First of all, I don't remember Treebeard
ever going to Helm's Deep. In fact, he fought in Isenguard and stayed there after the battle. In the books, he was supposed to guard the tower to keep Saruman imprisoned there. He didn't keep Saruman there, (let him and wormtongue leave after getting the tower key) but he never fought at Helm's Deep.
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The
Huorns went to Helm's Deep and wiped out the fleeing Urak-Hai in the Strange Forest (which was actually just the Huorns themselves, if I remember right). But I was talking about the ents.
-The Huorn scene was in the extended edition.
So, a 100 foot wide by 50 foot high wall? I don't remember that, and thus, I am going to say it's BS.
Jackson didn't portray them enough as good-for-nothings.
As you can probably tell, I am irritated after arguing about Lord of the Rings. I am sorry if I offended your sensibilities, but I didn't want to look this stuff up. Or spend 30 minutes reading about Isenguard and Treebeard.
So, look, you are right: The Ents are
suuuuuper cool badass dudes.
Glad you admitted it.
I reread it less than a month ago, and Wiki is utter shite because it's mostly done by people that only watched the movies. And much of what is added into the extended editions only tangentially reflects what Tolkien wrote in most cases, or is cut from whole clothe (the stew scene, Aragorn going over the cliff, and killing the Mouth of Sauron, for example) in others.
As Pippin recounts the events, he tells that Treebeard disappeared with Gandalf and didn't return until morning - this all happened after Treebeard and the Ents had torn through the walls and opened a mountain tunnel to the sky and started to destroy the workings of Saruman and his followers. It was in that time that he led the Huorns to Helm's Deep and they swallowed what army remained, and returned in the morning. Remember - these guys move quickly when they decide to move, and the Huorns move under command.
When the walls are described, they are described as being carved from the trailing ends of the mountains - think about the large roots at the base of a tree that stand above the ground, but signficantly larger and of solid stone, as a mountain range peters out to the plain. I don't recall dimensions in feet being given, but the descriptions were of something that was formidable, into which at least five levels of dwelling and storage spaces had been carved, and through which light did not pass easily from end to end - this wasn't an overpass on an eight lane freeway, but something much more significant.
The predation of the forest by Sarumon had been gradual, but when the Ents heard of the greater events, they called their moot and "quickly" (for ents) chose war.
You can continue to be dismissive, but if you go back and reread the books, I think you'll admit that you're objectively wrong in your assessment.
EDITED: In Fonstad's "The Atlas of Middle-earth", which is based upon Tolkien's drawings, writings and notes, the "Ring of Isengard" is illustrated as approximately 40 yards thick (somewhere over 100 feet, but less than 150) where the gate passage is cut through, and approximately 100 feet high.
Further, Gandalf's riddle at the beginning of the chapter "The Road to Isengard" refers to Treebeard (aka, Fangorn) as the one that caused the Huorns to be present at Helm's Deep. Later in the chapter, after Theoden and Gandalf's party had ridden through the Huorns, Gimli made note of eyes within the woods; Gandalf confirmed that they were the shepherds, or herdsmen, of the forest - in other words, Ents. Thus, they were led to Helm's Deep by Treebeard, with younger Ents left in charge of the Huorns. Upon completing their mission, the Huorns were led back to Fangorn forest by the Ents among them. The numbers were not stated, but the language suggests quite a few.