Does Aragorn have a lapse in judgment or is there another explanation?

Question

NOTE I've edited to add further logic to my question based off the first answer given.

What Seems a Correct Statement

In the LotR movie The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn makes the statement upon exiting Moria that they must move quickly, because "by nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs" (see a few seconds of the clip). This makes sense, given that orcs have issues with sunlight, and so would likely wait until night to move out of Moria.

Now it is granted that orcs can move in sunlight (based off the preceding link), but the article linked to by that link states: "They [orcs] preferred to act at night but they like all living creatures needed light to see by." I'm not sure how official that statement is, but within the movie universe, the scene of the orcs surrounding the group shows none with light on them, indicating they can move and see rather well in the dark.

One answer has ventured that the reference to nightfall had nothing to do with the fact of darkness, but rather the time frame it would take to have the hills swarming. This may be so, but given the rapid movement of orcs in Moria when they surround the group, and that one would generally assume that numerous other cracks and crevices known to the orcs near the exit of Khazad-dûm (whose bridge to the exit had been severed) would not prevent their more "immediate" (rather than by nightfall) swarming of the hills, it seems questionable. So evidence that this delay till nightfall was for reasons other than sunlight needs justification.

What Seems a Questionable Statement

After leaving Lothlórien, and making camp by the riverside at Parth Galen ("on the western shore of [lake] Nen Hithoel"), Aragorn says "we cross the lake at nightfall." Legolas is uneasy and says they must move on, but Aragorn says "No. Orcs patrol the eastern shore [of lake Nen Hithoel]. We must wait for cover of darkness" (watch about 50 seconds of this clip for both statements).

Given orc nature in avoiding sunlight and the apparent ability of orcs to see reasonably well in the pitch dark of a cavern (at least in the movie universe), it would seem to me that darkness is less of a "cover" to orc eyes than daylight, for in daylight the orcs are less likely to even be "outside" to see anything. This is not to mention that the group themselves would be less likely to spot the orc patrols in the dark, not to mention that the orc patrols would likely at least increase in the dark.

My Questions

Is this plot element explainable in the movie universe or is it an error in the movie plot? Does the book have a similar apparent contradiction?

By my logic presented, it appears to be a lapse in Aragorn's judgment (in universe), one to which no one calls him out on. But perhaps there is some logic in universe regarding orc nature or habits that explains Aragorn's statement, making it one of good judgment.

Though the question arises from the movie, answers from the book and other Tolkien lore are acceptable and desired for support of answers.

Answer 1

Aragorn was not making a mistake, for a couple reasons:

He wasn't referencing the time of day as anything of importance in the first quote you shared. He references that "by nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs" not because they come out at night, but because the orcs are aware of the Fellowship's presence there and will be searching and hunting them.

The second quote is a reference to safety and moving under the cover of darkness. Orcs patrolling during the daytime would easily spot a group of travelers making their way across the river. Waiting till nightfall would give them the safety they needed to cross unseen.

This is in the context of what is said in the movie. Orcs don't only come out at night, based on other parts of the movie series, and also parts of the Hobbit movies.

Answer 2

The Parth Galen scene is quite different in the book:

• The company arrive at evening time and camp on the west side of the river.
• There is no reference to either Orcs or crossing the lake.
• They sleep for the night, taking turns to watch.
• During Frodo's watch Aragorn wakes; he is uneasy; Aragorn and Frodo have a short conversation and Frodo draws Sting to see if it can detect Orcs. The edges glow dimly: "'Orcs!' he said. 'Not very near, and yet too near, it seems'".
• The night passes without incident.
• In the morning after breakfast they hold a debate to decide which way to go: to Minas Tirith or to Mordor.
• Frodo asks for some time alone to think; he wanders off.
• After a while Boromir leaves the others and follows Frodo.
• The Fellowship Breaks.

A crucial difference between the two is that in the book they had not yet decided which way they were going to go whereas in movie-land Aragorn had already determined that "we approach Mordor from the north".

There is therefore no apparent contradiction regarding the nature of Orcs to be dealt with in the book, because there's nothing to contradict.

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For the sake of completeness, Aragorn's statement after Moria was also different in the book and it seems to make sense to provide it:

The Sun sinks early. The Orcs will not, maybe, come out till after dusk, but we must be far away before nightfall. The Moon is almost spent, and it will be dark tonight.

Here there is considerably less sense of urgency, and the company even takes the time to stop and tend Frodo's wound, a scene that takes place within Moria and before Gandalf's fall in the movie.

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The unfortunate conclusion is that the movie universe has jumbled up plot elements so much that looking for consistency or explanation is probably futile, and in many cases looking for explanations for movie-plot from the book is definitely futile.

Answer 3

I always thought that in Moria they were surrounded by goblins, not orcs, and those are related, but different creatures. By the way goblins are depicted to have large eyes; a sign of a nocturnal creature. Moria is dimly lit because dwarves dug to magma below, and build light-conducting shafts from surface.

After Lothlórien they were chased by Uruk-hai, which are related to orcs, but different creatures. They boast daylight lifecycle and stop to camp by evening.