8 Lord of the Rings Trilogy Plot Holes You Can't Overlook
Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel.
A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated.
Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point.
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Published in three separate volumes between 1954 and 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings received a somewhat polarized critical reception upon publication. With time, however, its cult following kept growing; and into the 1960s, praise for it began to shoot into the stratosphere. Today, it's widely regarded as the single greatest, most important, and most influential fantasy novel of the 20th century. As such, fans' expectations for New Line Cinema's film trilogy adaptation were through the roof. Somehow, Peter Jackson and his team delivered.
Taking one of the most universally acclaimed books of all time and turning it into the most universally acclaimed fantasy film trilogy of all time can't have been an easy task, but The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King are, indeed, three of the best-regarded fantasy films in history. They are not perfect, however. In fact, the movies contain eight particularly noteworthy plot holes that, while definitely not deal-breakers, are nevertheless impossible to ignore. These plot holes may be explained or altogether absent either in Tolkien's books or the extended cuts of the films, but for the purposes of this list, the theatrical cuts will be analyzed in a vacuum.
8 Saruman's Unexplained Disappearance
There's just no way around it: the extended cuts are the definitive way to watch The Lord of the Rings. Where some extended cuts throughout film history have mostly added generally inane details to pad the runtime, the extended cuts of the Lord of the Rings films do contain scenes that substantially enrich the world, characters, and story of the movies. For the most part, though, the people in the cutting room floor did a great job at knowing what to keep for the extended cut and what was crucial for the theatrical version—save for one glaring instance.
As a lifelong fan of the source material and the only member of the cast to have met Tolkien while he was still living, Christopher Lee did a magnificent job of elevating the whole material with his imposing portrayal of Saruman, one of the key reasons why these are three of the fantasy movies with the most interesting characters. If you're watching the theatrical cut of the trilogy, however, Saruman simply disappears after the siege of Isengard at the end of The Two Towers. Leaving his death at the hands of Gríma Wormtongue for the extended version of Return of the King—which is without mentioning the complete omission of the Scouring of the Shire from the book—was certainly... a choice.
7 Arwen's Life Being Tied to the Ring
Though the romance between Aragorn and Arwen is thematically vital to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Jackson's movies greatly expanded on the dynamic, taking full advantage of Viggo Mortensen and Liv Tyler's actorial ranges. It's one of the changes from the source material that are most widely accepted as entirely positive, since the relationship between these two characters adds an awful lot to the already-tremendous amounts of heart that the trilogy as a whole emanates. There's one key aspect of Arwen's character, however, that doesn't make all that much sense.
Hugo Weaving's Elrond tells Aragorn at one point that Arwen's life is bound to the fate of the One Ring, and that the elven lady's force is bound to fade as Sauron's power grows. This is a detail that's entirely absent in Tolkien's novel, and it mostly just generates plot problems. It was a plot point clearly meant to give the story a further sense of narrative urgency, but why specifically Arwen? We're never given a satisfying explanation.
6 Gríma Being So Obviously Evil
Brad Dourif's Gríma Wormtongue is one of the unsung heroes (or villains?) of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a character that adds a ton of tonal and narrative texture to The Two Towers yet is rarely given his flowers. The movies' take on this slimy villain is among the many reasons why this is one of those movies that are a masterclass in how to adapt a book, but there's an aspect of Gríma that just doesn't quite work.
That detail, of course, is that the character is very clearly and obviously evil right off the bat, a man who should seem snake-like and utterly suspicious to anyone with eyes to see. In the book, Gríma played a masterfully clever long game of manipulation, slowly poisoning King Théoden's mind while never seeming all that overtly malicious. In the movie, however, one can't help but wonder why or how anyone in Rohan would have kept him around for years.
5 Elrond Not Forcibly Taking the Ring from Isildur
The Fellowship of the Ring opens with one of the most instantly gripping and enthralling introductions in the history of fantasy cinema, a prologue where Cate Blanchett's mesmerizing voice as Galadriel describes the history of the Rings of Power. This leads to how the Last Alliance of Men and Elves defeated Sauron on the slopes of Mount Doom, with Isildur taking the One Ring despite Elrond's verbal opposition to his decision.
In the book, this scene plays out much differently, with a lot of separate layers that aren't quite as clear-cut in the movie. In the movie, Elrond is far more clearly aware of the Ring's power and the implications of not destroying it, and is alone with Isildur inside Mount Doom rather than talking to him in the open battlefield. As such, his decision to simply stand by as Isildur walks away with the Ring, offering no physical opposition of any sort, is puzzling at best.
