Pippin's decision to go to Isengard.

[Hadhafang]

When I first saw the movie I was upset with the way Jackson handled Pippin and Treebeard. It seemed that Pippin wanted to go to Isengard to get Treebeard to see the destruction and hence get the ents to fight Saruman. However, after seeing it three more times, I am wondering...
Did PJ intend to show Pippin as "finding his courage" as mentioned by Galdriel in PJ's FOTR?

This is what PJ may have meant.

If Pippin knew of the destuction all he would have had to do is tell the Ents. I think that the hobbits were just as surpirsed to see the destruction (in the movie).
I now watch this scene in a new light. I see it as Pippin wanting to go to Isengard with Merry to help fight in whatever way he could (even though he knew it meant his doom). In otherwords he found his courage. The scene has become more powerful for me in this light.

What do you think? Was Pippin trying to trick the Ent? Or did he find his courage?

 

[Gil-Galad]

TTT shows how Merry and Pippin change themselves.Merry realizes that hobbits cannot hide they have ehough power to do something or at least to try to do something.
At the same time Pippin makes probaly his first clever decision.

 

[Foe-Hammer]

I agree that pippens decision was out of character according to what we had seen up to that point.

When M&P were snatched they knew frodo was leaving and boromir dead. the also knew someone was trailing them. The knew saruman was after them and that they wanted to avoid Isengard at all costs.

A few things I wonder about.

Unless I'm forgetting something they knew nothing of the battle of helms deep and had no reason to go TO Isengard.

I can't tell what pippen is thinking but you can tell he had an epiphany of sorts and asked to go to Isengard. I think he could see it but wouldn't know if what he was seeing was a safe place or no. And his friends aren't there so why go?

So I have deduced that gandalf the white told them something that caused them to act in that way. Something about the direction "south".

 

[Nardil]

Originally posted by Foe-Hammer
Unless I'm forgetting something they knew nothing of the battle of helms deep and had no reason to go TO Isengard.

Well they did see Saruman's army marching off to battle. True they didn't know about Helm's Deep.
It is hard to say whether this is a deviation from his character or rather a change in his character. Since we don't see him afterwards there is now way of knowing. We'll probably have to wait for the next film to know what was going on in his mind. I would guess that he wanted to do SOMETHING and decided that Orthanc would be the only place he could try to help.

 

[Foe-Hammer]

I missed that part. I'll have to pay close attention when I see it the 4th time.

 

[FREEDOM!]

I believe he found his courage. After being captured by the orcs, i think he became more courageous because he and merry escaped from the orcs. The only thing that i think would have lowered his courage now is sauron himself.

 

[Foe-Hammer]

I can buy that but WHY isengard and not, rohan or gondor? Surely they didn't feel that they could do something to saruman all by their lonesome?

I think the EE will have gandalf giving them some sort of cryptic message about following you nose south or something to that effect.

 

[Odo Proudfoot]

I think he saw the destruction of the forest around Isengard when sitting on Treebeard's shoulder as they went to the Entmoot. Later he suddenly realised that he could use this to convince Treebeard that this war is also the Ents war. Rather than telling him about it, he reckoned that if Treebeard would suddenly stand face to face with the destruction, he would get mad enough to attack Saruman after all.

Anyway, that's how I see it after three viewings of TTT.

Odo

 

[Foe-Hammer]

That makes sense.

 

[LordOfMoria]

i dont know, maybe its something that you have to thin of why he did it. After listening to all ur comments, i came to the conclusion that they all make since that Pippin found his courage or just wanted Treebeard to see the destruction then fight! I think they both come into play! Cause Pippin found his courage by taking the chance that Treebeard might not fight at all. But then he made a wise decision about goin their to let treebeard see what has happened. But How did Pippin know isengard looked like that? It couldnt of been where the Uruk-hai emptied out of isengard cause then Treebeard would have seen it too!!!

 

[Foe-Hammer]

Another thing I forgot was that pippen finds his courage on the pellenor fields.

 

[Morgaphry]

I thought that Pippin really became a serious character in this film
and his plan to show Treebeard the extent of the damage to Fangorn Forest was very smart indeed.
He didn't mean to trick Treebeard into attacking Isengard, but to show that they are part of the war and as guardians of Fangorn they must defend it and Saruman had waged war on the Trees and Ents.

Morgaphry