Book Three and Book Four

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

It calls into question the appearances of Elrond and Galadriel in The Two Towers. That whole 'Elves' bit in the middle of the film took up quite a bit of time.<P>Could they have been missed out? Granted, Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett are two of the biggest stars in the cast, so leaving them out of the middle film might seem strange. But would it really have been detrimental? Did Elrond and Galadriel really benefit from being in The Two Towers? Perhaps Elrond did, with the Arwen saga, but Galadriel......hmm.<P>I think that, in order to leave them out of the middle film, their characters and the storylines surrounding them would have to be absolutely spot on in The Fellowship. I don't think The Fellowship even came close to emphasising just how important Elrond and Galadriel were in Middle Earth.<P>If they had been dealt with accordingly, their impact in Return of the King might have been stronger. Or would it have been more confusing as no-one would remember who they were? In the book they were never directly involved in TTT, however their names were dropped ocassionally.<P>Maybe this would have allowed more Ent time which was arguably more important than a set-up to get more Elves into the story (Helm's Deep)