[HCIsland]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> But, if Theoden was "posessed" by Saruman, what was the point in him having Wormtongue in Theoden's court? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I never got the impression that Saruman was in Theoden's head 24/7. In fact, I think a full possession of Theoden only occured once Saruman sensed what Gandalf was doing and rose to the defence.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> One other gripe with this scene. It strikes me as rather odd that more members of Theoden's court did not attempt to prevent what would seem to them to be an attack by Gandalf upon their King. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I think most of Theoden's men had no love for Wormtongue and always sensed that something was wrong. Certainly Hama did and hence let Gandalf in with his staff against Wormtongue's orders.<P>The scene is far from perfect. I certainly would have liked to have seen much better dialogue between Gandalf and the possessed Theoden, but I think doing it as written in the book would have been confusing. The animated film is much closer to the book here and Theoden comes across as a doddering twit.<P>H.C.