The Beginning Of The Battle

[@corsijtsma3546]

Ironfoot is just so badass. I mean look at the soldiers

[@hype.888]

Dwarves overall morale and tactics were SOOO GOOD in this movie. Dain is such a beauty and their ability to set up such an effective defense so fast is amazing

[@rio20d]

In the book the Elves from Mirkwood outnumbered the Dwarves from Iron hills. There are about 1000 elves plus 200 or so men of Laketown, and about 500 dwarves. It appears so in the movie version.

[@riotergr1]

The hords of hell are upon us! To battle! To battle, sons of Durin!

[@charlietheanteater3918]

Btw dain were did you get your warthog? It's so awesome

[@rio20d]

Lord Dain, if you are to fight 1 vs 1 against King Thranduil of Mirkwood, do you think you will win ?

[@riotergr1]

***** You should ask the Orks i headbutted... Oh, wait! They cannot speak...

[@riotergr1]

Charlie Theanteater It's the finest Iron Hills warthog race! Only the stongest are bred for battle...

[@charlietheanteater3918]

I'm sorry of your loss because it died in battle. May it rest in peace. And btw your mountain goats are awesome too

[@NealX]

Gandalf: "Thranduil! This is madness!" Thranduil: "Madness?"

[@professionalidiot5529]

THIS IS MIRKWOOD DAIN: The thousand nations of the Dwarvish Empire descends upon you

[@matthewchristiansen9978]

I love how the dwarves saw how huge the orc army was and were the first ones to go into battle anyway.

[@aztecaddress6356]

and the elves getting the first blood what a showoff

[@matthewchristiansen9978]

Yep. Guess it's not just Legolas.

[@matthewchristiansen9978]

Colonel Sanders They always seem to feel the need to outdo the dwarves.

[@rio20d]

Yep, I admired them, they are the ones who charged to the front line, because they know these orcs are from the Misty Mountain, they fought each other long ago in the east gate of Moria, these 500 Iron Hills dwarves are mostly skilled veterans who were there fighting these orcs, at least that's how the story was told in the book, but I think in the first Hobbit movie there was a battle scene as a flashback where the dwarves fought Orcs in Moria, the only difference is Azog was actually killed there by Dain, and at the time Dain was a very young dwarf.Somehow they change the story and let Azog live until the Battle of five Armies.

[@yurielias4020]

That's fucking awesome, one of the best scenes. The dwarves shows all their brave hearth in this scene

[@Lilithly]

absolutely loved the elves in this scene :D They could've waited for the dwarves to die and fight the rest of the orcs then, but luckily they were too cool for that ;)

[@BL3BL3700]

Thats why i'm in love with dwarves. That mentality and strength, aww :P

[@melaniedonahue561]

Okay my favorite part is when the elves go on top of them. So cool.

[@melaniedonahue561]

Go elves.

[@keithtristansenarillos5669]

to battle sons of DURIN!!! LOVE THAT WAR CRY! :D

[@bellevox]

The elves saving the day, as always. Uhuhuhuhuhu! Yeah, Thranduil!

[@aztecaddress6356]

Showoff

[@colonelsanders1349]

Saving the day? They suck and ran at the end lol

[@bellevox]

Colonel Sanders How much grudge in this little heart! uhauhauhauha!

[@TheArthasmenethril]

The Elves would have done better shooting OVER the pike Phalanx by the Dwarves then jumping over the Phalanx and getting in between the Pikes and the Orcs all the orcs have to do is push the elves onto the pikes and then boom dead elf.

[@VLADB07]

TheArthasmenethril right what I was thinking too, I was like all right shield wall...archers behind...let em come waiting...waiting...elvesh start to jump...my reaction wtffff seriously...

[@goshlike76]

Anyone knows what does that Dwarf guy shouts when they form the phalanx?

[@ThePalaeontologist]

