Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bob Aberton" data-source="post: 1280870" data-attributes="member: 1518">With regards to Denethor's madness, I will try to look at it as though I never read the books (although I have read them) and thus don't know that he had a Palantir.I would say that to the non-JRRT-reading moviegoer, Denethor's madness was a combination of the death of his favorite son, the coming necessity of giving up rulership of most powerful kingdom in Middle-Earth, followed by the apparent death of his other son, and the apparently imminent destruction of Gondor (for which he will go down in history as the ruler that lost Gondor to the Enemy).  To Denethor, all of this basically amounts to the end of world (or at least the end of that part of the world that matters to him).  So he goes crazy.That's a pretty difficult series of losses and defeats to go through in just a few months (or weeks, I can't remember which...).  Is it any wonder he committed suicide?Of course, if you know about the Palantir, that's just one more cause to add to those listed above.And anyway, did anyone notice the irony in having the same shot showing Denethor falling to his death also reveal the cavalry of Rohan preparing to break the siege?  If he'd just stuck around a few minutes longer...but as it is, he kills himself right at the moment of what could have been his glorious victory for Gondor.</blockquote>