Category: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Dwarves have taken to their defense with a destructing power by decapitating the guarding monument to break the path to their gate making it a bit more difficult for the gathering enemies to enter their reclaimed kingdom. On the opposite side Bard and Thranduil take to an impromptu Council with Gandalf.

While the Dwarves arm themselves with the armor of their ancestors, the Men of Lake-town prepare for war by practicing sword fighting in the square before the Great Hall. Amongst them hurries Gandalf on his way to meet and warn Bard about the army of Orcs which he has seen pouring out of Dol Guldur while he was caged above ground awaiting his own death. 

With Thorin’s certainty of prevailing the battle that awaits him outside the gates of Erebor and his dismissive attitude toward the bargain struck between the two races, Bard gallops back to Thranduil, awaiting him before the doors of Dale.

Bard takes a leap of faith and rides towards Erebor to attempt a conversation and a compromise with Thorin, so as to deter the Elven King Thranduil from attacking the Dwarves. No matter how much destruction and death the Dwarves’ waking of the dragon may have caused his people, Bard still believes in Thorin’s keeping of his promise. 

The mention of people of Lake-town swarming into Dale has driven Thorin to action, enraged defensive action. All Dwarves are called to the gate of Erebor to participate in building a wall thereby securing their lives, or more importantly, the treasure hoard within the mountain. They are able to defend themselves against all manner of foes, we have seen that. However, they need a solid structure to keep intruders out of the way of their gold. 

Galadriel has banished Sauron and his nine servants to the East, leaving her to convalesce in Lothlórien. Saruman, promising to deal with Sauron alone, we can assume made his way into the East where he began his negotiations with the rising force of evil in order to help it spread as well as provide him with the possibility of ruling alongside it. 

While the army of Orcs on their way to Erebor, the people of Lake-town searching for refuge and the Dwarves hiding away inside the Lonely Mountain, Gandalf suffers in captivity in a cage in Dol Guldur. He had come to face the evil that had established itself in this Hill of Sorcery. However, he alone cannot win against the powers of Sauron. 

While the madness grows in Thorin, with his only focus on finding the Arkenstone in the treasure hoard, the people of Lake-town who would benefit from the gold the most, are packing what the Long Lake had washed ashore, carry their wounded, and hope to find someplace they could start again.

Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Óin walk along the slopes of the Lonely Mountain. After having survived the terror and destruction of Lake-town, they have finally reached their journey’s end. As they slowly march to their new home, the music playing is the Erebor Theme, masterfully composed by Howard Shore. 

While Thorin and one part of his company head back into the Mountain and the rest row their boat across the Long Lake to reunite with them, the people of Lake-town are doing what they can to stay the cold that is descending upon them. What they can salvage, they sprawl across the lake shore, building teepees out of cloth and wet wood as well as building fires with the same materials to keep dry and warm.