Fans of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’s climactic final battle are just now realizing there was supposed to be a massive dual between Aragorn and Sauron.
Sauron is a looming presence throughout Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he’s rarely present for the film’s events. He appears briefly in a prologue sequence but otherwise is represented as a glowing, disembodied eye.
But it wasn’t supposed to be that way, as revealed on the DVD extended release of The Return of the King. Peter Jackson originally filmed a climactic showdown between Aragorn and Sauron.
Ultimately, Jackson cut the scene, which was not originally featured in Tolkien’s novel. Jackson felt it steered too far from the source material and opted to keep the focus on Sam and Frodo destroying the One Ring, a decision fans on the Lord of the Rings subreddit are now discussing.
Peter Jackson filmed scenes of Sauron appearing in the battle at the Black Gate and fighting Aragorn. Jackson cut this scene because he realized that the real climax was Frodo and Sam destroying the Ring, not a duel between Aragorn and Sauron. Do you agree or disagree with Jackson's decision? byu/tamaraallenr inlotr
Fortunately, it’s not much of a debate. Fans are almost unanimously in awe that Jackson would consider filming the scene but glad he had the foresight to cut it from the final production.
“Including this scene would’ve been a dumb decision. Sauron doesn’t show up in The Lord of the Rings for a reason,” one fan said.
“The third film already has a lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense, and Sauron sallying forth for no reason whatsoever would just be another thing that makes no sense.” added another fan.
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“Absolutely agree. Even the troll was too much,” another fan said, referencing how the film corrected the scene. The fight still appears in The Return of the King, but Sauron is digitally replaced so that Aragorn instead fights a troll.
“The troll was added as a cgi replacement for Sauron,” one fan explained. “That’s why there’s still such a focus on that duel, with a lot of it being super intense. Rewatch it with this in mind and you’ll see how it’s a bit of an oversell for Aragorn vs a Troll.”
It’s just another example of how the films managed to toe the line between adapting the source material and expanding to be its own thing.
If you’re eager for more of The Lord of the Rings, read everything we know about the upcoming The Rings of Power Season 2.
We also have breakdowns on Rings of Power’s missing character, the Season 2 trailer, and Cate Blanchett‘s shockingly low LOTR payday.
