Well this is exciting! Here are a few shots of Thorin leading an army through a gateway. Is that Dain next to him (or possibly Thrain)? Given the complete lack of grey in Thorin’s hair, and the fact he’s holding his pre-Orcrist sword, I’m assuming this is a flashback. But to when, I really don’t know. It would be easy to guess it’s from the battle of Azanulbizar, if you limit it to only what we know is in canon, but since they may not follow canon, it’s possible this is the gate of Erebor, and the coming of Smaug (which would mean Thorin was quite a bit older during this event than the official timeline).
Notice the sword raised to the upper right side of the picture is Thorin’s. Also notice the table and set of writing implements on the left.
What does everyone think?
Here is an additional image of what is certainly a king of dwarves (but which one?) seated on a throne.
Definitely Azanulbizar, but I dont reckon the dwarf beside him is Dain, as Dain was… 32 ish around the time of the battle? (Don’t remember the exact age, but Thorin was early 50s, and Dain is younger than him by a chunk) Judging hesitantly by the (seemingly) one-eyedness of the male I’d guess it’s Thrain. But as that happened after Azn. that’s probably irrelevant. I still think it’s Thrain in any case. If it is Azanulbizar, it wouldn’t be Thror. Though you could be right; as the dwarven army seems to be standing on battlements (which wouldnt have happened at Azn.) it might be the sack of Smaug. Unless the gate they’re rushing into is Moria, and some of it is taking place in Moria, which would be canon deviation. It looks like a dwarf stronghold, but since there is no mention of Orcs coming with Smaug I’d say they’ve engineered Moria to fit more into the battle of Azn. and perhaps given Dain’s role of going into the gate to Thorin.
As for the writing implements and throne in relation to a battle scene…. Nope, no idea! My guess at it would be that it’s Thror before Smaug’s coming, judging by the finery and gold…. could it link to the battle scene being the sack of Erebor? The green marble in the throne room looks the same as the gate in the pic above it.
The battle of Az. makes the most sense as far as Thorin’s age appears here (he should have been just a lad at the time of Smaug’s coming).
But the setting doesn’t seem right given that the dwarves were on the threshold of the enemies’ stronghold, not the other way around. The writing desk does seem like an odd thing to set up outside a gate you’re rushing into🙂 And if that’s the same place as the throne room, then it can’t be Az.
Aye, he was about 24 so basically a boy. And yeah…. dwarves may have strange battle tactics…. but I don’t know about scaring the enemy to death with literacy😉 Unless the photo is Thorin and the army charging OUT of the throne room, and into battle (hence green screen behind them)?
I was thinking it MIGHT be BoFA but it doesn’t fit too.
Actually, if we look at the photo of Gandalf hugging, we can see a dias looking structure built of the same green marble, and some gold leaf dwarven design behind one of the crew members. https://plus.google.com/photos/116428360629190654024/albums/5768444577101042737/5768445691316146514…. This may not be part of shooting the same throne room scene, but if it is, it means Gandalf and Thorin and Co. are present, which could suggest BoFA
Ah yes. Someone on TORn pointed out that the thing behind them could be…massive spoiler—>Thorin’s tomb.
Ori is wearing armor (purple chainmail??) and that makes sense if it is after they return to Erebor.
Oh god yes. I totally see it now *ALL OF MY FEELINGS*
Reblogged this on Welcome to my Halls!.
I’ve got a question about vlog #8: Why did they build a massive set for Dale? I mean, Dale was destroyed a long time ago and if they’re going to show Smaug burning it to a crisp in a flashback moment, why are they building a set bigger than Minas Tirith for about 30 seconds worth of screen time?
It just seems like an insane amount of effort, unless there’s going to be more going on in Dale than a mere flashback.
Great question! And there has to be more to justify the set. I think the destruction of Dale is going to be a BIG scene. Jackson likes his disasters and there’s only so much you can do with the dragon attacking a mountain. Smaug bakes everyone in the hallways and that’s about it. But in Dale you can have shots of people hiding, armies attempting to fight back, Smaug roasting the whole town in wideshots. I think of Dale as a sort of Pompeii, (group of people living in contentment next to a mountain suddenly get carbonized by a surprise disaster) and there are elements in the vid logs that seem to back up the analogy.
They may also give us insight into how the people of Dale and Erebor were allies, with trade, and whatnot. We should know something about Bard’s people, and how he has a personal vendetta against the Dragon as much as Thorin does. Will they shrink the timeline so we see a young Bard in Dale? I hope not, since Bard isn’t that old to begin with, but that’s another possibility.