FAQ

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is based on the second book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, written by the English academic and author [link]nm0866058[/link] [1892-1973]. The other two books in the series (both movie and novel) are: (1) [link]tt0120737[/link] and (3) [link]tt0167260[/link].

In the film, Saruman refers to "the union of the two towers" - Orthanc (his tower) and Barad-dûr (Sauron's stronghold). At the end of the book The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien writes, The second part is called The Two Towers, since the events recounted in it are dominated by Orthanc, the citidel of Saruman, and the fortress of Minas Morgul that guards the secret entrance to Mordor. In the films, most of the Minas Morgul material is moved to the third part, The Return of the King.

It's "Requiem for a Tower," a remix by Simone Benyacar, Dan Nielsen, and Veigar Mairgersson of [link]nm0543739[/link]'s "Lux Aeterna" theme from [link]tt0180093[/link].

No, "the wormtongue" was a nickname some of the soldiers of Rohan used to refer to Gríma. He'd already built a reputation among the Rohirrim as a devious individual.

He was enchanted and/or mesmerized by the corpses, which is why Gollum warned the hobbits not to follow the lights, because they would be ensnared and brought down to join the dead.

Frodo learned Gollum's real name from Gandalf. In the book, Gandalf reveals part of Gollum's story to Frodo when he returns to the Shire after researching the Ring. In the films, the line exists only in the Extended Edition. It comes in Moria when Gandalf and Frodo talk about Gollum following them. He says, "Sméagol's life is a sad story. Yes, Sméagol. That was his name."

They are Easterlings, men from the far east of middle-Earth, beyond the Sea of Rhûn. They are allies of Sauron and the Orcs and were marching there to join the great Host of Mordor, which fought in the Battle of Pelennor and at the Black Gate in ROTK.

Several reasons. First of all, with no Shelob in this film, Frodo and Sam's journey needed a different climax. Secondly, in the book, Faramir is able to easily resist the lure of the Ring. The filmmakers felt this would contradict their central premise: that no one can resist the Ring. They also realized that the encounter with Faramir, the only human the heroes encounter in their journey, was the only opportunity they had to make the Ring a major issue in the middle film.

After their bodies die, the spirits of dead Elves go to the Halls of Mandos in Valinor. After a certain period of time and rest that serves as "cleansing," their spirits are clothed in bodies identical to their old ones. Most never go back to Middle-earth and remain in Valinor instead; therefore, death holds no real fear to them. However, it must be noted that death is a painful experience—one would never say that torture, for example, held no fear for someone just because it doesn't result in annihilation of the self. Likewise, death is a painful experience for both Elves and Men, each of whom continue to exist in one form or another after it occurs. Elves are reincarnated, while Men pass out of the world into another dimension.

Yes. One notable example occurs when Éowyn (Miranda Otto) has found the King's son dead and has been followed by Gríma (Brad Dourif) to the Prince's room. She exclaims, "Leave me alone, snake", and he replies, But you are alone. Who knows what you've spoken to the darkness in the bitter watches of the night when all your world seems to shrink? The walls of your bower closing in about you, a hutch to trammel some wild thing in? Tolkien actually attributed those words to Aragorn as he spoke with Éomer, while Éowyn lay unconscious, newly brought from the field of battle into The Houses of Healing. They were words spoken between two people who loved her, not bitter hateful words from a twisted chamberlain. The love Éomer felt was as a brother, Aragorn's was that of a ruler for a subject, also a friend, yet no less feeling. Once he knew Éowyn realized he could never return her love, he was more at ease to express himself and how he felt for her, and the words he spoke to Éomer were to help him understand just why his sister would have ridden out with the Company as Dernhelm in what seemed to be the Last Ride of The Rohirrim.

There were three types of "living" trees; the Ents, like Treebeard were intelligent and domesticated. The others were Huorns, animated but wild. It was the Huorns that destroyed the fleeing Orcs after Helm's Deep. The third type were "living" in the sense that they had feelings and could be communicated with by the Ents, but at the same time were deep-rooted and immobile. These would be the majority of the trees in Middle-earth and were the ones destroyed to feed the fires of Isengard.

Tolkien's original book ends with Frodo being captured after his encounter with Shelob. Frodo (Elijah Wood)'s journey in the film ends significantly before that. The filmmakers decided it would not be a good idea to intercut the climax of the Battle of the Hornburg with the encounter in Shelob's lair. They also point out that according to Tolkien's own timeline (which can be read in the back of The Return of the King), the encounter at Shelob's Lair doesn't happen until much later, and corresponds to the Siege of Gondor, which is portrayed in The Return of the King. There is a bonus feature in the Extended Editions of the films on DVD in which Peter Jackson explains how the various books and chapters of Tolkien's novels were re-arranged for continuity.

For its DVD release, extended versions of all three Lord of the Rings movies have been released, and for The Two Towers, the extended version features several scenes that had been cut for the theatrical release: for instance, the scenes of Faramir's past, which would better explain his behavior in the movies. These scenes, as well as many others which make the film closer to the original book, were integrated back into the movie in a "Special Extended Edition." These new scenes give more depth to the characters, explain their behavior and make the movie more rounded, deeper and more poetic.