4 Sauron Not Seeing Bilbo Use the Ring
Before Tolkien revolutionized fantasy literature with The Lord of the Rings, he made his big splash in the literary world with the publication of The Hobbit. Though its film adaptations are nowhere near being among the most consistent movie trilogies of all time like the Lord of the Rings movies are, they nevertheless offer in Martin Freeman's Bilbo a delightful take on the hero whose eyes people first saw Middle-earth through. Before Freeman played him, though, Ian Holm toon on the character for the Lord of the Rings films.
An instant homing beacon for Sauron to pinpoint the wearer's location the way it does in the movies, which problematizes the way Bilbo likes to use the Ring
In Tolkien's books, the One Ring doesn't work like an instant homing beacon for Sauron to pinpoint the wearer's location the way it does in the movies, which problematizes the way Bilbo likes to use the Ring at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. The exact mechanics of wearing the Ring and how it alerts Sauron are never fully explained in the films, and this is the biggest plot hole that such a writing oversight generates.
Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz
Which Lord of the Rings
Character Are You?
One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed
The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide.
💍Frodo
🌿Samwise
👑Aragorn
🔥Gandalf
🏹Legolas
⚒️Gimli
👁️Sauron
🪨Gollum
01
You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders.
02
Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis.
03
Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it.
04
What does "home" mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are.
05
When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not.
06
Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers — it's knowing which questions to ask.
07
How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind.
08
Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen.
09
You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character.
10
When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories.
The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earth
The scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people.
💍 Frodo
🌿 Samwise
👑 Aragorn
🔥 Gandalf
🏹 Legolas
⚒️ Gimli
👁️ Sauron
🪨 Gollum
You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don't have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is.
You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated — but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait; it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you'd do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one.
You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you.
You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late.
Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them.
You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don't do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything.
You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you're not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct.
You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time.
3 The Nazgûl at Osgiliath Not Grabbing the Ring
The Ringwraiths or Nazgûl, the nine mortal men who were corrupted by Sauron and the Rings of Power, are among the most effectively creepy elements of the Lord of the Rings films. They're not villains with any particular amount of depth or complexity, but it's their imposing physical appearance—and, of course, the fell beasts they ride—that make them such a terrifying presence. One of the most memorable Nazgûl scenes is their attack of the ruined city of Osgiliath.
In this sequence, Frodo (under the influence of the Ring) literally holds the Ring out toward a nearby Nazgûl, but after Sam tackles Frodo to save him and Faramir shoots a single arrow at the Ringwraith's fell best, the villain simply flies away, never to return. Since the Nazgûl's sole and entire purpose is to find the Ring and bring it to Sauron, it doesn't make much sense that this one Ringwraith wouldn't come back to complete his mission, bring reinforcements, or at least alert Sauron of the Ring's precise location.
2 The Eagles Not Helping Out More
It's a complaint about the entire Middle-Earth Saga so frequent and so easy to explain with book lore that it has almost become a bit of a meme: If there were giant eagles around who were clearly not on Sauron's side, why didn't they just fly the Fellowship of the Ring directly to Mount Doom? Of course, the easiest answer is that if they had done that, we wouldn't have gotten three of the most thrilling fantasy movies of all time.
In Tolkien's books, the many reasons why the Eagles couldn't have helped the Fellowship are explained with abundant clarity and expansive lore. The movies, on the other hand, never give the Eagles much of a sense of agency, nor explore any of the lore that makes their absence far more logical in the source material. In Jackson's films, they're more so some kind of deus ex machina.
1 Mount Doom Being Unguarded
Since we're talking about what's almost universally accepted as the single greatest fantasy movie franchise in the history of cinema, it would be more than reasonable to say that Jackson's Lord of the Rings films are downright perfect. As abundantly explained before, even its biggest plot holes technically have some mildly satisfying and reasonable explanations. There is one plot hole, however, that's much harder to fill in—and one which actually does come directly from the book.
Once Frodo, Sam, and Gollum get to Mount Doom, both readers of the book and viewers of the movie may be somewhat surprised to find that the place is fully and entirely unguarded. The general explanation is clear: Sauron, in his immense arrogance, assumes that his enemies will use the Ring against him rather than decide to destroy it, and the far more tactically sound decision is to send his army to fight Aragorn at the Black Gate. But not even a pair of orcs to make sure that absolutely no soul gets into the only place where the Ring may be destroyed, however paper-thin the possibility? The movies don't really give any sort of satisfying answer.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.