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5) He did what he felt, deep down, was the right thing to do. Frodo had gotten safely away, Boromir had almost conveniently fallen in battle, Aragorn was responsible for the Company since Gandalf's fall, the clear path of pursuing the Uruk-Hai had been laid out before him
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This leads me into some minor changes PJ made that actually helped me as a Tolkien reader. Believe it or not, before the movies came out Boromir was NOT my favorite character, not even a guy I thought too highly about. Then the movie comes out and I think it shows Boromir in a different light. Not just as a warrior who had a weak will, but as a good brother, a good son, and a good companion ( if to no one else, atleast Merry and Pippin). Then I swiped off them dusty books and realized what I had missed before about Boromir. Jackson presented this new side of Boromir, with scenes not described in detail in the book, but only briefly mentioned. His friendship with his brother, a guardian-like figure to Merry and Pippin.
To sort of connect this with Aragorn, again PJ adds in dialogue that was not in the book, but I think it suits the character of Boromir, and we get to see a bit of "bookish 'Gorn."
The memorable speech in Lorien, with that glorious, yet depressing music in the background, "One day our paths will lead us there, and the tower guard shall take up the call, the Lords of Gondor have returned." All the way to his death, which is only brief in the book, but Jackson extends it.
This is a key moment in Aragorn (in the movie), a changing point within his character. At first we see him reluctant to claim kingship, he's afraid of becoming like Isildur. I mean up until the end of FOTR Aragorn practically said "no" to whenever Minas Tirith was brought up. We have this throughout, where Agent Elrond says "He has chosen
exile," and Aragorn just doesn't want to go to Minas Tirith. Then we have Boromir's death and the changing point in Aragorn. We get another one of them all important oaths, this time from Aragorn to Boromir..."I will not let the White City fall, nor OUR people fail."
Some wonderful I wouldn't call "drastic" change, but some expansions on scenes briefly alluded to in the books, or possibly not even concurrent (is that a word?) to the books.