TTT on TNT

[dreamflower]

OK, so I have TTT on as I am working on the prototype for my third DS article, and they have the scene with M&P meeting Treebeard, and then he dumps them in front of "the White Wizard".

Well, in the movies, those who have not read the books are meant to think: "Uh-oh! He's turned them over to Saruman!" while those who have are grinning and going "Yeah--it's Gandalf!"

But that moment really does need a movie-verse gapfiller or fixit. I mean, what do the hobbits think when they see Gandalf, whom they think is dead? They are going to identify him right away and be all happy and stuff.

But then, why is he still confused about his own identity when he meets the Three Hunters?

Comments

[shirebound]

That's a *marvelous* question. Maybe his memory was coming and going for awhile there. :)

[dreamflower]

Take a look below, and see what Aerwen and Thundera came up with!

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Huh...maybe it's seeing the hobbits that brings himself a lot closer back to himself, if that makes any sense...*nods* :)

[dreamflower]

Makes as much sense as anything else!

[aearwen2.livejournal.com]

A gift for you, my dear: a true drabble entitled "Surprise!!"

Merry and Pippin blinked as Treebeard set them down in front of the White Wizard. One reason they blinked so hard was because the Wizard's garb was so bright that it stabbed painfully at the eye, as if one were staring directly into the sun. The other reason they blinked was because the two hobbits were definitely not prepared to recognize the one Treebeard called "The White Wizard." When last seen, he'd been grey.

"Gandalf!" Pippin cried, his eyes filling with tears. "We thought you were dead!"

"I was," the White Wizard replied, eyes twinkling merrily. "But I got better…"

[dreamflower]

Oh! I LOVE it! *VBG!!* Thank you, dear!

[thunderatiger.livejournal.com]

But then, why is he still confused about his own identity when he meets the Three Hunters?

Well, he is in a forest, after all. And in this particular forest, if he fell in with the wrong crowd, he could easily have a large tree branch dropped on his head. I mean, it's quite possible that there were many ill feelings toward Saruman, especially from the ents living closet to Orthanc, and if Treebeard didn't get the word out in time, Gandalf might have had an unfortunate encounter with an angry resident. One good crack on the head later and everything he remembered in Lothlorien was gone. You really have to pick your forests wisely.

You know, this probably explains why Gandalf didn't go meet Aragorn and company out on the open plains of Rohan. Having a lump the size of a robin egg on his head made him lose his sense of direction, wander aimlessly around Fangorn, and completely forget who he was. Good thing he ran into the Three Hunters when he did.

[dreamflower]

*snort*snicker*giggle*has vision of Gandalf staggering around with a dent in his hat...*

Oh, wait, Gandalf the White didn't have a hat...

Perhaps that's what happened to it! Maybe Galadriel had given him a nice white pointy hat, and a tree branch fell on it...

[thunderatiger.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait, Gandalf the White didn't have a hat...

And here you've hit it on the head. In the books, Gandalf meets the Three Hunters while wearing BOTH a hat and a hood. But clearly the lack of hat is a clue to how the movies wished to explain Gandalf's inability to recall his own name. An angry ent bopped the recently returned wizard on the head and a quirky Huorn ran off with the hat, thinking it made a fetching ornament. I bet if we slowed the movie down we'd see the hat on an angry looking pine in one of the panning shots...

My other theory is that the hobbits had a pet name for Gandalf in the movies and never actually called him "Gandalf." ::shrugs:: Everyone else gets to call Gandalf something different. Why not the Shire? I'm going with Fluffy. ;)

(And clearly it is too late at night if I'm naming Olorin "Fluffy"...)

[dreamflower]

Oh, gosh! Gandalf as "Fluffy" OMG! I'm rolling!

[ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com]

But then, why is he still confused about his own identity when he meets the Three Hunters?

Honestly, that moment has always looked... a little stupid to me. He knew who he was in the book. That line in the movie just doesn't feel right and I don't like it.

[dreamflower]

movie!verse Gandalf may have been wise, but he wasn't terribly clever.

For example, he somehow thought he'd get to Bree in time to meet Frodo and Sam at the Prancing Pony in spite of the fact that he had to go to Isengard first.

Not a very good grasp of geography...

In the movie, PJ was still trying to milk the idea that the White Wizard was actually Saruman, for those movie-goers who had not read the books, so they'd be more surprised when they realized it was Gandalf. Which is why he blended Christopher Lee's voice with Ian McKellan's at the start. But like a number of movie-verse ideas, it doesn't really hold up.

[ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I don't mind that PJ was trying to explain the White-Wizzard-concept, and I even like the blending of the voices, but I think that the sentence "Gandalf? *surprised & confused look* Oh yes, that was my name?" sounds so silly.