Summary
A rather dramatic Aragorn scene was initially shot forThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but I’m so relieved that it was ultimately cut. Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy is well regarded among book-to-screen adaptations since he made great efforts to ensure hisLord of the Ringsfilms were respectful of Tolkien’s works. Of course, this isn’t to say the director didn’t make any changes. Several canon moments were dramatized for the screen, the most outrageous of which was, thankfully, removed from the theatrical cut ofThe Lord of the Rings.
Theextended edition ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingincludes a scene in which Gandalf, Aragorn, and a host of others approach the Black Gate to speak to the Dark Lord’s emissary. Known in Tolkien’s works as the Mouth of Sauron, this messenger was as nasty as they come, and he had a lot of horrible things to say to Aragorn before the Battle of the Morannon. Jackson’s version of eventsled the rightful king of Gondor to dramatically behead the Mouth of Sauron—a war crime entirely belowThe Lord of the Rings' Aragorn.
Every Extra Scene Added In Lord Of The Rings' Extended Editions
The Lord of the Rings extended editions add over 2 hours of content to the trilogy. Here’s everything Peter Jackson cut from the theatrical release.
Aragorn Killing The Mouth Of Sauron Didn’t Make Sense
Killing An Emissary During A Parley Is A Pretty Big Deal
I was initially excited to see theMouth of Sauron in theLord of theRingsextended edition, but I was wholly surprised and a little outraged about how this scene ended. While the Mouth of Sauron really did meet with Aragorn and the rest in Tolkien’sThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, he left the interaction with his head intact. As an emissary, this is precisely as it should have been. Sure, the Mouth of Sauron said some horrible lies and tried to mislead his enemy into believing that Frodo was dead. However,it would be a great crime to kill a messenger, no matter how evil.
Aragorn, eager to prove that he wasn’t like his faulty ancestors, would never have committed such a war crime. The only benefit to adding this to an otherwise canon scene would be drama. Aragorn had missed most of the Battle of Pelennor Fields inReturn of the King, so Jackson might have been trying to give Viggo Mortensen a moment of glory to make up for it. However, I feel that Aragornessentially murdering an emissary during a parleywasn’t the right way to go about this.
The true identity of the Mouth of Sauron is unknown, and it is said that even he has forgotten the man he once was.
Aragorn’s Character Was Already Heavily Changed For Peter Jackson’s LOTR
Aragorn Didn’t Need An Even Bigger Change From Canon
I’m thankful that Jackson ultiamtely cut the Mouth of Sauron scene, especially since Aragorn had already gone through a lot of changes for the adaptation. In theLord of the Ringsmovies, Mortensen’s character was unsure of himself, fearing that he would repeat the mistakes of his ancestors and lead Gondor to doom. It took fighting against the evil that had corrupted Isildur for him to finally accept his destiny as king. In Tolkien’s books, on the other hand,Aragorn knew from the start that he was meant to be kingand felt only that he needed to first help in the fight against Sauron to earn his place.
Peter Jackson’s version of the character allowed for a more dramatic arc and made Aragorn a loveable underdog.
Aragorn being the reluctant hero in Jackson’sLord of the Ringswas a pretty significant change, though it has been widely accepted. This version of the character allowed for a more dramatic arc and made Aragorn a loveable underdog. This makes Jackson’s decision to make his reimagining of Gondor’s king behead an emissary all the more strange. It doesn’t fit with either version of the character, but it’s wildly incongruent with the somewhat unsure hero that Jackson included in his films.
I’m Bummed Return Of The King Cut The Mouth Of Sauron Entirely
While I’m glad that Jackson cut the scene in which Aragorn beheaded the Mouth of Sauron, I’m bummed that the villainous character had to be removed fromReturn of the Kingentirely. Sure, the Mouth of Sauron wasn’t a massive character in Tolkien’s works, buthe was, in a sense, the closest readers got to the Dark Lord. This dark emissary spoke with Sauron’s mouth, bringing his black words and evil will to life. During this scene in the book, we got a peak intoSauron’s true plan for Middle-earthand gained a better understanding of the deceptive lengths he would go to create what he considered a better world.
For the most part, the scene including the Mouth of Sauron in Jackson’sLord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingwas true to Tolkien’s version. The villain brought Frodo’s Mithril shirt to diminish Gandalf and Aragorn’s spirit and offered the terms of Gondor’s surrender with lies of mercy and a better world. Unfortunately, it had to end with the proud king of Men committing murder, spoiling the entire thing. Ultimately, Jackson’s movie trilogy was better off without it, but seeing a less dramatized version of the scene on screen would have been nice.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