Looking at the comments I can see people arguing about the tactics and strategy shown in this scene, and in the film in general. I suppose I had the same thoughts myself when I saw it in the cinema, but I'm still wondering exactly how it will look in its fully extended form (there are an additional 30 minutes of film scenes in the upcoming extended edition) so I can't be too strong worded with my thoughts on it just yet. In any case, lets look at the tactics the Dwarves and Elves show here. Clearly the reason why any of the things we see happen are really down to the creative decisions of the director, and nobody is infallible so I wish people would stop saying that people shouldn't criticise a multi-award winning director, just cos he is one. Of course we can and should continue to be able to rate the on-screen manifestations of the film making decisions made, regardless of his already established status as a very successful director. Otherwise what we'd get is another Lucas on our hands. Anyway. *Dwarves of the Iron Hills*. These guys in both the books and the films, are shown in full battle regalia and wearing extremely high quality Dwarven armour. Plate Iron, heavy mail and hauberks made of the finest quality Dwarvish Iron. They are adorned head to toe in heavy armour, and are strong and hardy warriors. Even among the Dwarves, they are seen very rightly as an elite. Their presence on any battlefield in Middle Earth was viewed with awe and excitement by their allies, and sheer dread by their foes. Moreover, they were clearly excellently trained and well disciplined, and had been under the stout leadership of the indomitable Dain II Ironfoot, since the Battle of Azanulbizar TA (Third Age) 2799, which both Dain and his father Nain fought in. Dain II Ironfoot was a particularly fearsome Dwarven warrior, capable of taking on most combatants in Middle Earth. During the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, Lord Nain of the Iron Hills, marched to the Battle of Azanulbizar (also known as the Battle of the Dimrill Dale or the East Moria Gate, by menfolk, and the Battle of Nanduhirion by the Elves) and arrived later in the battle. By this point in the horrendously difficult, literally uphill and in the shade of dark clouds battle (which favoured the gloom loving, sun hating Orcs) things had reached a crisis point and King Thrain had gone missing, whether alive or dead was unknown. Then, when all seemed lost, Nain and his Iron Hills Dwarves marched into battle, a little later than had been hoped, but their impact on the battle made up for it. They cut a swathe through the Orcish ranks, and progressively cut their way uphill to attack the command position of the Orcs, to attack and get their way through Azog the Defiler's elite Gundabad Orc guards, to get to him personally. During this relentless assault, the Iron Hills Dwarves began to sustain more and more casualties, but they kept on and at it, with the Dwarves of Erebor and the other clans, having already been exhausted and depleted by fighting all day, rallying together again behind this renewed assault caused by the arrival of Lord Dain. However, Azog the Defiler was cunning and challenged Nain in the midst of battle to single combat, and Nain readily accepted, clad in extremely tough armour and swinging a mighty battle axe with tremendous force. He and his Iron Hills Dwarves had practically turned the tide of the battle, and caused large casualties on the Orcs of the Misty Mountains, to add to those heavy losses they had already sustained before their arrival. Lord Nain lunged at Azog, but the giant pale Orc dodged the attack, and while Nain recovered from the missed strike, savagely lunged at his neck with his blade to decapitate him in one vicious attack. In a grim moment, a sudden short, sharp crack, signified that Nain's neck broke due to the sheer violence of Azog's attack, and he was killed instantly. *However*, Azog was disappointed, because he'd put everything he had into the attack, and yet the Dwarf Lord only died because his neck broke, and the Iron Hills Iron armour and hauberk prevented Nain's head from being cut off, such was the blood-lust of Azog. Yet Azog should have been paying attention to another Dwarf nearby, in the heart of the battle; Lord Nain's young son, Dain. Now, just to make clear here, Dain was *very, very young* by Dwarven standards, at this time. He was a mere *32 years old*. Just to compare, Gimli son of Gloin, when at around the age of 62, was considered 'too young' to participate in the Quest for Erebor. He was disappointed that he couldn't just his father and uncle Oin, and the kin of Durin's folk he shared in many of the other quest members. It is part of why he was so eager to be part of the Fellowship of the Ring, having previously been denied the adventure and heroic place among the Quest to reclaim mighty Erebor. Similarly, Fili and Kili, the 'sister-son's' ie nephews of King Thorin II Oakenshield, were considered barely old enough, little older than Gimli, when they went on the quest. Therefore, for Dain of the Iron Hills at the age of 32 to be allowed to march to war, really shows something extraordinary about the Dwarves of the Iron Hills, and their toughness, and willingness to fight. Dain was practically a young teenager/kid by Dwarven standards of age, and he'd just witnessed his father killed in battle by Azog. At this time, a young (but not quite as young) Thorin II Oakenshield was in the thick of the battle elsewhere, and was himself fighting uphill with those such as the brothers Balin and Dwalin who had survived the brutal battle up to this point. Balin and Dwalin suffered badly in the battles aftermath, discovering that their beloved father Fundin was among the many dead (half of the Dwarves were killed in battle) Azog was returning to the East Gate, the Dimrill Gate, with what remained