Every Cameo In The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim Explained

Lo! Before you read on, be warned that this article has some major spoilers for "The War of the Rohirrim."

"The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" charged into theaters in the U.S. on December 13. Despite the limited size and scope of the Warner Bros. project — and the fact that it shifts the franchise from live-action to anime — the movie still manages to work several fun cameos from Peter Jackson's original "Lord of the Rings" trilogy into its story.

Over the two-plus hour run time, we found no less than six cameos — along with an honorable mention, to boot. If you just got out of the theater, are heading to a showing, or you're reading this a few months after release and are getting ready to fire up your streaming experience, here are those special cal- back moments you're going to want to look for.

Let's start with Miranda Otto, the Lady of the Shield-arm herself. Otto played Éowyn, the fearless Shieldmaiden of Rohan, in "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King," where she arose from hopelessness and played a crucial role in the War of the Ring by striking down the Witch-king.

Otto's character doesn't appear on screen in "War of the Rohirrim," which makes sense since the anime takes place nearly 236 years before she's born. Instead, Otto has been brought back to reprise her role as the story's narrator. There isn't a ton of Éowyn's exposition, but you can hear it throughout the movie, from explaining the birth of Hèra to detailing the death of Helm Hammerhand.

The Australian actor's return wasn't a secret, of course. Otto's connection with the project was one of the first things revealed about the project two and a half years ago. Still, hearing Éowyn's calm, serious voice pop in from time to time to tell the story of one of Rohan's most epic tragedies is the perfect way to bring in an actor from the original experience.

Two cameos that were kept secret until just before the film's premiere are Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd's. The actors are famous for their entertaining roles in Peter Jackson's trilogy as the Hobbits Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took, respectively.

In the case of "War of the Rohirrim," though, they don't reprise their roles like Miranda Otto does. This time, they transform their voices into the fierce, guttural dialogue of a pair of Orcs. The cameo is quick (Orcs don't play a major role in this dark Human-against-Human LOTR story). However, when Wrot and Shank (Monaghan and Boyd's Orc characters) pop up on the screen, scrounging near the battlefield and hunting for Rings, you can hear the two stars' voices coming through the snuffling and the growling. Alas, their parts are abruptly cut short when the half-mad Helm comes hurtling down from above, killing them in a blind and desperate rage.

It's noteworthy that these guys show up, but not in their original roles. Looper went on record a year and a half ago saying Monaghan and Boyd should make an appearance as older versions of their characters since they revisit Rohan in old age in the books. Their Orc cameos are still fun, though, and are also ironically connected to the source material in the sense that when Treebeard first catches them in "The Two Towers," he talks about how he almost killed them because he mistook them for little Orcs. It looks like the ancient arboreal leader's words came true in a sense after all.

Yes, you read that header right. The irrepressible Sir Christopher Lee has a long-standing relationship with Tolkien's works. Along with meeting Tolkien in person and reading the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy as an annual tradition for decades, the iconic actor played Saruman the White Wizard in both "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" movie trilogies.

Tragically, Lee died in 2015, less than a year after the last of those movies came out. He's just one of a handful of "Lord of the Rings" actors who have passed away in the 20-plus years since the original trilogy was released. But despite the fact that he's shuffled off this mortal coil, Lee's Saruman makes a quick appearance in "War of the Rohirrim." Not only is the animated version of the Wizard clearly Lee's iteration. He also speaks — and it's Lee's voice that comes out of his mouth.

Producer Philippa Boyens clarified how this posthumous appearance was made possible — and the answer isn't AI. Lee's voice is the real deal since, as she explained, they were able to repurpose an unused take from "The Hobbit" films for the anime. That makes Lee's cameo the first time audiences have heard the actor utter the Wizard's line, despite having passed before this movie had even been started. It's a fun nod to one of cinema's great Middle-earth icons.

This one is less of a cameo and more of a nod, and it involves another "Lord of the Rings" alumni who didn't live to see the premiere of "War of the Rohirrim." The late, great Bernard Hill passed away just months before "War of the Rohirrim" arrived in theaters, and the Rohan-centric story was too on the nose to pass up a nod to the epic cavalry king of Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" films.

As the credits roll, an In Memoriam text block fills the screen that reads, "In memory of our beloved king of Rohan, Bernard Hill, 1944-2024." It's a nice gesture that recognizes the enduring impact that Hill had on Middle-earth fandom. It's also just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the honorary presence of the Théoden actor — if you read between the lines.

In reality, the entire "War of the Rohirrim" experience feels like a giant nod to the Théoden storyline. It has callback lines, like Helm's speech, before charging into battle, and Hèra also channels Théoden's uncompromising fight against evil throughout the movie. Whether you're looking at it in spirit or in text, the anime honors Hill in more ways than one.

Not all cameos have to be human, and "The War of the Rohirrim" has multiple iconic Tolkienian animals pop up on the screen. Horses are everywhere, courtesy of the Rohan storyline, and multiple Oliphaunts also get involved early on and have extensive screen time.

One beast that shows up for a short (but wild) duration is the Watcher in the Water. The multi-armed monstrosity first appears in "The Lord of the Rings" when it attempts to stop the Fellowship of the Ring from getting into Moria. That source material reveals that the creature has been there for years at that point, guarding the watery entrance to the mines. It also explains that the water has crept into the area over time, which makes it feasible to imagine that, hundreds of years earlier, the Watcher in the Water could have been in a different but relatively nearby location — like the forested edges of Rohan. (The other option, of course, is that this is a relative of that older creature.)

This leads to the cameo, where the Watcher attacks a rabid Oliphaunt while chasing Hèra. The powerful sea serpent/octopus hybrid picks up the land mammal, stuffs it into its mouth, and swallows it whole. It's fun to imagine what could have happened to Frodo on the doorstep of Moria if his heroic friends hadn't intervened, right?

Our last cameo is one that takes place in words only. To be clear, Gandalf doesn't appear in this film, but he is named in it. In fact, the brief line where Hèra brings him up references every one of Gandalf's names.

This has been an interesting year for the Gandalf character. Ian McKellen sparked rumors that he might return as the Grey Wizard for another Jackson-helmed Middle-earth movie, and Prime Video's "The Rings of Power" also officially revealed The Stranger to be the show's own younger iteration of Mithrandir. And now, Gandalf has been referenced in an anime film.

When it rains, it pours, right? Unfortunately, we didn't get an actual on-screen appearance of the Wizard like we did with Saruman. But that's okay; with Warner Bros.' "The Hunt for Gollum" movie incoming, there's a good chance we'll get a healthy dose of live-action Gandalf again in the not-too-distant future.