The dragon has unleashed his fury. He may have been dormant for decades but his wrath and sense of vengeance has not remained idle. It would appear that he has been waiting and expecting Thorin to come and try and reclaim his throne. Now that the company has arrived it leaves Smaug only to execute his long standing plan of dealing death to all Dwarves who enter his kingdom.
Threat
Thorin: “You’re alive!”
Bilbo: “Not for much longer.”
Thorin: “Did you find the Arkenstone?”
Bilbo: “The dragon’s coming.”
Thorin: “The Arkenstone. Did you find it?”
Bilbo: “We have to get out.”
Bilbo: “Thorin. Thorin.”
Thorin comes after Bilbo. It would seem that Balin’s remarks have had an impact on him. As he runs into the treasure hoard, the sight of the gold almost debilitates and overwhelms him. Bilbo comes running up to him urging him to leave. Thorin, however, does not let him pass or moves himself.
The only thing he is interested in is the finding of Arkenstone, which by Bilbo’s avoidance of answer he takes as being unsuccessful and therefore grounds for blocking Bilbo’s path. Thorin points the tip of his sword at Bilbo and threateningly moves towards him.
Bilbo begins to realize that his safety is not the primary concern of Thorin’s. The fact that the dragon is after him is of no importance to Thorin. His only concern is the retrieval of the Arkenstone. His madness shows now clearly upon his face as his look toward Bilbo focuses and intensifies.
Smaug approaches from the distance moving ever faster toward Thorin. A wicked smile covers his face as the rest of the company come running into the scene.
Thorin on fire
Smaug: “You will burn!”
Thorin: “Run!”
Dori: “Come on, Bilbo!”
Thorin: “Come on.”
Smaug breathes fire toward the company as they run away. With Thorin at the end, the fire catches on his clothes. He then expertly roles onto the floor extinguishing his clothes and simultaneously taking them off. He leaves them on the ground, rolls himself up, and continues on as if nothing resembling danger had just happened.
Meanwhile at Bard’s house…
Tauriel: “Hold him down.”
Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin, hon leitho o ngurth. May the blessing that was given to me be sent from me to him, may he be released from death
Tauriel takes the Kingsfoil, smashes it in her fingers and presses it down on Kili’s wound. He screams in agony. Tauriel begins to chant the same incantation that Arwen had done on Frodo. This time however, it had been translated into Elvish. As Tauriel repeats it continuously while treating Kili, it begins to take effect.
The white light
Sigrid: “Tilda!”
Sigrid alone cannot hold Kili steady on the table, so she engages the help of her little sister. As they pin him to the table and the incantation grows in power, Kili focuses his eyes on Tauriel, seeing her as Frodo saw Arwen as she descended her horse in the Trollshaw forest. A white light encompasses Tauriel while Kili’s eyes widen in disbelief.
Gold coin
Thorin: “Shh, shh!”
Dori: “We’ve given him the slip.”
Dwalin: “No. He’s too cunning for that.”
Bilbo: “So where to now?”
Thorin: “The western guardroom. There may be a way out.”
Balin: “It’s too high. There’s no chance that way.”
Thorin: “It’s our only chance. We have to try. Come on.”
The company hide under an arch scanning the cavernous spaces for the dragon. Without noticing his presence, the company start to pass on the stone carved pathway. As they reach the middle of the path a coin falls before Bilbo’s feet from above their heads. Bilbo automatically looks up to find the source of the fallen coin. As soon as he does the fat underbelly of the dragon passes above them. They all look up and follow the dragon’s movements. Quietly and stealthily the company move across the path avoiding being spotted by Smaug.
Elvish medicine
Óin: “I’ve heard tell of the wonders of Elvish medicine. That was a privilege to witness.”
As opposed to Thorin’s feelings toward the Elves, Óin feels privileged to be near an Elf while she performs the wonders of their medicine. It is a way in which the Dwarven and the Elven race meet in peace and harmony, helping the sick.