of his depleted guards and other Orcs, having been so distracted by the fight with Nain, that even as he gloated victory over Nain, his army began to break around him, having taken huge losses, even more than the Dwarves in spite of holding the high ground all day. The battle was effectively lost, and Azog knew it. But in the maelstrom around him, he didn't notice (until it was too late) a rampaging young Dwarf charging uphill, straight at him. Angrily hunting down Azog, Dain, at an age considered extremely young by all Dwarves, avenged his father, briefly fighting and quickly beheading Azog the Defiler - otherwise known as the fiercest and most deadly Orc in Middle Earth - and stuck his head on a spear-spike, outside the very gates of Moria. Azog did *not* survive decades later and lead armies in war again; he was killed outright, not by Thorin, but by Dain. As for Bolg, the son of Azog, I'm not exactly sure he did fight at Azanulbizar, though I think that is at least implied in the films. In any case, it was Bolg who led the Orcs at the Battle of Five Armies, in TA 2941, some 142 years after Azanulbizar. *Therefore* Dain is getting on a bit by the time of the Battle of Five Armies, at the age of *174*. So, with the knowledge of his veteran of Azanulbizar status, and his slaying of Azog in that battle at a legendarily young age, which made him famous among his Dwarven peers, the way he handles himself and his army at the Battle of Five Armies should not be a surprise. In short, he is hard as mithril nails and is fearless in battle. His arrival during the battle was a game changer for the Elves of Mirkwood and their leader Thranduil, and had the Orcs not arrived there could well have been an all out clash between the Elves and Dwarves, something neither Thorin nor Dain would be unready for. It would have been a bloodbath for all involved, the Elves skilled and numerous enough to cause the Iron Hills Dwarves heavy casualties, but the Dwarves led by Dain II Ironfoot also numerous and heavily armed and armoured enough to cause grievous casualties to the Elves. Now, the Elves, in quick summary, are well armed, extremely skilled with swords and bows, and their archery in particularly is legendary. However, their armour is not as tough as the Dwarves, although that would also make the Elves more flexible and faster on foot, which they already were even without considering the armour of either. Also, their armour was still impressive regardless of the Dwarven armour being tougher. Neither the Elves or the Dwarves were 'easy' to bring down. The Elves were probably less sturdy in melee than the Dwarves, though were clearly more agile, better with swords and had exquisite fluidity in their acute and deadly movements. Again, its sort of like the combative differences between Legolas and Gimli as representatives of their kinds. Nobody say either were weak, and both were ferocious in battle. Anyhow, as for this film, the strategies and tactics shown are not fully reflective of the way things happened in the book, though again, perhaps the extended edition will make it closer to the way things were in the book. Basically the Elves extreme skill in archery caused the Orcs and Goblins massive casualties as they were funneled into a narrow killing zone uphill. That is another thing, the landscape is not sloped enough, and too flat on the main battlefield. There should be a very clearly defined gradient, and defensive advantage for the free peoples instead of making it look like Orcs were commanding from Ravenhill and had the high ground. Ravenhill and Dale get far too much attention in the film, and basically it was the Elves under Thranduil who commanded Ravenhill from the start, not the Orcs, on that flank. Dale wasn't even nearly as prominent in the battle, and most of the fighting occurred on the slopes of Erebor and the land leading up to the gates, with Goblins even scaling the mountain slopes to outflank the Elves and Men on the sides, and the Dwarves facing wave upon wave of tough Orcs attacking head on, side by side with Elven Warriors fighting the common enemy. Then Beorn showed upon and slaughtered his way through scores of Orcs, Goblins and Wargs. Then the Eagles arrived, noticed by Bilbo Baggins just before he was knocked out by a Goblin. It was also ("spoiler alert") Beorn, not Legolas, who killed Bolg, mauling him to death and crushing him. But nevermind, just hope Beorn's important role in the battle is given more justice in the extended edition. Now, as for the tactic shown here, with the Elves leaping over the Dwarven *Shield Wall-Phalanx Formation*, I immediately considered that to be an artistic, stylistic choice by the director. I mean, it makes little sense tactically to negate the practical defensive quality of the battle formation, which is a genuinely sturdy one. I mean, not only this but there is in-universe historical examples of the Iron Hills Dwarves fighting their way through numerically superior Orcish forces, not only downhill (as they should have had the gradient advantage in this battle) but *uphill*, as they did at Azanulbizar. There is no reason why Gandalf had to act so worried and call for Thranduil to do something. The shot where Bilbo is looking at the Dwarves form up, and that Dwarven captain (?..I think) shouts in Dwarvish I think to prepare or hold fast, I instantly thought that it was going to do a scene with the Orcs crashing into the phalanx unsuccessfully. But no, we got the whole Elves jumping over and stealing the glory, thing haha But genuinely, that formation would and should have held against the Orcs. Could have really displayed the toughness of the Dwarves. It was a little anticlimactic to suddenly have the Elves apparently save them. It made the Dwarves look a bit reckless and though brave, also undermine their apparent chances of handling the Orc charge on