COMMUNITY NOTES:
1. Eowyn does have her lines to Aragorn, but they happen at Dunharrow.
2. The water was diverted from the Fords of Isen because the Ents used it to flood Isengard.

If anyone else notices something I missed drop it in the comments! Because I go chronologically, these things will most likely be covered once I get there. I think the Ents episode will be next week. 👀

This trilogy shows how you can make great movies by staying true to the source material but also not copying it 1 for 1. You can take some liberties while still remaining true to the books. Best movie trilogy ever made imo, and it’s not all that close.

How many times did you need to replay the shot of my boy, Haldir, getting shanked? 🤣

The Elves arriving at Helm's deep threw a lot of book-fans into confusion and annoyance. The confusion actually led to the rumor (and then meme) of Elvis at Helm's Deep. It eventually led to a couple of web pages advertising "Elvis at Helm's Deep" as the latest stop on his " Return of the King Tour " 😂

Legolas might be champion surfer but Gimli is quite the biologist, he knows all about the existence of the nervous system!

Favorite exchange at Helm’s Deep (in the book) : before the big battle , Legolas and Gimli were walking the walls and ramparts of the Deep, and Gimli stamps the top of a wall with his feet, gauging its solidness, and says, “The rock here is good. . .Give me a year and one hundred of my kin, and we would make this into a place that armies would break upon like water”. tingles and tears.Gimli had so many of the best lines in the Trilogy.

The lightning revealing the orcs is terrifying, wish they made it like that.

And it's a real shame that the glittering caves were omitted from the films. A real opportunity for Gimli to show his passion

I think it prudent (but it really isn't) to mention that the sequence with Shelob, which is roughly at the mid point of "The Return of the King" movie, is actually the final chapter in "The Two Towers" book.

Keep up with the awesome work. I absolutely love this kind of content because it gets my imagination running, and keeps the flame I have for reading books, epic fantasy in particular, burning bright.

7:55 Arwen's necklace is in the books, but it's basically something she gives to frodo at the end of RotK so he can sail to the undying lands

My favorite part in the book that I wished was in the movie is the relationship that is forged between Éomer and Gimli.  Starting with threatening each other, especially over Éomer’s ignorance over Galadriel, Gimli promising to fight Éomer that if he saw Galadriel and did not find her to be the most fairest of all, they fight side by side at the Deep, then later Éomer sees both Galadriel and Arwen and comments to Gimli that while Galadriel is indeed fair he finds Arwen more beautiful and asks if he should be prepared to fight Gimli to which Gimli says something to the effect of “I see why you find her beautiful.  I prefer the beauty of the day and you prefer the beauty of the night.”  It is a wonderful friendship they develop over the books, and I’m sad it isn’t shown in the movies but I certainly understand why.

When I first read this book I was a little disappointed that it was only in the movie that the elves arrive to aid Rohan. They why Haldir says they are there to honor their alliance by fighting and dying together is just awesome line and detail to the movie. I absolutely loved the battle of Helms Deep for the movie. It made an excellent finale to the movie.

The Rohirrim were so desperate, they had to put the "infant" back in "infantry".

I know it is not accurate to the books, but I really like Haldir's arrival with a huge company of elves.  It gives a nod to the history between elves and men. And shows that the elves are aware of what is at stake in the war against Sauron. I say Sauron because by this time Saruman may think he's acting alone but he is truly doing what Sauron wants which is to keep Rohan from coming to Gondor's aid. Haldir's death is shown to pull at one's heart strings. He died for the principle of the thing: that elves and men are allies in the war against evil.

5:08 Haleth does exist, but she is the Chieftain of the Haladin and daughter of Haldad

What i remember from reading the book was the Legolas spent like half the fight looking for arrows XD

Aragon’s challenge was always a favorite moment when I was young. I first read Tolkien almost 50 years ago. Thank you for doing this series.

I'm late to respond, but for me the most incomprehensible change is where the entrance of the glittering caves is. In the film the layout of Helm's Deep is vey faithful to the book except that the entrance of the glitering caves is in the keep, rather than outside of it, behind the deeping wall. In fact the water that pass through the deeping wall at the drain that will later explode comes from the glitering caves in the book on the contrary of the film where the water comes from nowhere.

It's not a big change, but with that change, once the drain has exploded, there is absolutely no reason to fight on open terrain behind a breach wall as it defend nothing, so that's mean a lots of death appears pointless (Thranduil for instance, and most of the elves) when they all could retreat in the keep and be safer and more efficient. Whereas on the books, the breach on the deeping wall make the glitering caves unprotected, and it's where the women and children are sheltered. So it makes total sense that a part of the defenders fight on open terrain to protect the caves, while other retreat to the keep. And it's separating the heroes, but it makes some tension and drama...

So it's not that important, but I find this change more problematic as he breaks the coherence of the battle while the other changes remain coherents with the rest of the films, even if it move the film away of the books (may be pointlessly).

I'm calling it - it should have been the Grey Company at Helms Deep. If Jackson wanted the big cinematic moment of help arriving, then at least he could have used the material he was given.

12:34 Haleth is also the name of one of the sons of Helm Hammerhand who died in the defence of Edoras in T.A. 2758, his brother being Háma.