this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2025
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The answer is pretty simple:
Peter Jackson isn't nearly as good at telling a consistent story as Tolkien was. This scene isn't in the books.
I wouldn't say that. I'd say he did a great job adapting text to a visual medium. In the text just having the sword light on fire in preparation works. When you see it played out, everyone is going to ask why he didn't take a swing before leaving.
This is exactly what the previous comment is saying. Jackson changed stuff for the movies to cater to mainstream movie audience expectations, at the cost of the worldbuilding and lore.
Maybe having a guy that's totally invulnerable to the most powerful bad guys is actually not great world building in the first place.
That's the thing though, it's not invulnerability, it's, for lack of a better term, will realized as magic.
In Moria,
This is an invocation - You cannot pass, I am a Maia of Eru, wielder of Narya, Morgoth is gone, Balrog, You cannot pass - and he does, indeed, not pass.
At Gondor, the actual fight starts earlier:
And so,
And, finally,
The night assault was driven by the ringwraith terror. Gandalf doesn't confront the Witch King physically, he denies his terror, and denies him entry, and when he, unwisely, forces a confrontation, his whole spell folds like a cheap suit.
good points but I have a nit to pick. I don't think Flame of Anor refers to Narya, the Ring of Fire. keeping the 3 rings secret was imperative, so much so that Aragorn chides Frodo for mentioning that Galadriel has one, even though that's a pretty obvious guess, and they were completely alone in the wilderness when it was said, and assaulting Lorien to get it would be difficult for Sauron's forces. so for Gandalf to say directly to one of Sauron's highest captains that one of the 3 is directly in front of him, carried by someone unexpected, as easy to take as defeating a single enemy (powerful as that enemy may be), just doesn't make sense
Anor is the sun, so I think Gandalf is just saying "we both wield fire, but mine is bright like the sun, and thus superior to yours which is dark"
Good point, but, was Durin's Bane working for Sauron? I never got the impression Sauron had Balrogs in service, much less that one in particular.
I don't know for sure actually. definitely Sauron would have commanded the Balrogs during the Years of the Trees when Morgoth was imprisoned by the Valar. but then the Balrogs fled and scattered during the War of Wrath when Morgoth was defeated at the end of the first age. and then my knowledge of the 2nd and 3rd age history is pretty fuzzy, so I don't know if Durin's Bane (or any other Balrogs) would have been in contact with Sauron, or if he tried to regather them (which I imagine he would if he knew of any that still existed), or if they were all just isolated in hiding for thousands of years. but in any case, if the confrontation with the Fellowship had gone differently, Durin's Bane might have been flushed out of hiding, and gone out into the world to discover that Sauron was regathering his forces, and in that case I don't see any reason why he wouldn't agree to ally with Sauron
He's not at all invulnerable, in the book they were about to throw down and the Witch King was pretty confident about his chances. Also Gandalf literally gets killed by the Balrog. And beaten and imprisoned by Saruman.
Yes pre-super Saiyan Gandalf is weaker.
The Witch King was still gonna go him.
Especially with prep time.
Both happened before Gandalf got cleaned up though.
HERESY!!!! /s