their own. Sure, they couldn't have won the battle on their own, but at that point, in that opening phase of the battle, there was no reason to make it look like the Dwarves necessarily needed the Elves to show off by literally leaping over their heads. I know there is another aspect to this, showing the more heartwarming dynamic of Elves and Dwarves putting differences aside and fighting the Orcs, but it shouldn't be overlooked that them helping each other was also pretty much a pragmatic choice. Both Elves and Dwarves knew if they didn't fight together everyone would die and the Orcs would take Erebor - which Gandalf knew would result in Sauron effectively taking Erebor, which would be a disaster in strategic terms. The Dwarves could have held a firm shield-wall phalanx, until at least the huge Attack Trolls came along and smashed their way through. However, it is worth mentioning that there are no Attack Trolls mentioned in the book, whereas 35-50 of them thereabouts are involved in the film battle. But not one in the book, so unless the Orcs and Goblins outflanked the Dwarves, the Dwarves could very easily hold that line, with or without the Elves. Kind of builds up the scene and the might of the Dwarves, only to have the Elves steal the thunder. I mean, I love the Elves too, but that was rather unnecessary. Later after I saw the film in the cinema, I got thinking about the practical potential of the Elven tactic, and the only positive thing I could come up with besides the whole, Elves standing beside their old enemies the Dwarves thing, was that *perhaps* it could be said that Elves blunted the momentum of the Orc charge, before it had a chance to hit the Dwarven Shield-Wall Phalanx, though really the Dwarves could have absorbed the shock of that charge very easily without the Elves helping. If I'm not mistaken, three lines of Elves can be seen leaping over the Dwarves, and all of them are wearing scarlet red cloaks, and have elaborate armour, and mainly have blonde hair. This to me, made me think that they were Thranduil's most elite warriors, and closest to Thranduil and Legolas in their origins, as most of the Silvan Elves are brown or red haired, at least in these films by Peter Jackson eg the Elves shown in the Desolation of Smaug, and the Sindar (the stock of Elves to which Legolas and Thranduil belong, and a kind of Elf with apparently 'more standing', noble heritage and wisdom than the Silvan Elves) They certainly have the best fighting skills shown of any Elves of Mirkwood we see so far, bar the leadership of Thranduil and Legolas. Their swords are more like the blades shown to be carried by Haldir and Elrond, with shorter grips, and a more one handed/one and a half hand functionality. They seem, at a glance, to be stylistically more elite than the bulk of Thranduil's forces. To me, that makes it seem like Thranduil made a quick split-second decision thanks to Gandalf's scornful disdain of his hesitancy (in the film at least) to commit to battle, and sent his best soldiers to do something quickly, that being slaughter the first lines of the Orcs, ahead of the Dwarves lines to show the Elves were committed and not cowards. But the problem is, they really didn't have to. Just a sort of dramatic film only sort of thing, for the super-fans of Elves to delight in I suppose. There are specific camera shots of those scarlet red-cloaked Elves rapidly cutting down many Orcs with fearless ease. Clearly, they must be elites of the Royal Guard. If I'm mistaken, oh well. Just what I gleaned from their deeds in this scene. Cool, but kind of show-offish and needless, undermining the combat prowess of the Dwarves - who even just basically broke formation and surged forward basically 'going fuck this and fuck the Elves taking the glory' lol Gandalf was a master strategist and tactician. It was his planning and his wisdom which preempted Sauron (as the Necromancer in hiding) in his genuine attempt to acquire Smaug as an ally. Lest we forget, Smaug is a dragon of course, and Dragons, like Orcs, Trolls and Wargs, were 'invented' by Morgoth Bauglir - Melkor. The master of Sauron from the ancient times and the true Dark Lord, banished since the end of the First Age into the Void, after the War of Wrath which was won at a terrible cost by the Host of Light, the Host of the Valar, and saw the majority of Melkor's dragons killed in battle, including the greatest Dragon of all time, Ancalagon (so massive it would make Smaug look like a hummingbird in comparison to him), also the dragon with the most deadly fire (though as Gandalf mentioned in the books, still not powerful enough to harm the One Ring) Smaug's age is unclear, though he is clearly fully grown and must have been centuries old even before he assaulted Erebor and Dale, and stole the Lonely Mountain and its treasure hordes. Whether he survived the War of Wrath, or is a much, much younger dragon born thousands of years after the First Age, is simply an unknown, though most in the know about these things tend to lean more towards him being a much younger dragon, at least from what I've seen and read online. But still, he could well at very least understand the origins of Dragons, and recognise the power of Sauron. Had Smaug not met his doom at the bowmanship of Bard of Laketown (later Bard of Dale), then Sauron could very well have tried to use Smaug as a military unit, perhaps for a fee - ie promised treasure, or the three surviving Dwarven Rings of Power Sauron had acquired, including the Ring of Thror. Essentially, Gandalf knew that the free peoples could be seriously in trouble if Sauron managed to make Smaug fight for him. At the end of the day Smaug wasn't necessarily loyal to Sauron, because a) he is a giant fucking Dragon and doesn't need to take orders and b) Melkor/Morgoth, and not Sauron, was the true master of both Dragons and Balrogs. Sauron