It’s a Good Thing This Aragorn Moment Was Cut From the Lord Of the Rings Movies

Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings trilogy has a glowing reputation for a reason. The epic story, beautiful cinematography, and immersive world make it the pinnacle of fantasy series, especially as the franchise offers a remarkably faithful adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s original work. However, the adaption required many cuts to fit in the film format, much to the fans’ disappointment. Some of these omissions were later added to the Extended Editions, allowing fans to see what they missed. Certainly, they do not drastically change the story, or the theatrically released films would not make sense, but in some cases, it’s easy to see why they were removed.

One scene rightfully cut from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King takes place moments before the Battle at the Black Gate. A terrifying creature called the Mouth of Sauron (Bruce Spence) emerges from Mordor looking to treat with the heroes. Negotiations between the heroes of Sauron’s forces were always doomed to fail, but the meeting takes a dark turn as the messenger makes horrible claims of torturing and killing Frodo (Elijah Wood), even producing the Mithril armor to prove it. His cruel words elicit a pained reaction from the characters as Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) cry out, and even Gandalf (Ian McKellen) tears up, but it is Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) who takes action, beheading the emissary and effectively ending the negotiations. While the scene provides a heart-wrenching moment, it deserved to be cut as it did little to further the story and actually did a disservice to Aragorn’s character.

‘The Return of the King’ Needed a Noble Aragorn

While it’s disappointing that the character of the Mouth of Sauron didn’t make it into the initial release, it was for the best. The character may be the closest thing to a physical Sauron to appear, but in the Extended Edition, it comes at the cost of Aragorn’s characterization. There are a few key differences in the versions of the book and film before the death of the Mouth of Sauron, most notably that, while both show the messenger taunting the heroes, in the book, he claims Frodo to be a captive rather, than making the Fellowship grieve their friend. The additional grief perhaps explains the outburst of Aragorn beheading the messenger, but it creates a different issue, namely that Aragorn killed the emissary, a major breach of honor. The book slightly addresses this, as the Mouth of Sauron’s insults earn him a threatening look from Aragorn, causing him to insist that he cannot be attacked as an ambassador.

Yet, in the film, he is attacked, changing Aragorn’s character. As the returning King of Gondor, Aragorn represents the Men in Middle-earth. Tolkien wrote him as unfailingly noble and only waiting to become King until he proves himself by helping fight Sauron. Beheading the Mouth of Sauron defies that characterization, though it fits better with the Aragorn of the films. The film trilogy makes Aragorn a reluctant hero, not fully embracing his role as King, but this scene falls so close to the ending that it interrupts his arc. Aragorn has already accepted his fate, bringing the Army of the Dead to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and his memorable speech that follows the messenger’s death shows him to have grown into the leader he is expected to be. But this less-than-kingly action compromises that growth in front of the entire army he needs to follow him.

Why Would ‘Return of the King’ Make This Change?

Though the scene, thankfully, didn’t make it into the theatrical film, the franchise chose to make these changes before cutting it, and, to an extent, it makes sense. The Mouth of Sauron’s deceit demonstrates the cruelty of their enemy and raises the stakes for the heroes, whose desperate battle is heightened by the apparent death of the ringbearer. It certainly builds anticipation for the battle as Aragorn leads the charge fresh from his act of defiance against Sauron. Plus, the beheading makes the scene more visually interesting, moving away from the dialogue-heavy interaction in the book.

The films make it clear that Aragorn plans to distract the forces of Mordor and the Eye of Sauron, giving Frodo and Sam (Sean Astin) a fighting chance. The beheading does exactly that as the Eye’s gaze moves off Frodo and Sam’s hiding spot to focus on Aragorn. However, a more honorable action could have served the same purpose without compromising Aragorn’s characterization. In the end, this was a good scene to remove because it doesn’t fit where Aragorn is in the story, and the theatrical cut proves that the story can reach the same ending without it.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is currently streaming on Max in the U.S.

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