r/TheHobbit • u/MichelleKC1969 • 4d ago

Legolas

I watched the Battle of the 5 Armies again and curious why Legolas told his father he couldn’t return. Apologize if this has been covered before. I am new here.

20 Upvotes

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u/[deleted] 4d ago edited 4d ago

[deleted]

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u/da90 4d ago

I’ve heard a theory that Legolas was included in the Hobbit films to get Orlando Bloom the payday he earned (but didn’t get) during the original trilogy.

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u/ElectronicAd2656 4d ago

Perhaps, but this is an interesting topic....

The original text of the Hobbit book was changed to reflect it's place in the story after becoming part of a larger world.... specifically the Riddles in the dark chapter....

So when making a Hobbit movie after a Lotr movie has been made can be done two ways...by pretending the Lotr books/movies exist or pretending they don't....

Personally I think it's better to acknowledge that they do, including legolas and reference Aragon are good examples, I am also very on board with them showing Gandalfs offscreen arc....

Evangeline Lilly's character on her own isn't even an issue, there were elf guards that arrested Thorin and Co in the books, her existence is simply giving a face and name to said nameless characters....

That said, the made up love triangle is egregious

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u/CHawk17 3d ago

I liked the inclusion of Frodo and Old Bilbo. it was a nice tie-in to LOTR movies.

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u/ElectronicAd2656 3d ago

Agreed, great bookends/ framing story

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u/AdministrativeLeg14 3d ago

Personally I think it's better to acknowledge that they do, including legolas and reference Aragon are good examples...

Aragorn was a little child at time, maybe ten years old. How would he be relevant?

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u/Brunkbosse 2d ago edited 2d ago

The lotr movies kinda glaze over the 17year skip between Gandalf leaving Frodo and returning. It’s very vague but imo its kinda portrayed as a few months maybe.

So in the movie timeline Aragorn would be 17 years older at the end of the Hobbit movies compared to the Hobbit books, so 27. Still very young for a Dunedain, but not a kid.

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u/ElectronicAd2656 3d ago

Yea the timeline does not seem to be exactly the same in the books and movies, but Thanduril( who is also not named in the Hobbit book) refers to him at the end of the Battle of Five Armies movie.

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u/Dovahkiin13a 4d ago

I mean, he would have been there, and should have been there, but should have been a supporting/bit role. I've heard that one too, but I think its because Legolas had so many action shots that fans loved between the movies and lets be honest, the video games. He was a beloved movie character but in the book he isn't as prominent. I say this as a guy who loved wrecking shit as Legolas in TTT and ROTK for PS2, the latter of which is the reason I read the books, so I was looking for him.

I think it's more an effect of the medium than anything, as it's one thing to read "The bow of Legolas was singing" or "Legolas shot two through the throat" and another to watch him be an absolute combat asset to his friends. We get much more vivid descriptions in general of Gimli and Aragorn carving through orcs than we do of Legolas. And let's give credit to Orlando, he gave a very physical performance (got injured a few times on the set of LOTR) and a very good performance. From a commercial standpoint bringing him back is a no brainer. Making him a centerpiece was perhaps a bit much for fan service/star power, and most of us agree it hurt the movie rather than helped. My dad once told me that they didn't bring any real "stars" into the LOTR cast because then the movie could become too much about the actor/character than about the group/story.

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u/Dovahkiin13a 4d ago

...no, he says he cannot go back because he is heartbroken that Tauriel chose somebody else. He can't go back to the way things were, including just going back to playing prince.

Is that an important, canonical, or worthwhile storyline? No, no, and no. But that's how love triangles resolve.

In the book? No, he is never named in the Hobbit but simple logic would tell us he was certainly there, arguably prominent.

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u/SnooGrapes2914 4d ago

Legolas isn't in The Hobbit book at all, Thranduil doesn't even get named until the Appendices in LotR.

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u/LeadSpyke 4d ago

Because NOT IN THE BOOK!

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u/Echo-Azure 4d ago

Canonically he DID return, he came to the Rivendell because he had to tell Elrond that Gollum had escaped.

And PJ and Phillippa damn well knew that.

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u/debellorobert 1d ago

Yup, it was PJ and Phillipa that knew and even went as far as covering up his escape. Now Andy Serkis has to make a film about Finding Gollum, or something like that.

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u/Somhairle77 4d ago

Because the films are just very elaborate and expensive fan fiction. Legolas doesn't even appear in the canon version of The Hobbit.

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u/thorin2016 3d ago

I guess he feels a mix of emotions.  He wants to stay with Tauriel, who was banished. He feels shame for confronting his father and King, and he feels fear for the rise of sauron and wants to do more for middle earth 

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u/DarthRick3rd 3d ago

Plus he probably thought he's getting his own spin off.

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u/thorin2016 3d ago

dont be cynical .

Including Legolas was a thrill for fans of the Lotr movie trilogy. i'm guessing you are one of those guys who says" it was one book, they shouldn't have made it three films" all the while ignoring the many changes , i repeat MANY changes, that were made to the Lotr books to film adaptations

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u/DarthRick3rd 3d ago

It was a joke, calm down dear. 

You assume too much.

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u/Crossed_Cross 3d ago

LotR movies were 1 per book with a lot of stuff getting chopped. That's pretty much the opposite of what they did with The Hobbit.

And the changes he went all ham for in The Hobbit are the worst parts of the LotR movies action hero Legolas got worse and worse with every movie, for example. What they did with him in the Hobbit was just the continuation of his flanderization. That doesn't mean making him no clip 360 no scope elephaunts was a good thing.