Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd in the extended edition of ‘The Two Towers’

How did it happen in the book?
Gandalf and Théoden with his men have arrived in Isengard and they go to talk with Treebeard. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli stay behind with Merry and Pippin and they want to know what has happened after they parted at Amon Hen. First they have a comfortable moment eating and smoking pipe-weed and then Merry and Pippin tell what happened to them while they were captives of the Orcs and they tell about Treebeard and the Entmoot.
What happened when the Ents attacked Isengard is described here in detail through Merry and Pippin. They tell how the Ents marched to Isengard with Huorns and that they saw Saruman‘s armies marching away to fight in Helm’s Deep. Merry and Pippin stayed away from the events but they saw the Ents breaking the gates of Isengard driving Saruman into his tower and how Saruman didn’t know what to do when the Ents fiercely attacked the Orthanc. The hobbits found a place where to rest but they could hear how the attack continued and they saw Huorns all round Isengard finishing the Orcs. They also tell how the Ents broke the damns making Saruman’s machines stop and Isengard to flood and steam.

Merry and Pippin also say that Gandalf came to Isengard at the night of the battle of Helms Deep. He had urgent things to talk with Treebeard and this was the first time the hobbits saw him after he fell in Moria. Gimli wonders what happened to Wormtongue and Merry and Pippin tell that Grima rode to Isengard at the morning of the day in question. Terrified of what he saw he had tried to turn back but Treebeard caught him and Grima was now in the tower with Saruman. Everything else is now clear but Aragorn still wonders how there’s leaf from Southfarthing in Isengard and he plans to mention this weird thing to Gandalf also.


Ted Nasmith – The Wrath of the Ents (detail)

How did it happen in the movie?
This chapter as such didn’t make it to the movie. The basis of it, meeting of the friends, happens only in the beginning of ‘The Return of the King’ and when they meet they don’t spend time eating and telling their stories but they all immediately go to see Treebeard and Saruman. But the Ents’ attack to Isengard described by Merry and Pippin is shown in The Two Towers. And earlier in Fangorn Forest Merry and Pippin saw Saruman’s armies marching towards Helm’s Deep and when Treebeard called the Ents to the battle the hobbits saw the trees moving. In the end of The Two Towers there’s a scene where the hobbits find the food storage and the Longbottom Leaf that are mentioned in the book.

Changes
– Orcs aside, there are also lots of Men in Isengard but in the movie there seems to be only Orcs.
– In the movie Grima rides to Isengard before the battle of Helm’s Deep when he should have arrived there only after the battle.
– In the movie Gandalf sees Merry and Pippin already in Fangorn Forest and he obviously doesn’t drop in on Isengard before going to Helm’s Deep.
– In the movie a bit screen time had been given to Merry and Pippin as they participated to the attack with the Ents throwing stones from Treebeard’s shoulders while in the book they follow the events from a distance.

Borrowed lines
Treebeard’s “They have business with the Orcs” in the movie is actually Merry’s assumption of the events in the book when he’s telling how he saw the Huorns moving. The rest of the sentence “My business is with Isengard tonight. With a rock and stone” is Treebeard’s own line from the book.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Alternate Viewpoints/Questions [Submit Viewpoint/Question]

Related Information
Related Books vs. Movies Articles:
- 3.04. Treebeard by Eressëa
- 3.07. Helms Deep by atalante_star

- Merry and Pippin in TTT
- Treebeard


Interesting Links:
Our Gallery has has screencaps of the theatrical version, as well as the extended edition.

A transcript of 'The Lord Of the Rings: The Two Towers' can be found in our Film Fun & Facts section.

A summary of 'The Lord Of the Rings: The Two Towers' can be found in Elrond's Library.

Some articles that are related to this sequence:
- The Middle-earth Section has articles about Saruman and The Ents and the Entwives.
- The Poems Section has a collection of Songs by the Ents.
- Under Film Articles you can find an article posing the question Merry and Pippin: Comic Relief or Independent Characters? about Merry and Pippin in FOTR and TTT.

Forum threads related to this sequence:
- You can discuss this sequence in detail in TTT Sequence by Sequence #13: The Battle of Helms Deep/The Storming of Isengard, TTT EE Sequence by Sequence #2: Merry, Pippin & Treebeard and ROTK Sequence by Sequence #2: Isengard / Party at Edoras / Palantír in the Movies Forum. There’s also a thread about Merry and Pippin.
- The Book Club has a thread about this chapter here.

Take a look at how some artists saw this part in the book:
- The Entmoot by Per Sjögren
- At the Entmoot by Stephen Hickman
- The Entmoot by Michael Kaluta
- Entmoot by Ted Nasmith
- Entmoot by Darrell Sweet
- Huorn by Andrew Mockett
- The March of the Ents by Ian Miller
- The Ents by David Wyatt
- Ents at Isengard by John Howe
- Isengard Attacked by Aleksandr Kortich
- The Ent Attack on Isengard by Ian Miller
- The Ents Attack Isengard by Joan Wyatt
- The Wrath of the Ents by Ted Nasmith
- Wrath of the Ents by per Sjögren
- Saruman of Many Colours by John Howe
- Orthanc by John Howe
- Orthanc by Monteagle
- Isengard by Alan Lee
- The Ruins of Isengard by Michael Herring
- Meriadoc, some-time doorwarden of Isengard by Michael Green
- Flotsam & Jetsam by Anke Eissmann

Looking for something more creative - you may find it here: