With The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy recently celebrating its 20th anniversary, lovers of the beloved fantasy-adventure are revisiting the films that made cinematic history. The epic scale of the three movies, including The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, proved that high fantasy is alive and well and in demand for the big screen.

For LOTR fans who just couldn’t get enough, the extended editions of all three films were released on DVD in 2004. Now with the evolution of at-home digital entertainment and streaming platforms, these editions are made available to more audiences than ever. These versions include hours of additional footage, revealing more lore of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth and giving more memorable moments with favorite characters. However, some of the added scenes in The Two Towers, while not altogether poor, felt a bit out of place. Here are the ones that The Two Towers extended edition could have done without.

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Merry And Pippin Drink The Ent Draught

The time spent with Pippin and Merry and the ent, Treebeard, are some of the most charming moments in The Two Towers. Treebeard is as ancient and wise as he is addle-brained, and he provided comic relief as well as words of wisdom. The extended edition of The Two Towers included even more footage of the hobbits and their time with the protector of the forest.

In one sequence, Merry and Pippin are waiting in the woods for their host to return. Merry has been drinking from a spring flowing with ent draught, the magical waters that give the trees their strength and immense height. Before Merry’s eyes, Pippin grows a few inches taller, and a playful fight breaks out over who gets to drink the water. Their conflict is cut short when both the hobbits are tangled up in the roots of an ancient tree which comes to life and swallows them whole. A short time later, Treebeard enters, speaks to the tree, and the hobbits are released safe and sound.

It isn’t a bad scene, per se, but it doesn’t add anything to the film, either. The sequence is a combination of different moments in the original Lord of the Rings novels, including the discarded Tom Bombadil, who saved the hobbits in The Fellowship of the Ring from an angry Old Man Willow. The ent draught is also mentioned in the original book. It’s a nice bit of lore for book lovers, but it’s ultimately superfluous.

Théodred’s Funeral

In The Two Towers, the first show of power from the newly dubbed Gandalf the White was curing King Théoden of the corruption placed on him by Saruman with the help of the slimy Grima Wormtongue. Once Théoden returned to his senses and banished Grima from Rohan, his first question was a heart-breaking one: “Where is my son?”

Théoden’s son, Théodred, had sadly succumbed to fatal wounds after a battle with the Uru’kai. In the original Two Towers, the scene cuts to Théoden mourning at his son’s burial mound. The extended version added a funeral for Théodred, in which the prince’s body is ritually placed within the crypt with all the Rohirrim in attendance. Théoden leads the procession with dignified solemnity, as Eowyn sings a mourning song for her cousin in the ancient Rohirric tongue.

The added scene is an emotional one, and showcases the impressive range of actress Miranda Otto as Eowyn. However, the scene that follows already establishes Théodred's death, therefore the funeral scene is simply unnecessary.

Eowyn Learns Of Aragorn’s Lineage

After Théoden is cured of the evil spell, he orders all the Rohirrim to abandon the capital and make for the fortress of Helm’s Deep. Despite Gandalf’s protestation against the move, the White Wizard asks Aragorn and the other members of the fellowship to accompany the group on their journey while he goes to find help against Saruman’s forces. The sequence in which Aragorn and the others travel with the Rohirrim is intercut with Aragorn’s memories of Arwen, as well as a dream sequence in which she visits him in his sleep.

There is yet another scene added to the extended edition of the film, in which Aragorn and Eowyn have a revealing conversation. As the refugees stop to rest, Eowyn walks through the camp distributing food that she has prepared. She offers the questionable cooking to Aragorn, who politely accepts and takes a bite before attempting to dump the ruffage. Eowyn then asks him about a curious rumor she heard considering his age, which Aragorn confirms, telling her that he is 87 years old. The realization that Aragorn is one of the Dunedain, one of the folk from Numenor who live longer than normal humans, results in her having even more admiration for him.

This is a scene that gives the audience more lore about Aragorn from the books, but serves no real purpose in the movie. One speculation is that the mention of his age establishes a considerable gap between Eowyn and himself, further providing reasons as to why he cannot return her romantic feelings. Still, the movie would be fine without it.

Merry & Pippin Find Saruman’s Secret Stash

It might seem that Merry and Pippin are being picked on by mentioning them twice on this list, but rest assured, these besties are as beloved as any characters in the Lord of the Rings franchise. It’s no wonder that The Two Towers included more footage of the hobbit pair being as deliciously mischievous as ever - but it doesn’t change the fact that some scenes, delightful as they are, are just not needed.

The final act of The Two Towers wraps up the events following the Battle of Helm’s Deep and the Ent attack on Orthanc, with a bit of an extra post script for Pippin and Merry. While wading in the flooded waters at Orthanc, Merry and Pippin observe a frazzled and defeated Saruman surveying the destruction. Commenting on his hungry belly, Pippin notices apples floating in the water and follows their trail. Together, the hobbits find a storeroom filled to the brim with fresh vittles, as well as two barrels of Longbottom leaf, a coveted pipe-weed that only grows in the Shire. When Pippin suggests they should share it with Treebeard, Merry points out that the ent might be offended by the consumption of something that might have been a “distant relative.”

The scene is entertaining and an excellent piece of comic relief. However, the added scene has no important relevance to the story, especially since the ending of the movie trilogy was drastically changed from the books. The discovery of the pipe-weed is a reference to Saruman’s plans for the Shire, which is represented in the books, as well as an entire subplot where Saruman attacks Hobbiton in The Return of the King. Not only that, but at this point, the runtime for the extended edition is around the 3 ½ hour mark, and it’s really time to wrap things up.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic names in entertainment. The franchise started with novels from J. R. R. Tolkien before being adapted onto the big screen by Peter Jackson in one of the most critically-acclaimed film trilogies of all time. There have also been numerous The Lord of the Rings video games of varying quality.

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