Well, I read the Hobit, LotR and the Simirilian…but its been a LONG time. I’ll take a shot at some of these.
- Does the ring actually give the bearer any power other than invisibility? Certainly that can be useful, but not quite enough to call it “The Ring of Power.” It’s one thing that people want it so much because it’s cursed so that they want it. But what can it really do for them?
The ring grants powers according to the barers abilities. To those unschooled in magic, it grants invisibility. To those of greater lore and power, it enhances their powers. In addition, its used to control the OTHER rings of power, and subdue them to the will of the ring barer. It can unmake or take over the works of the other rings of power. In addition, it has other powers, less well defined. It can somehow create armies or at least marshal large forces.
- The battle for Helm’s Deep seems to be a big deal, but Sauron’s force basically gets its ass handed to it. How is Mordor able to get it together for an equally big (bigger?) battle in Return. And don’t the two battles seem a little too similar? Sieges against big forts. Also, rather than extended, wide-spread wars, these seem more like just one-off battles—is that a correct understanding?
Well, it was Saruman, not Sauron who was defeated at Helms Deep. And mostly that defeat (in the book) was due to his pissing off the Ents and the timely arrival of Gandolf.
In the movie the two battles seem similar because a lot of the detail was lost in the translation to the screen. Basically in the books there is a huge war going on in the background involving all the various races. Unlike the movie, the Elves don’t show up to help at Helm’s Deep because they are hard pressed, like all the other races, by attacks on their own realm. Sauron does this to prevent anyone from coming to the assistance of Gondor, because he feels they are the key to victory. Take MT and pretty much win the war.
- At the battle of Helm’s Deep they say it’s 300 against 10,000 (before the Elves arrive; BTW, is that John Lovitz as the fat elf?). And the son is said to have a band of 2000 or so (although it seems like a lot less when they meet the heroes on the plain). Of course, a lot of them get killed. That doesn’t seem to equal that many reinforcements from Rohan for the final battle in Return, but in that movie it looks like a lot more, and they are able to defeat Sauron’s forces until the mercenaries arrive—what do you think?
Thats because Rohan was unprepared for war at all when Saruman launched his offensive. The warriors weren’t gathered at all, and many were fighting in various parts of the country (the West Fold, etc). Gandolf goes off to rally SOME of these fighters and bring them back to Helm’s Deep for the climax of the battle, but there are lots of warriors scattered around the country. Thats why it takes the king several days to send forth riders to gather the strength of Rohan to march to Gondors aid.
- In the movies Gimli seems mostly like useless comic relief. Does he play a more essential role in the books?
He’s a bit disappointing in the movie. In the book he plays a more serious role, but still fairly minor. The biggest thing with Gimli is his growing friendship with Legolas and his ability to put his mistrust and suspicion of Elves behind him and grow. He’s also a fairly nasty fighter in the book.
5. Are Gandalf, Bilbo, and Frodo supposed to be “dead” at the end of Return in some sense or another? Why is Frodo so eager to leave? He says there’s some pain or whatnot that hasn’t healed, etc., but that doesn’t seem like a very heroic sentiment, does it?
Tough one. Are they supposed to be ‘dead’? No, not in a strict sense. However, they are giving up their mortality by going to the undieing lands across the western sea (well, not Gandalf, but he’s a special case). Why is Frodo so eager to leave? Well, he’s wounded so deeply in the story that he is in constant pain. In addition, when the one ring goes, it takes a lot out of him. He can NEVER be healed because of this combination of factors. He stays around to help rebuild the Shire (its nearly completely destroyed in the book btw…no happy home coming there), and see things are set right, then he leaves.
- Why are the Elves so bent on leaving, anyway?
The elves powers were tied to the three rings of the Elf lords. When the one goes, it breaks that power and they begin to fade. They had been leaving ME for years before that though. This is complicated but has to do with the fact that they originally COME from the undieing lands across the western sea…its their real home land. They loved ME but it wasn’t really their home. The last straw of course is when their power is broken and they begin to fade.
- So, Sauron and the Nazgul know that someone has the ring and that he probably wants to destroy it. Don’t you think a few guards in and around Mt. Doom could have helped prevent the destruction of their ring?
