Gandalf Vs. The Witch King

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Mugwump

...lessening Gandalf and magnifying Aragorn, to give his ascension to the throne the cinematic punch--and justification--it needed.

Perhaps if PJ had chosen to make Aragorn the Chieftain of the Dunedain as he was in the books, rather than an uncertain, friendless loser as in the movies, he would not have had to make such a daft change in the 3rd movie.

Originally Posted by JoltFlame

Would that not also be the case if Peter Jackson chose to end their confrontation in favour of Gandalf?

Why do either? It was unnecessary. It was a deliberate manipulation by the director, like many throughout the films, that was inelegant and presupposed that the audience was too stupid to actually comprehend a more sophisticated and subtle plot.

Originally Posted by JoltFlame

I believe the scene clearly describes the superiority of The Black Captain to Gandalf.

I hate to reiterate what already has been posted ad nauseam, but the text gives no such impression. By the time of the confrontation, Gandalf has chased off several Nazgul on Weathertop, defeated a Balrog, been ressurrected by the Valar and broken Saruman's staff. What had the WiKi done previously to garner any acclaim? Let's see, he ran from Glorfindel on two occasions, been stabbed at by a Hobbit on Weathertop, and was drowned in a river. WiKi went on to be destroyed ignobly by an untested woman and a wounded Hobbit. So much for superiority.