The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ends with a climactic battle outside the Black Gate of Mordor, all as a distraction for Frodo and Sam to make their way to Mount Doom. During this battle, Aragorn was originally planned to face down Sauron, with much of the footage even being shot. However, director Peter Jackson later decided to remove it from the movie.
These days, The Lord of the Rings trilogy comes with a huge amount of behind-the-scenes material, which is just as entertaining as the movies themselves. Among the numerous interviews, it’s revealed the script originally had Aragorn have a heroic moment of fighting off Sauron. Although it sounds pretty epic, there was a reason the sequence didn’t make the final cut.
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In the footage, a bright light shines upon Aragorn and his army, and a ghostly figure steps out. This figure was Annatar, an angelic form of Sauron used to deceive and seduce people. However, Aragorn sees through this deception, and Sauron becomes the hulking figure seen in the opening of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
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