was powerful, but not nearly as powerful as Melkor/Morgoth. There is a reason why Sauron was originally a mere underling of Melkor, albeit the 'right hand man' of Melkor, the 2nd most powerful and highly ranked, even more powerful (slightly) and valued by Melkor than his other fearsome fallen Maiar race warriors, the Valaraukar, the Balrogs, including their most powerful, Gothmog (who was 3rd highest ranked after Melkor and Sauron, in the elder days, long, long before Erebor even existed as a realm) Gandalf knew that it would have been a loose alliance, but if it even had the slightest chance of happening, the power of such a dangerous and massive fire-drake as Smaug left in the world by the Late Third Age, could be a nightmare. Imagine Smaug attacking Edoras, Rivendell or Minas Tirith. I think only Lorien would stand a chance of resisting Smaug, thanks to the skilled archers and the power of Lady Galadriel shielding the Golden Wood. Therefore, if we boil it down, truth is the entire Quest for Erebor, to Gandalf at least, in its *primary purpose*, was to *remove Smaug from the world to remove him from even the slightest chance of being used by Sauron in war*. Secondarily, to Gandalf at least, was the whole thing about getting Thorin and the Line of Durin back to owning Erebor and giving them their homes back. Sounds harsh, but its true. The Dwarves of Erebor had resettled in the Ered Luin (Blue Mountains) and though far less rich and numerous than before, weren't exactly suffering too much. Still at least had prosperous lives and homes (they weren't as homeless as the films make out, that was only in the immediate aftermath of Smaug's attack on Erebor and Dale) To Gandalf, it was about saving all the free peoples of all the lands in Middle Earth, from the potential of Smaug raining fire and death down upon them. Even Minas Tirith could fall to Smaug, if taken unawares. Even if aware of Smaug coming, without knowing about his one weak spot, how could they repel him? It would be a devastating attack and would cause Minas Tirith to be destroyed/nearly destroyed, even if they somehow managed to bring him down, and even then Sauron's armies could then attack the damaged city to finish the job. Basically, Smaug had to go. Sauron obviously wanted to use him in the coming war he was planning. The Dwarves of the Iron Hills and the Elves of Mirkwood, played a *critically important* role in the War of the Ring, decades after the Battle of Five Armies and the other events of The Hobbit. The *King Under the Mountain*, after the death of Thorin II Oakenshield in the Battle of Five Armies, was none other than Dain II Ironfoot. Dain became King of Erebor as well as still ruling over the Iron Hills. In the intervening years between the Battle of Five Armies, and the War of the Ring, *King Dain II Ironfoot* essentially brought Erebor back to some semblance of its former glory. Erebor prospered, and Dale was rebuilt. By the time of the War of the Ring, Dale was ruled by *King Brand* - the grandson of none other than Smaug-slayer Bard the Bowman himself. Dain was still going even after all this time, and had ruled and protected those lands in the far north, alongside both Bard and his successor son, before befriending his fellow King Brand, the grandson. Further south, the Elves of Mirkwood under King Thranduil still defended their lands from evil, and Sauron had to strategise to try and destroy not only Erebor and Dale, but also to try and deal with Thranduil's woodland realm and also Lorien across the great river Anduin, all at the same time. There is a neat and interesting thing that happened, though, before the War of the Ring officially began, involving King Dain II Ironfoot. In the year TA 3018, while sat as usual for him now, ruling from the Throne of Erebor, Dain II Ironfoot was informed of a dark, fell emissary from Mordor bidding an audience with him. Sauron had actually seen an envoy all the way to Dain at Erebor, for the purpose of gaining important information. The messenger brought word from the Dark Lord Sauron the Great, that he wanted to know about a rumoured 'Shire' and 'Baggins'. This was just after Sauron had *personally* tortured Gollum, hearing of those two words. Sauron thought they were connected with the whereabouts of the One Ring, ominously hovering close to the truth of the matter. Considering a halfling was rumoured to have been part of the Battle of Five Armies, Sauron thought it best to ask Dain II Ironfoot for information regarding the rumours and those two keywords, 'Shire' and 'Baggins'. At this point, to Sauron some rural backwater in the north west of Eriador, far away beyond the Misty Mountains, hadn't occurred to Sauron, let alone some family name of some halflings living there. But he was of course desperate to get the One Ring back, as this would, you know, ensure his domination of the world in Middle Earth. Dain II Ironfoot was reluctant to even answering, apparently remembering the Hobbit and his part in the Quest for Erebor which had so clearly facilitated the downfall of Smaug, and the personal power of Dain himself expanding to Kingship rather than just Lordship. He must have known about Bilbo, because what Dain did next was quite frankly amazing. Not only did he send the messenger from Mordor away without a proper answer, but he refused a very great offer from Sauron. The messenger could very well have been the Mouth of Sauron, though this is not clear. Sauron was offering Dain *all three remaining Dwarven Rings of Power*, including the famous Ring of Thror. The Ring of Thror (originally, technically the Ring of Durin at Khazad-Dum) had helped both Khazad-Dum and Erebor respectively, rise to greater extents of power, wealth, and probably aided with the monumental scale of the mining operations and architecture in both cities, at different times. Thror gave the ring to Thrain when he decided to travel into Moria alone, with an attendant called Nar told to wait outside. Azog murdered him, and carved 'AZOG' into his forehead, and eventually threw the head down the slopes of the Dimrill Dale at Nar, days later, and told the Dwarf to take the news back to the other Dwarves, also throwing a pouch of low in value coins at Nar telling him that this was the 'fee', to add insult to tragedy. When Thrain learnt of this transgression, the murder of his father and the insults, he went into a state of shock and mourning for seven days straight, nobody able to talk to him. He had adamantly advised his mentally unwell father against the venture, though Thror forbid anyone try and stop him, though did show some sign of understanding that it might be suicidal, by giving the Ring of Thror to Thrain for safe keeping, just in case. Thrain initiated the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, to avenge his father, after his long time of silent mourning. He vowed to annihilate every last Orc of the Misty Mountains, in a rampage and purge which would begin in Mount Gundabad to the far north, and end at Moria much further south, nearer to Lorien. After years of war, much of which took place underground in the mountain passes and nameless halls up and down the mountains, Thrain led an assault on the last bastion, Moria. Here in the Battle of Azanulbizar Thrain went missing, and here the war ended, in a bloody victory for the Dwarves, the Orcs of the Misty Mountains never fully recovering from the depletion of the war, though not totally wiped out as Thrain had desired. As a finishing touch, the very same pouch of cheap coins that had been lobbed at Nar, attendant of Thror, as a 'fee' in mockery of all Dwarves, was stuffed into the bloodied mouth of the severed head of Azog, which by then thanks to Dain, stood on a spear-spike as a symbol of victory over the scene of devastation that was the Battle of Azanulbizar. Later on, Thrain was captured, having actually survived the Battle of Azanulbizar and wandered the wilderness, gathering a few Dwarves around him for a venture into Mirkwood, for mysterious reasons. It is possible he sought out Thranduil. It is not very clear. In any case, he was captured and his company presumably captured or killed, and he was taken to Dol Guldur. Here Sauron/the Necromancer, personally tortured Thrain for a long time, driving him to near complete insanity, and took from him the Ring of Thror. Now, knowing this, it is extremely moving to realise that Tolkien wanted Dain to reject such an offer as not only the much lauded by Dwarves Ring of Thror, but also the other two surviving Dwarven Rings of Power (the other *4 out of 7 were destroyed by dragonfire or eaten outright*, probably with their bearers, long ago, by Dragons in the far north in the Grey Mountains, where Dwarves and Dragons battled long before Smaug came onto the scene) To suddenly be offered all 3 remaining rings, which could massively boost the power and status of Erebor even further, and possibly return it to its full glory as it was before Smaug attacked all those years ago, and maybe greater heights, could clearly be considered a tempting offer. *However* Dain wasn't about to be tricked or bribed, not by Mordor and the untrustworthy Sauron the Deceiver. It is unclear just how much Dain even knew about Sauron, or Middle Earth history in general, though it is clear that he risked his own life and the entire Kingdom of Erebor, and by extension Dale, *for the sake of Bilbo Baggins*. If we actually stop and think about what Dain is actually doing by rejecting the emissary of Sauron, and the huge offer on the table, we should actually see that he is really risking it all for the sake of the Hobbit who knew Thorin II Oakenshield, and was so respected by him. A Hobbit whom the relatively recently lost (in Moria, in their failed and ill-fated, advised again colonisation attempt) Balin, would have spoken so highly of. A Hobbit whom Dwalin, Balin's surviving brother still alive during the War of the Ring, would have still spoken very highly of if asked about him I'm sure. *Dain risked everything for Bilbo's safety*, if you think about it. Moreover, to prove that he really was looking out for Bilbo, someone he probably hadn't seen since the Battle of Five Armies all those years earlier, he secretly dispatched a very trusted Dwarf Lord, *Gloin, and his son Gimli*, to travel to Rivendell to inform Lord Elrond of this turn of events, therefore an act which would have the White Council including Gandalf the Grey informed, and after going to Rivendell, to travel further to the Shire to find and inform Bilbo Baggins of the danger he was in, the danger his whole family and the Shirelands even, were in. That is so heartwarming and amazing I just have to stop and think about how amazing a writer J.R.R Tolkien really was. Dain II Ironfoot wasn't just a 'badass' in battle, he was a truly heroic and decent being, who would sacrifice himself for the greater good and the sake of a Hobbit who most in Middle Earth would probably sneer at unimportant. I'd like to think Gandalf realised this through Gimli, and respected Dain even more than he already did (he may have seemed to think Dain was unreasonable in the film, but in the books, Gandalf really did respect Dain) I mean, the films have to change a few things, such as how the Council of Elrond went down in the timeline of events, due to limitations and the need to move things along, but really Gloin and Gimli, weren't summoned to Rivendell. They were already travelling from very far away, and Rivendell wasn't even their end destination, that being the Shire to find and presumably to do something useful to help and protect Bilbo Baggins. The truth was, Dain was obviously aware of what 'Shire' and 'Baggins' signified, and even if he didn't realise (which he probably