Legolas and Tauriel could have come into Bard’s house, helped kill the Orcs and then capture the Dwarves to bring back to their kingdom and let them rot in jail as it was supposed to be. However, Tauriel’s care for Kili and Legolas’ care for killing the rest of the Orc pack gives them the motivation to look beyond the petty grievances their race had endured with the Dwarves.
Just a dream?
Kili: “Tauriel.”
Tauriel: “Lie still.”
Kili: “You cannot be her. She is far away. She is far far away from me. She walks in starlight in another world. It was just a dream. Do you think she could have loved me?”
The way in which Kili experienced Tauriel while she was healing him, and the poison that was running through his veins, had left him vulnerable and open-hearted. He is completely honest to Tauriel about how he feels about her, regarding her as someone who lives in a different world to his and who would never think twice about a Dwarf like him.
But as he asks her if she could have loved him, the look in her eyes answers that question. No matter how many differences there might be between them, love has found its way to their hearts. Kili raises his hand and intertwines his fingers with hers. A physical expression of his affection toward her is reciprocated by her as her fingers linger in his.
The guardroom
Thorin: “Stay close.”
Dwalin: “That’s it then. There’s no way out.”
Balin: “The last of our kin. They must have come here hoping beyond hope. We could try to reach the mines. We might last a few days.”
Thorin: “No. I will not die like this. Cowering. Clawing for breath.”
The company reach the guardroom but soon as they enter the fate of those who have once tried the same exit presents itself before them. They all experience shock at seeing their kin lying dead, Dwarf women holding their children close to them as they died from lack of breathable air.
The passage their kin tried to escape through is sealed shut by the rock debris blocking it. As Thorin looks around himself, his eyes well up with tears. He is devastated to see his people dead wanting to escape the dragon. However, he won’t be one to die the same way.
He thinks it weak and cowardly to simply wait for death to find them without facing the danger that blocks their escape. He does not want to be weak not for others of his company and certainly not for himself. Anger toward the dragon builds even more after the shock of the guardroom.
To the forges
Thorin: “We make for the forges.”
Dwalin: “He’ll see us, sure as death.”
Thorin: “Not if we split up.”
Balin: “Thorin, we’ll never make it.”
Thorin has a plan that includes leading the dragon to the Dwarf forges. His plan he has not divulged to the others, only the goal, to kill the dragon. Against both Dwalin and Balin’s warnings Thorin proceeds with his plan. There might be a better chance of coming through alive if they split up and lead the dragon in groups, all following the same path to the forges.
All for one and one for madness
Thorin: “Some of us might. Lead him to the forges. We kill the dragon. If this is to end in fire then we will all burn together. This way.”
His statement that they would all burn together is something of a maniacal one. Against all odds and his fellow companions’ own flight instinct he takes on a totalitarian approach of leadership. Unconsciously, Thorin has decided the fates of the members of his company without consulting them. They, on the other hand, don’t say anything to refute his hypothesis and therefore say absolutely nothing in return.
It would seem they are on board with his decision to die burning together if his plan doesn’t work. For the Dwarves this may be a no brainer or simply a loyalty thing, but for Bilbo, who can still detach from the group and save himself, this comes off as totalitarian. In this instance, no matter how dangerous this last leg of their journey is, Thorin includes his fate with those of his fellow Dwarves.
Thorin switches in and out of the madness. First, he blocked Bilbo with his sword concerned only about the Arkenstone, and now he includes him with the other against whom he doesn’t have a maddening suspicion.
Distracting forces
Smaug: “Flee. Flee. Run for your lives. There is nowhere to hide.”
Ori: “Behind you!”
Dori: “Worm! Come on! Run!”
Dwalin: “Hey, you! Here!”
The company splits up into groups and taunt the dragon from every angle, thereby distracting him from the other group, protecting them but putting themselves in danger until the next group appears. Smaug is very sure of himself to be able to destroy the company once they find there is no way out of the mountain without crossing paths with him, which would only end in their death. In a similarly maniacal way Smaug enjoys this chase between himself and the separated groups of Dwarves.
It would have been boring for him to kill them right then and there without having a bit of fun with them first. A sadistic and psychopathic distortion of the mind.
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Featured image by Wolfgang Eckert on Pixabay
