Time to fix Gandalf versus the Witchking

[obloquy]

Originally Posted by CSteefel

Others have mentioned as well the letter in which Tolkien says that the WK was invested with new power shortly by Sauron shortly before the last battle on the Pelennor. Not sure if you are denying this point, or objecting to the use of the phrase "transferring power". Perhaps the better phrase would be that Sauron gave the WK new power...

Tolkien nowhere states that Sauron gave the Witch-King more power. I know the letter you're referring to, but you misunderstand it.

As I mentioned in passing and others mentioned more specifically, PJ takes virtually verbatim the scene from Tolkien in which Gandalf is resurrected. How does a resurrection, following as I say the script written by Tolkien, jive with a cranky old wizard. This is clearly either a resurrected Maia, or another higher order being (like Glorfindel). And if this was not enough, the scene in which Gandalf (now the White Wizard) shows himself to Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas is a clear statement that a higher order being (again a Maia in fact) has returned, because it is stated he is now "Saruman as he should have been". And if this is not enough, we later see Gandalf reinforce this point by breaking Saruman's staff. Hardly your typical cranky wizard.

In fact, the original point was that PJ has no coherent and consistent representation of Gandalf, particularly after he returned. You cannot borrow entire scenes from Tolkien implying clearly the return of a Maia, and then drop it suddenly in front of the Gates of Minas Tirith...

The film resurrection of Gandalf implies only a resurrection; his return as The White, perhaps, an enhancement. Neither reveals Gandalf's true nature as a primeval demigod of Sauron's peerage, and therefore Gandalf remains only what the filmmakers want him to be. Since they define him for the films, his enhancement is not incongruous with his defeat by the WK. The scene simply implies a new power in the WK that Gandalf was not expecting, and also that Gandalf's enhancement was only to some tier of potency above his incarnation as The Grey and below the new-and-improved WK's.