Canis said:
And that would be good why? If there's one way the movies improved on the books, it's the removal of the truly contrived and extraneous Scouring of the Shire.
The movie of Return of the King has its faults, but I think this is one thing they definitely got right.
Sorry, but I hardly see the Scouring as contrived or extraneous.
Related to its being contrived: We know from FotR and TT that Saruman has learned of the Shire from Gandalf, and that he believes that the Ring is there. He sends mannish half-orc spies to Bree and the Shire to seek out the Ring, long before the book opens. The Miller's son, Ted Sandyman, is likely an agent of Saruman, and he has agents in the Shire who are sending him Longbottom Leaf. Indeed, within the context of the books, Sauron is
decades behind Saruman in learning about the Shire.
On top of this, Saruman knows that Gandalf's task is the fight against Sauron. He knows this because it was to be his task as well. So, once that fight is done, Gandalf's role in Middle Earth is pretty much over. Saruman knows that Gandalf will not oppose him in the Shire, so he has only the "rat folk of the Shire" to deal with.
Finally, Saruman is vengeful. In the book, when they meet him on the road, he telegraphs his plans even though the hobbits do not understand him.
Related to extraneous:
Destroying the Ring was not meant to destroy all evil forever, regardless of what the movies implied. Destroying the Ring merely removed one great evil. The Scouring of the Shire acts as a reminder that evil still exists in Middle Earth. As Sauron was a shadow of Morgoth, so Saruman is a shadow of Sauron. The implication is that, as the Valar's powers (inherent in both Wizards and Elves) are withdrawn from Middle Earth, those who remain are still challenged within their measure. The Music of Anwe goes on. The discordant notes of Morgoth are diminished, but still part of the Music.
Also, the War was not only in Gondor and Rohan, but nearly everywhere in Middle Earth. What happens in the Shire is a demonstration that
everyone was threatened, not just the people that we see. Unlike the movie, Tolkein made certain that the reader understood that war was brewing everywhere. The Elves would not come, for there was war on the borders of Mirkwood and Lothlorien. The dwarves were beseiged in the Lonely Mountain. The entire world was affected.
The necessity of Scouring of the Shire was a small sacrifice to remove so large an evil as the One Ring, but no victory can come without sacrifice, and it was not Frodo's sacrifice alone. The Scouring showed how the characters had grown through their adventures. It also showed that they understood the lesson of the book: that even the small and weak can stand up to, and overcome, great evil.
RC