A painfully slow realization regarding RotK

[DARTHMADLER]

Spoilers for the 5 of you who haven't seen it yet.
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What happenned to Frodo's Mythryl armor? When he got stung by Shelob shouldn't his armour have protected him?

[Al]

To quote Orson Welles:

Don't you ever tell anyone of this.

Al

[Head Mutant]

Because threads on Mithril never die, they just get resparkled. Beats me, man. Sam probably stole it, with his whole Frodo fetish, or maybe to sell it on hobbitBay.

[Lissa]

It was only a shirt. Did it show exactly where Frodo got stung? Maybe Shelob got him in the, erm, thigh.

[PoolMan]

"OOoooh... a mithril codpiece! That is a kingly gift!"

I'd have to watch it again, but when the orcs in Orthanc take the shirt off him and fight over it, don't they take it with them down into the fight? I imagine it would be pretty easy to lose then.

[DARTHMADLER]

Yes comrade Pool but they took it off him AFTER he was stung!

[druidGirl]

Actually, I noticed that the first time I saw the movie. So did my stepmom. When Frodo is all half nekkid in the tower he has a weird circle wound on his chest. It would be just slightly above the neckline of the Mithril shirt. I assumed that's where he was stung. Either that or he was hit much lower. Since the actually puncture isn't seen on-screen, we can easily use our imaginations to explain it away.

[DARTHMADLER]

Actually, I think that was the scar he got from being stabbed by the Cave Troll in the Fellowship.

[druidGirl]

No. The cave troll stabbed him in his gut, lower left side of his body. That circle mark was up on his chest area.

[Magill]

I thought that "weird circle mark" was from the Ring. You know, it being heavy and all.

As for where he was stung--it was somewhere in the back, so we wouldn't see it in the shots of him in Orthanc.

[DARTHMADLER]

In the back? Wouldn't we have seen the stinger then?

[PoolMan]

Frodo's got three distinctly visible marks with his shirt off.

1) The Morgul stab wound from Weathertop, near his left collarbone.

2) The 'wear pattern' of the ring's chain, which I think is a brilliant touch, all around his neck.

3) Some circular scar, about the size of a quarter, on the right side of his torso. I tend to think this is supposed to be the cave troll stab mark, although I agree it seems to be in the wrong spot.

I would also agree that Frodo was stabbed somewhere on his front side, because as Comrade Madler points out, if it was the back, you'd be able to see Shelob behind Frodo while he's busily foaming at the mouth. Also, the sting comes just as Frodo turns to face the path once again.

And good point, he should have had the shirt on at that point in time. So, I guess it WAS a groin-stab! Yikes! Mithril athletic supporter for one, please.

(Drat. A continuity error. Have Peter Jackson killed.)

[Head Mutant]

Shelob was above Frodo when she stabbed him, so not seeing her behind him afterwards doesn't say one thing or another. I just assumed she was still above there (particularly because right after, she's picking him up and webifying him). I vote back. And buttocks. And the stinger didn't need to go through completely (a la Futurama).

[PoolMan]

Head said:

not seeing her behind him afterwards doesn't say one thing or another.

Well, it wouldn't if that stinger weren't attached to an abdomen that was about six feet across. Tough to hide that behind a slim lil' hobbit.

It would really help to see this again. I'm replaying it in my head the way I think it happened. Hurry up that DVD, Peter!

[Magill]

Well, it seems even more unlikely that she stung him in the front, as I don't recall seeing a big abdomen come between Frodo and the camera. And we did see her behind and above him (I remember some people in the theater gasping).

This does seem like it will turn into a mithril debate (though I must confess, I don't know exactly what that's about, as I didn't read these boards back then).