life.

[Malfuin]

I love how we went from counting differences to counting "similarities" the moment we set foot in Osgiliath. 😆

As always, great work.

[mevb]

Sam's line "By all rights we should be here... but we are." hints at the fact that the hobbits never go to Osgiliath in the book, as a nod to the fans of the books.

[MatthewCaunsfield]

The magically appearing hoard of ents (after they'd already decided not to go to war) was definitely one of the silliest moments for me

[solicitr]

Additional fun fact: "Quickbeam" is a colloquial English name for the rowan tree (from Old English *cwic-beám*); Treebeard was very fond of rowans. And Tolkien of course can't resist a linguistic joke here, since "quick" here means "alive, " not "fast" (qv "the quick and the dead")

[peteranderson]

I'd like to point out that Faramir shooting the fell beast is probably taken from a scene in the Fellowship book where Legolas shoots down a fell beast at night on their way down the Anduin.

[zack_feldman]

The omission of quickbeam made me sad when I saw the movies in theaters. He was my favorite character from that book, and I was so bummed we got less time with him and the others.

Though, objectively, the fact the ends make a quick decision to attack Isengard in the movie is the worst change. Ents, by their nature are slow and methodical thinkers. Would have liked the marching song, and the wrath that comes with it.

[factorfantasyweekly]

New year, new editing style! What do you guys think? Still figuring it out and might change some of it, so comment any ideas you have!

[mevb]

The flaming ent in the movie seems to be inspired by Saruman's insdustrial fire attack which burned a oucple of ents, though in the movie the ent was set on fire with fire arrows instead.
On a side note, after deciding on setting the ent of fire, Peter Jackson regretted this decision as his kids might get upset by it, so he decided to have that ent rush to the flood to get his fire extinguished.

[lida]

Regarding the short visit of Gandalf in the Isengard while the Ents were collecting water: This is when Gandalf asked for the help of huorns in Helm's Deep against the orks. Without this visit, the Rohirim would have lost their battle after all.

[fr.andygutierrez]

The new editing style looks great! Fantastic job, as always 👍🏼😊

[lordofuzkulak]

13:55 - given the Ents declare they wouldn’t be going to war, they appear suspiciously quickly when Treebeard calls them in the movie after he sees the devastation of Isengard. Iirc, it’s implied that Treebeard walked a fair distance after leaving Entmoot before he got to the deforested area, but the other Ents show up seconds after he calls for them. Did they sprint all the way to be able to do that, but never show off such speed afterwards? Or were they already on the way to attack and Treebeard’s reaction to the site of the deforestation was an act he put on for Merry and Pippin’s benefit? And if it’s the latter, what was the point of saying they wouldn’t attack? Why not just tell the hobbits that they will attack Isengard, but want to wait until the hobbits have gotten to safety, and then have the hobbits fast talk their way into joining the attack instead?

[demonmonsterdave]

There are many moments like this. In a book the voice of the narrator - at least a good book - becomes our own inner voice for a while. Jackson did an incredible job overcoming the limitations of film.

[TerbullSpuller]

Gollum actually has an incredibly beautiful moment of indecision in "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol" while Frodo and Sam are both asleep. For just a paragraph or so, it looks like maybe, just maybe, he'll get redeemed before the end, and then Sam wakes up and breaks the spell. As a young child, I can remember thinking Gollum was going to become a hero, then being angry at Sam for destroying that chance. Jackson's version of Gollum's inner conflict and Sam's abrasive manner is, of course, heavier-handed, but this probably is because it'd be impossible to put that moment on film without a narrator.

[Alex-cwrz]

Treebeard wanted to say he'd fight but unfortunately he said it in Entish and there wasn't enough film on the set for Peter Jackson to sh, oot it.

[RoboSteave]

You know, the two versions of LOTR remind me of the way news is reported today. The movies are like the first reports and the books are the story after a thorough investigation. Consider what happened in New Orleans. First reports: not terrorism, others involved, explosive devices planted. Later: was terrorism, acted alone, no explosives.

So, Jackson is doing the early report while Tolkien gives the story after thorough investigation. Food for thought. Now go buy some food for your stomach and have a Happy New Year!

[jamesblackwell]

These are so fun to watch. Thankyou so much.🙂

[mickaleneduczech]

I really wish they'd shown the ents taking down the walls and gates of Isengard. Slowly twisting them, like tree branches warping them over many years, but condensed into a few minutes.

[antisback]

11:17 Where are the ents going?

They're taking the hobbits to Isenguard

[Mr_Timi]

How can I not love it... because it changes the nature of Faramir, because it was Peter Jackson trying to course correct because of his earlier sins, because it wasn't in the book and doesn't make any sense....