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Revealing Aragorn's True Journey On The Paths Of The Dead | Book vs. Film

Fact or Fantasy

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Welcome to Ep. 39 of Movies vs. Manuscripts: Lord of the Rings edition! Today, we are uncovering the secrets behind the Paths Of The Dead, and Aragorn's journey to claiming his place as king. Between the Muster of Rohan and the Army of the Dead, we have plenty to talk about!

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Timestamps:
0:00 The Paths Of The Dead
1:40 Movie Recap...
4:14 Character, Timeline, and Location Changes
6:25 Plot Differences
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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

20 Comments

@factorfantasyweekly Creator 1 year ago Pinned

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@peteranderson3796 1 year ago

I think it's also worth noting that the army of the dead don't actually fight or kill anybody in the book, they just scare everybody away.

@KevDaly 1 year ago

I found the book version much more atmospheric and emotionally satisfying.

@VonUndZuGeist 1 year ago

"skips over multiple days of travel that Aragorn and Company have after they exit the mountain." That sounds so nice while I remember they rode themselves and their horses almost to death because they barely took any breaks.

@keviny1936 1 year ago

I like the books better, not having Eowyn at Helm's Deep heightened the tension of her decision to then go to Minas Tirith. I think Jackson and company also really struggled with the whole idea of Aragorn being king. In the Battle of Pelenor Fields it is Aragorn who leads the charge when the ships arrive, the movie makes it a set of scenes for Legolas to be athletic. Tolkien was clear that none could stand before Aragorn, the enemy fled from him.

@Twiceborn_by_grace 1 year ago

I don’t like what Peter Jackson did with Gimli, but I can’t help but smile when I hear, “And we’re goin’ with ya laddie!”

@tinderbox218 1 year ago

Even a bad dream about Arwen would be pretty good

@GordoFabulous 1 year ago

What I am getting from this series is an appreciation for the art of converting a novel to a movie. You do a really good job at it.

@CruciformCrusader 1 year ago

I wish we could have had a seen of aaragorn bending the palantir to his will, and calling out Sauron, its the whole reason why frodo and sam go unnoticed, because sauron is certain that aaragorn has the ring certain he can reclaim it.

@ssl3546 1 year ago

I'm impressed you were able to explain this particular set of changes clearly, Jackson changed so much.

@mevb 1 year ago

Though the Stone of Erech wasn't used in the movie, you can see Erech written on the Middle-Earth map. You can see it on the map travel at the end when Frodo narrates their journey home after Aragorn's coronation.

@irena4545 1 year ago

Arwen's standart was important because it made her present and showed her support for Aragorn, so failing to feature it was a huge lost opportunity (also, it would have given movie Arwen at least some agency, instead of wasting her time running and wilting).
I condone cutting the Stone of Erech (BTW, the "ch" is not pronounced "k" but as in German "Bach") and moving the interaction with the Dead into the Paths themselves, but the way it was handled was utterly underwhelming. It could, and should, have been an epic moment for Aragorn to show the strength of his will and personality, and a huge triumph of the Dead bowing to him and following while he would ride ahead like a boss and bring doom upon the Corsairs.
Just FYI: the first time Merry sees "Dernhelm" is as he accompanies Theoden riding along the long line of mustered Riders; he notices a young man, smaller and slighter than others. Their eyes meet and it gives Merry shivers, as he thinks that those are eyes of one without hope in search of death.

@simonkoster 1 year ago

The name "Dernhelm" is of course a dead giveaway. "Deerne" is an old Dutch word meaning approximately "Maiden". Tolkien knew his languages.

@JackChurchill101 1 year ago

I think the weirdest thing for me is the jetpack mechanic the Jackson uses for Aragorn.
In just a few days he WALKS from under the mountain somewhere near Dunharrow, to appear at the mountainside by Anduin near Pelargir. This is hundreds of miles under the white mountains and makes Gondor look really small.
Had Jackson kept the company's horses, there could have been some epic shots of them riding with haste through Lebennin, with the dead behind them.
But I guess he really wanted those shots of them falling over a pile of skulls or something....(?)

@lida7529 1 year ago

When I flee a sinking island, I never forget to take a large black stone with me.

@JamesPolitican 1 year ago

Oh snap! I remember when you were at 64k

@sirguy6678 1 year ago

Great video! Looking forward to comparing the “scouring of the Shire” in the book to the movie…wait, never mind 😅

@CHAREDot9 1 year ago

I’m glad I found your series. It is fun to review the story from a fresh perspective considering how long they have both been around. Most people, myself included realize there are massive and minor changes but don’t bother to gather the specifics. I appreciate your work 😅

@hanne5678 1 year ago

Lots of changes, most of them are not improvements imo. One of the worst is Merry's immediate discovery that his rider is Eowyn in disguise. Tolkien is keeping readers in suspense until the big reveal in the battle with the witch king. I don't understand why this had to be changed for the movie. It's not like there aren't plenty of movies where this kind of suspense works very well.