Sauron certainly DOESN’T know that someone is trying to destroy the ring. It simply never occurs to him. He thinks there is a power struggle going on between the wise on the side of ‘good’ and that eventually one of the mighty will throw down the others and claim the ring for him/her self. Its what he would do. His entire war is in the hope that he will cause the one with the ring to make a mistake and move too fast…and their by let Sauron reclaim the ring before the new ring master can figure out how to fully wield it (it will take quite a long time to master the ring appearently). Thats why no guards around Mt. Doom.
- Also, are the Nazgul blind or retarded? In Towers Frodo holds up a ring so that the Naz gets a look, but this extremely powerful entity is deterred from pursuing Frodo when his dragon takes one arrow to the neck. Not very persistent. Hmm…. Also, since these bad dudes are unkillable (except by women, it seems), why don’t they get down on the ground and systematically root out all opponents, including Frodo?
Well, thats from the movie. In the book, the only time they really get close to Frodo and know he has the ring was at Weather Top, and they weren’t all there…and Aragon WAS, and he has powers of his own. They basically settle for stabbing him with a Morgul knife in the hopes of turning Frodo into a wraith and getting the ring. They never really get close to him again after that, though I suppose there are some near misses. Certainly, if it was like in the book and the king of the ring wraiths had SEEN the ring he would have done everything he could to get it…no matter what.
- Is Rohan supposed to be kinda-sorta inferior to Gondor? Kindof the unfunky, unfancy little brother? BTW, I thought the realistic and beautiful architecture/effects of Gondor were the best thing in all three flicks. Truly amazing.
Ya, they are kind of inferior I suppose. They are barbarians (or semi-barbarians I suppose) to Gondors civilization, culture, etc. There is a whole thing about ‘high men’ and ‘low men’…the men of Gondor WERE ‘high men’ and some still are (like Aragon), and the men of Rohan are ‘low men’.
Think of Gondor as Imperial Rome, and Rohan as certain allied germanic tribes. Thats basically what they were…nomadic horse tribes that moved into the area. In an earlier war, Gondor was hard pressed on its eastern flank and the Rohirim came to their aid. In gratitude, Gondor gives the Rohirim the Mark to have as their own, and gets oaths of fealty and alliance out of them.
- Why does Gandolf not use his magic more? Also, don’t you think his powers are rather ill-defined? No sense is given of his powers or limitations. If this were D&D he would be like a 20th level magic user (at least!) and capable of a lot, lot more magic to use against Sauron’s forces.
Very good question. It even gets better when you consider something from the book that wasn’t in the movie…Gandalf after his fall in Kazadum and fight with the Balrog and his ‘death’ gets one of the Elvin rings of power (forget which one). So, from that point on he is a wielder of one of the three. No idea why they down play Gandalf in the book. He actually has a much bigger role in the movie to be honest. In the book he doesn’t ride forth on his white horse to save Faramir fromt the Nazgul like in the movie. I guess Tolkien wanted them to resolve this thing without vast magical powers or something, but it was kind of a disappointment. He doesn’t even wack the Witch King for gods sake! 
- Was Saruman originally good? Why did he turn evil?
Yes, he was originally good…just like all the other wizards. Basically Saruman became facinated by the rings of power and made it his primary study. He wanted to re-discover the ability to create rings of power, and in fact actually did manage to make some lesser rings. That coupled with his taking over the observatory at Orthanc was his downfall. He figured out how to open up the observatory…and discovered one of the seeing stones, the palantir…and used it. While gazing forth he was captured by Sauron and this completed his corruption.
- Are there normal people living in Mordor, or is it all slimy Orcs and trolls? For example, during the scene before the Black Gate in Towers soldiers looking like normal humans march in and then search for the two hobbits when they hear a noise (although their faces are veiled, they are definitely not orcs).
No, there are farms and settlements way to the south in Mordor. Men live there and other things too. Its where they grow all the food and such (you noticed that all the lands in the movie were pretty well blasted and dead?).
- Sauron is like an evil god who can just walk around, etc.; but why isn’t there a similar good god?
Sauron was the lieutenant of a greater power who WAS an evil ‘god’. When this evil god was defeated by other ‘gods’ he fled for a time, then came back in a fair disguise as a wise one. Originally he helped the Elves, and showed them how to create the rings of power (they created the three on their own, but it was with his help). He also created rings of power for the Dwarves (the 7) and Men (the 9)…but then he betrayed them all by creating the One…a ring to master them all and enslave the free peoples of ME.
Hope any of this helps. By the time I finish this I’m sure tons of folks will have responded. 
-XT