The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
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| The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Photo of Blu-ray cover taken by Kate Dorsey |
With
the inadvertent help of the Master, Bard is able to free himself. He runs to a watchtower
where he tries to kill Smaug with an arrow. Except, Smaug’s scales are too
tough for the typical arrow. Bard soon runs out of arrows, except for one.
Bard’s
son, Bain (John Bell), brings him the Black Arrow. It is an arrow Bard’s
ancestor used to wound Smaug many, many years before. The wound is still open. Bard
finds it, aims the arrow, and kills Smaug, ending his reign of terror.
The
town destroyed, the townspeople must find a way to put their lives back together.
Bard decides to go to the dwarves in the Lonely Mountain and ask for the money
the dwarf king, Thorin Oakenshield II (Richard Armitage), promised the town in
exchange for their help in his troop reaching the mountain.
Thorin
refuses to give what he promised; which does not come as a surprise to the elf
king Thranduil (Lee Pace). He has come for a treasure in the Lonely Mountain he
says belongs to him and his people. Unlike, Bard, though, Thranduil has zero
expectations Thorin will simply hand over the treasure. He has arrived with his
army to convince Thorin to relinquish what in the mountain is not rightly his.
Nothing
convinces Thorin to do what is right. He is going mad with the allure of power
and treasure. Thorin is so bad, he starts to see his most loyal as enemies. Still,
he demands they find the treasure he desires most. The Arkenstone is missing;
and Thorin suspects everyone of taking it.
This
is where Thorin has not fully lost his mind. Someone has taken the Arkenstone
and is keeping it hidden. That person is Bilbo (Martin Freeman), a hobbit
brought along on the journey to the Lonely Mountain to help retrieve the
Arkenstone from Smaug. He did this, with the intent of giving Thorin the stone.
Only now, with the way Thorin is changing, Bilbo believes giving the Arkenstone
to Thorin will only make him worse.
What
Bilbo does instead is give the stone to Bard. He hopes, in exchange for the Arkenstone,
Thorin will honor his word to the people of Laketown.
To
give Bard the stone, Bilbo must climb down the mountain and make his way to
where the townspeople are setting up camp. He interrupts a meeting between
Bard, Thranduil, and the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen). Gandalf has
recently arrived from his own adventure.
After
Bilbo hands the Arkenstone off to Bard, Gandalf demands Bilbo stay in town and
keep out of any further dealings with the dwarves. Bilbo refuses to do this. He
escapes from the village and appears at the mountain again just as Thorin is
raging about Bard having the stone. Bilbo reveals he is the one who took the
Arkenstone, which pushes Thorin over the edge. He tries to kill Bilbo.
The
other dwarves, and a declaration from Gandalf, stops the attack on Bilbo. He is
able to climb down and join the townspeople and the elves who have come to the
mountain to confront Thorin. They believe they have the upper hand, so many
against less than fifteen dwarves, until a new group of dwarves arrives.
Thorin’s
cousin Dáin Ironfoot II (Billy Connolly) arrives with his own army, having
heard Thorin has gotten into the Lonely Mountain. With bad blood already
existing between the dwarves and elves, a battle begins. A short battle (longer
in the extended edition), as very soon after an army of orcs arrives. The orcs
not only invade where the elves and dwarves are battling, they infiltrate the
town. Everyone must work together to defeat the orcs. It is only the dwarves in
the mountain who don’t join the fight.
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| Mountain View Artwork by Kate Dorsey |
Staying out of battle only sits
well with Thorin. The others object, wanting to help. His nephew, Kili (Aidan
Turner), is particularly upset about not joining in the fight. It is only once
Thorin regains his sanity that the dwarves in the mountain enter the battle.
And
it is quite a battle. Everyone is working together to fend off the orcs. Some
with personal vengeances break off to attack the orcs in charge. Thorin is
after Azog the Defiler (Manu Bennett), the orc who killed his grandfather. He
races off with his nephews Kili and Fili (Dean O’Gorman) to find Azog and the
other head orcs of the army.
Elves
Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) do the same.
The
battle continues until Azog is killed. Sadly, Thorin, Fili and Kili are killed
as well. In the extended version a funeral is held inside the mountain. Also,
Dáin is crowned as the new dwarf king.
With
peace restored, it is time for Bilbo’s life to go back to normal. He travels
with Gandalf back to the Shire.
Just
outside of the Shire, Bilbo and Gandalf part ways. Before leaving, Bilbo lies
and says the ring he has been carrying with him, the one which makes him
invisible, has been lost.
Once
home, Bilbo discovers he has been presumed dead. His belongings are being sold.
When he confronts the people who have his items, they try to deny who he is. Even
family members. The auctioneer (Merv Smith) does too, despite him having known
Bilbo for a long time. He forces Bilbo to prove his identity with the contract
Bilbo signed for Thorin; a dwarf he now calls a friend.
And there we have it. Other than one more short little scene, the Hobbit trilogy is over. No matter how many times I watch these three films, I am always a little sad when I reach the end. It is quite an adventure. One I am happy to watch over and over again.
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