In fantasy television, it’s commonplace for us to go episodes without seeing side characters, and jumping from one storyline to another happens frequently. However, in a fantasy film, I find it harder to do this, because the time we’re allowed with these characters isn’t eight to ten hours, it’s three or less. So, when I rewatched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – which is part of my journey to rewatch all the LOTR movies for a second time – I was a bit bothered by how many storylines were going on, and there was one specifically that I desperately wanted more of.
Two Towers has three main plots going on – Sam, Frodo and Gollum traveling toward Mordor, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf (occasionally) in Rohan, and Merry and Pippin’s adventures with Treebeard in the Fangorn Forest after they escape the Orcs. Notably, I put “occasionally” by Sir Ian McKellen’s character, because he’s not with any of these groups for the majority of the theatrical release version of this film. And I wish we could have seen what he was up to when he wasn’t on screen.
Yes, Gandalf’s Big Reveals Were Epic
Let me make it abundantly clear quickly, I agree with reviews about Two Towers, it’s amazing and one of the best LOTR movies. Also, the small amount of screentime Gandalf has is made up for (sort of) by his truly epic moments.
Whether you know it’s coming or not, the reveal that he’s alive and back as Gandalf the White is breathtaking. Plus, hearing his harrowing journey about how he got back to the Fellowship is incredible, and it reminded me of the true hero he is.
Then, when he gets to Rohan with Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas, the way he goes about saving Théoden and getting Saruman out of him is iconic. Basically, he bonks him on the head with his staff, does his magic, and saves the King of Rohan.
Finally, he leaves for five days (more on that later), and then he comes back with Éomer and a whole bunch of men to save the day.
Now, all of this is epic, and McKellen’s performance and chemistry with the rest of the Lord of the Rings cast is magical (pun intended). Honestly, he steals the show. However, what I really wanted was to see more of him!
However, I Wanted To See What Gandalf Was Up To When He Wasn’t With The Other Main Characters
Here’s the breakdown of Gandalf’s screen time to prove part of my point. He officially enters as Gandalf with a glow-up about 43 minutes in. Then, he’s traveling with the guys to Rohan, we meet his new horse and we see him save Théoden. About one hour and ten minutes in, tells Aragorn he’ll be back in five days and leaves. Then he bursts back onto the scene with Éomer when there are only 20 minutes left in the film.
Two Towers (the theatrical version) is three hours long, in the grand scheme of it, Gandalf was in maybe one-third of it. He’s my favorite character, and I would have loved for him to be around more, and I think it would have been fun to see where he was while he was off on his adventure.
I know we see a bit more of Gandalf in the extended version of the film. However, it’s still not enough. I would have loved to watch his interaction with Merry and Pippen toward the start, and you better believe I wanted a whole subplot of him going to fetch Karl Urban’s character.
However, that’s all been left to the imagination.
Now, I know less is more, and not having Gandalf around made me really appreciate his few massive moments. Plus, not knowing what he was doing during those five days, made the reveal at the battle better. Still, though, Ian McKellen is such a star in this role, and I needed more of him in this movie!
Thankfully, Gandalf appears in both the OG trilogy and The Hobbit movies – McKellen even said he’d be down to play the wizard in the Gollum movie if he can – so we do get plenty of him. However, this rewatch of Two Towers made me really realize how little he’s in that movie, and I missed him.
To go back and see what I mean about this lack of Gandalf, you can stream The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with a Max subscription or Amazon Prime subscription.
