Movie Timeline
 

Last spring, during one of my fits of compulsion, I put together a timeline for the Two Towers film. Since that time I've worked backwards to the beginning of Fellowship and now, since seeing the film a couple of times, I've been able to work forwards to the end of King.<P>I used the Tale of Years as a guide, deviating from the dates given when changes in the film force such. What I also found very helpfull was a Christmas present of "The Atlas of Middle-Earth" from which it was far easier to calculate distances and times (and it even told me what the hell a league was ).<P>It certainly is far from perfect. In fact there are definate issues around the days leading up to the Battle of Pelennor Fields, which I doubt will surprise too many. With Aragorn and Theoden hanging around Edoras so long, there just isn't the time for the Rohirrim and Aragorn to get to Minas Tirith in time.<P>Oh well.<P><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/hcisland/tttime.htm" TARGET=_blank>Here it is.</A><P>H.C.<p>[ 5:10 PM December 29, 2003: Message edited by: HCIsland ]

Wow! That's an impressive piece of work, and I like your comments. You're right that the Pelennor Fields timeline is unusually dicey (and even before that, could even the Rohirrim ride 18 hours a day for very long? I mean, ouch). Don't know how much the EE can do about that.<P>One thing that's always bothered me about Gandalf's imprisonment in Orthanc only lasting a short time (six days, not thirty) is the amount of devastation that Saruman works while Gandalf is still there. Granted, Saruman is a wizard and has a lot of nasties working for him, but six days seems like a really short time to build up a complex as huge as what Gandalf was seeing.

I hear what you are saying, Kalimac, and I agree. You could maybe give him an extra week on Orthanc by assuming that Gwaihir just flies Gandalf to Rivendell. So that's two weeks atop Orthanc. Is that enough time for Saruman to construct the forges and caverns under Isengard? I don't know. They could have been there for a long time but he only started venting them to the surface recently.<P>I really think Pelennor is not repairable. You simply can't get the Rohirrim to Minas Tirith in only three days and Aragorn there in five without making ridiculous assumptions like them galloping for 16 hours a day.<P>Maybe the Eagles carried them too. <P>H.C.

This is why, in the end, I always just smile, shake my head, and remember the books.