[Lord Of The Rings] Celeborn Unplugged [Very long analysis]

Okay, this is the way post 13 should have looked:

How did Gandalf get his staff back from Saruman?

Gandalf has acquired a new staff after escaping from saruman. If you compare the two staves, you will see that the top of them are different. The staff Gandalf has until he is imprisoned by Saruman has a short relatively vertical gnarled top. The staff he has after escaping has a longer more horizontal gnarled top.

Compare these two pictures of his staff from before being imprisoned by Saruman:

To this one after escaping from Saruman:

Regarding the second staff:

The duel between Gandalf and Saruman never occurred in the original story. Gandalf and Saruman were both Istari, members of an Order of Wizardry sent to Middle-Earth to contest the power of Sauron. The Istari were forbidden to match Sauron's (or anyone else's) power with power. In the original story, Gandalf was imprisoned at the top of Orthanc, the tower of Isengard, presumably under escort of Saruman's guards. There was no duel.

Of course, that wouldn't have made for a good movie and the unknowing audience would have been left wondering why Gandalf wouldn't put up a fight. Rather than leaving the appearance that Gandalf is weak in courage, Jackson had to show the willingness to stand his ground, but the inability to do so.

Regarding their staves specifically, their magical powers were connected to the staves they possessed, but they were replaceable when necessary. An explanation that would fit the circumstance is that the staves were bound to the Wizards, but not the Wizards to the staves. After Gandalf escaped he enchanted/consecrated himself another causing the one in Saruman's possession to became powerless, additionally, when Gandalf returns in The Two Towers, he has yet another new staff. It is never directly addressed, but I think that the assumption that they can create their own staff when needed is a safe one.

According to the book, when Gandalf returns and confronts Saruman in Orthanc, Gandalf casts him from the Order of the Istari, and COMMANDS Saruman's staff to break, thus breaking his power. The staff is, therefore, a symbol of the Istari's RIGHT to his power and authority. Saruman could not deny Gandalf's RIGHT to a staff earlier since he had no authority to remove him from the Order. Gandalf later revokes Saruman's RIGHT to a staff, and the one in Saruman's possession immediately breaks.

I don't anticipate this being in the movie again because of the audience considerations, but instead another duel of some sort.

Purists might not like it, but it wouldn't bother me.

Correct, the duel as we saw it was not in the book, but presumably Gandalf was still imprisoned and excaped without it.... so it was really an answer to be found in the book.

He has a new white staff when he emerges in TTT... we shall see if anything is said about that.

I am not a strict purist either. I have liked or understood the liberties taken so far... but I bet they will use the staff breaking if it will at all fit with whatever else they are doing. It would be good film!

The duel could have occurred, "offpage" as it were, since Tolkien never says how Saruman forces Gandalf into the top of the tower (where he would have eventually been picked for "questioning" by Sauron once Sauron found out that Saruman had Gandalf as a prisoner). Something tells me Gandalf didn't go quietly into his prison.

As to the staff, presumably it is merely an outward manifestation of the wizard's inner power. Any suitable staff would do, if the original was lost. What was not with Gandalf at Orthanc was Glamdring; presumably the sword was in storage somewhere, probably in Rivendell, awaiting his return. I wonder why they didn't show Glamdring glowing blue in Moria, however.

I hope not. One duel was enough. Simply showing Gandalf commanding Saruman to stay (and Saruman being powerless to resist), and then breaking his staff by command, would be more than sufficient to show that the power has passed to Gandalf and that Saruman is no longer Gandalf's superior. Of course, rumor is that they are going to kill off Saruman in TTT because they will not have time to handle the Scouring of the Shire in ROTK, so maybe they will have a duel afterall, just to finish Saruman off and get him out of the way.

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