Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies are considered perhaps the greatest cinematic adaptation ever created, but even those epic masterpieces are not without flaws, as is the case with the plot hole they caused regarding the Witch-king of Angmar’s death. Sauron’s most fearsome and powerful soldier was every bit as evil as the Dark Lord himself, and in the movies, was even powerful enough to break Gandalf’s staff. The greatest of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king was believed to be all but unkillable, which made his demise at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields so noteworthy.

The Witch-king of Angmar fell once and for all after being stabbed in the face by Éowyn, niece of King Theoden and shieldmaiden of Rohan. However, she was not solely responsible for his demise; Meriadoc Brandybuck provided her with an opening by stabbing the Witch-king in the leg with an enchanted blade, weakening him. Unfortunately, Merry’s courageous attack reveals a plot hole specifically related to the Witch-king, and how the death depicted in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King shouldn’t have been possible.

Merry & Pippin Getting Elven Daggers In The LOTR Movies Creates A Witch-king Plot Hole

Galadriel’s gift was different in the books

While it’s difficult to make out precisely what it is Merry stabs the Witch-king with on the Fields of Pelennor, it’s clearly some sort of dagger or smaller blade, and is presumably the Noldorin dagger that Galadriel gave him in Lothlórien. There is debate over whether Merry would still have it at that point, but no matter the blade’s origin, the plot hole that it creates still exists. The Witch-king notoriously had an enchantment on him (placed by Sauron) that any blade that touched him would shatter, and its wielder would be poisoned, which is what happens in the movie.

In Tolkien’s original novels, Merry stabs the Witch-king with a Barrow-blade, a dagger crafted by Aragorn’s Dúnedain ancestors which was imbued with a special enchantment specifically designed to assist in battling forces from Angmar. Though the enchantment was intended for evil agents of past centuries, the magic was still in place when Merry wielded it against the Witch-king. It was truly the only blade that could have caused the necessary damage to the wraith, which is where the plot hole lies.

In the books, the Hobbits receive the Barrow-blades from the mysterious Tom Bombadil, the god-like entity who comes to the aid of Middle Earth’s heroes periodically. With Tom Bombadil being cut from Peter Jackson’s movies, Merry and Pippin’s Barrow-blades are replaced by the Noldorin daggers, and they are delivered by Galadriel, not Tom Bombadil. Unfortunately, replacing the one blade that can actually harm the Witch-king creates a major plot hole, when a different blade is used to a similar effect.

Galadriel Possessing A Barrow-Blade Doesn’t Make Sense

The powerful weapons were forged by men

By cutting Tom Bombadil, Peter Jackson made it all but impossible for the Hobbits to reasonably get access to the Barrow-blades. They happen upon them essentially by chance in the books, as Bombadil produced them from a tomb in which the Hobbits happened to be imprisoned. Galadriel likely would not have been in possession of one, as the blades were forged by the men of the North, and there was no logical way or reason for the highly valuable and powerful blades to have made their way to the Galadhrim.

Furthermore, if the elves had access to a set of blades capable of breaking the Witch-king’s magic, there is no chance that they would have been given away as trinkets to a pair of Hobbits. They would have put them to far better use over the centuries, even more so at the end of the Third Age when Sauron was returning to power. The death of the Witch-king of Angmar is one of the most triumphant scenes in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it’s unfortunately only made possible with the help of a massive plot hole.