couldn't) the connection Bilbo had to the One Ring (if Dain even knew about the One Ring, isn't really clear, though possible through Gandalf who met him a few times perhaps) he still risked everything to help him out. Had he been a less scrupulous character, he could have just taken the offer of three rings of power. However, had this happened, then Bilbo and the One Ring would have surely been captured by the Nazgul, with Gandalf totally unaware this was going on - and with the One Ring back in Sauron's hands, the world would fall to him. The power of the lesser rings under the One Ring, including the Elven Rings of Power, *Nenya* (held by Lady Galadriel), *Narya* (given to Gandalf when he arrived in Middle Earth by Cirdan, and still held by Gandalf) and *Vilya* (held by Lord Elrond) would *cease to be powerful in their own rights*, in a practical sense of usefulness. Therefore, the Dwarven Rings of Power would also lose their strength, with the master ring 'back in action' with its rightful owner. That would make the bribe to Dain a deep and complex trick anyway, and Dain would be destroyed along with everyone else regardless. It was specifically stated that the power of Galadriel and her Elven Ring Nenya, could not be overcome by anything less than Sauron renewed with and bearing the One Ring, personally coming to Lothlorien and crushing her shielding power over the place (although of all the Rings under the One Ring, Nenya was potentially 2nd most powerful, though this isn't clearly stated) This, Sauron would obviously happily do if he did get the One Ring back, right from under Gandalf's nose without even realising Gandalf was so unaware of the One Ring being in the Shire initially. There is something so heartwarming about Dain doing that for Bilbo. Not only that, but Sauron had actually threatened Dain, subtly, or perhaps not so subtly, that 'things wouldn't end well', if he didn't give him the information he wanted. Dain simply sent the envoy away to return to Mordor, without a satisfactory answer, and immediately arranged to send Gloin and Gimli off to Rivendell and then the Shire, to warn Bilbo. They, including Dain, couldn't have realised that events were being accelerated into motion before Gimli and Gloin could arrive in Rivendell, and that Bilbo had already left the Shire to stay with the Elves in his old age, in Rivendell anyway, and that he'd given Frodo his nephew the One Ring and that Frodo had arrived in Rivendell with friends, and Aragorn, by their own means pursued by the Nazgul as Black Riders. Obviously that cancelled out Gimli and Gloin's need to go to the Shire, the Council of Elrond brought into being and the Hobbit they were looking for already in the company of Lord Elrond, and not only him, but Gandalf, as well as representatives from Gondor and the like ie Boromir son of the Steward. It was still true though, that Sauron's underlying threat to Dain stood, and in his fury, eventually Sauron would make good on his threat and launch a full scale assault on both Erebor and Dale, during the War of the Ring. When the attack came, King Dain II Ironfoot had long expected it and prepared his forces and had informed his ally King Brand, as well as probably sent some kind of word of warning to King Thranduil to the south, ahead of time. When the attack came, indeed, Dain was now at the grand old age of *252 years old*. It had been 220 years since his heroic feat of having killed Azog in battle. Even so, the elderly Dwarf was still fearless and relished battle, being a formidable fighter even in his advanced years. He was still a battle champion who could give most in Middle Earth a run for their money, from Aragorn to Thranduil, from Elrond to Boromir, I'd say. He and his ally King Brand of Dale, rallied forces together, and fought in the *Battle of Dale*. Sauron sent a very mighty army to crush Dale and Erebor; at least 50,000 strong, and clearly far more numerous than the forces he'd sent to Erebor in TA 2941, which would be logical as he knew the forces previously had been numerous though perhaps not numerous enough. It was a tremendous battle. For 3 bloody days, the Dwarves of Erebor and the Iron Hills, and the Men of Dale, fought the vast Mordor army which was either mostly or even perhaps entirely comprised of Easterlings, the evil men from the eastern lands of Rhun. They had marched out east of Dale to meet the enemy head on, on the plains near Dale. After fighting bravely, and losing many Men and Dwarves (and doubtlessly causing immense Easterling casualties) the Men of Dale and Dwarves of Erebor and the Iron Hills fell back on Dale, with the Easterling assault bearing down on Dale after they did. Fighting continued for days more, until Dale was overrun and evacuated, the remaining, surviving warriors of the Men and Dwarves holding the enemy back while the civilians fled inside the Lonely Mountain. It was a battle even more intense, I'd say, than the Battle of Five Armies, on the numbers alone. Meanwhile, Sauron had also sent combined forces from Dol Guldur and the Morannon (Black Gates) to assault Lorien and Mirkwood, meaning that no help from the Elves could come this time. King Thranduil was leading his people in battle who were fighting for their lives and freedom in the so-called *Battle under the Trees*, which saw much of Northern Mirkwood devastated by fighting, and the woodlands on fire in many places, Orcs in their manifold thousands assaulting the Elves under the trees. They were victorious, as were the Lorien Elves under Galadriel and Celeborn during the *Battles for Lorien* (who were attacked repeatedly three separate times, the might of the Galadhrim Elves and most of all Galadriel herself, driving the Orcs back again and again with massive casualties, as I mentioned only Sauron there reformed with the One Ring being powerful enough to break Galadriel's power) Erebor and Dale were on their own, though, while the fighting took place. This was all happening in the same time frame in which Minas Tirith was besieged, and the daring deeds of the Fellowship members and the Rohirrim for the *Battle of the Pelennor Fields*, numerically the largest single battle of the War of the Ring, taking place in the Southern campaign theatre of the war. When all the civilians of Dwarves and Men who could be saved had evacuated into Erebor, King Dain II Ironfoot and King Brand of Dale, ordered that the mighty gates be slammed shut, while they fought the hordes of Easterlings stilling assaulting outside. Reluctantly this was obeyed, and King Dain II Ironfoot and his ally King Brand of Dale, fought on with what few forces they had left, outside the very gates of Erebor, and on the lands before it, as Elves, Men and Dwarves had fought on together against Sauron's forces before during the Battle of Five Armies. This time though, the Easterlings - well armed and armoured and having excellent training and discipline, easily far superior to any Orcs or even Uruk-Hai, and being considered 2nd only to the Gondorians in terms of their technological level in their arms and armour, and cultural level of development in general, by human/menfolk standards, and some of Sauron's most highly valued elite military units, as well as extremely numerous for this attack - were overwhelming, and eventually only King Dain II Ironfoot and King Brand themselves survived, fighting back to back on a pile of Easterling bodies right at the foot of the Gates of Erebor itself. After fighting heroically and wildly for a long time, eventually King Brand was killed, and fell beside his ally, old King Dain. For even longer, the mighty Dwarven King fought on totally alone outside the Gates, possibly witnessed by the Men and Dwarves who'd evacuated inside the mountain and could have witnessed from the high walls of Erebor. After a ferocious fight, standing on heaps of dead Easterlings and still swinging his mighty Red Axe in battle, gradually the legendary old warrior was tiring, and inevitably he was brought down, possibly by arrows helping to achieve that. Slain before his own gates, fighting side by side with a fellow king and friend, and eventually killed defending King Brand's body itself. A grim, though perhaps in a way, fitting end to such a legendary warrior of the Dwarves. Gandalf the White, as he was by this point now, remarked on Dain's sacrifice with great sadness and sobering thought, full well acknowledging that had Dain II Ironfoot and Brand not closed the Gates of Erebor when they did, it risked Erebor falling to Sauron. Harsh as it seems, it it true that Middle Earth could deal with Dale falling to Sauron, because it was not as strategically defensible or important, or as powerful and wealthy, as its mighty neighbour Erebor. However, had Erebor fallen, that would change so much in the war for Middle Earth. Gandalf knew that had Sauron taken Erebor, either in the Battle of Five Armies or later in the events which led to the deaths of the Kings of Dale and Erebor fighting together against the Easterlings, then the northern theatre of the war would be thrown into jeopardy. From the extremely useful and strategically vital stronghold at Erebor, Sauron could dominate the proceedings of the War of the Ring in the North, threatening all lands east of the Misty Mountains and linking up Mount Gunbabad with Erebor, and Erebor to Dol Duldur, in a terrifying chain of Orc production which would even if not in an immediate sense but a more gradual one, still eventually overwhelm the free peoples. This combined with redirecting additional forces from the north to help his southern armies crush Gondor, would seal the fate of the free peoples. Erebor was pretty much just as strategically vital as Minas Tirith was in the south. Therefore it was a linchpin and stronghold that could ill afford to be lost. Also, who knows how many more allies from evil men of the east and south Sauron could pay for with all the treasures of Erebor? Probably cause an influx of so many more Easterlings and Southrons as mercenaries, in addition to those already loyal to him anyway, that nothing could be done to fight them back effectively. Not with the hundreds of thousands of Orcs already in the service of Sauron to consider as well. The War of the Ring so very nearly did go Sauron's way. Though beaten everywhere, those victories came at differing times, though close apart in time technically, and at huge cost to the free peoples. Dale was on fire not for the first time, and needed rebuilding not for the first time, and Erebor was under siege with its King slain defending its gates with most of the soldier of Men and Dwarves they had left up to that point. Minas Tirith was smouldering, and several levels had been overrun before the tide of battle turned thanks to the Rohirrim and the Dunedain of the North attacking from the sides at different times. Lorien's outer borders, its woodland eaves, were aflame, and much the same damage was inflicted on Mirkwood's woodland in its own battle for survival, and many Woodland Elves perished to win the Battle under the Trees. Galadriel herself came forth with Celeborn, and their army from Lorien, and after having defended Lorien successfully thrice times, drove the enemy back to Dol Guldur itself. Here, they coincidentally met up with the King Thranduil and his army, who had also driven Orc armies back to Dol Guldur from the North. The combined Elven armies laid siege to Dol Guldur, and eventually the counterattacks the Orcs attempted were easily crushed by archery alone. Then Galadriel stepped forth, fully empowered by Nenya, the Ring of Water, the White Ring, the Ring of Adamant and Silver. She fully embraced her powers and magical abilities, and much as the films portray, changed, becoming a powerful 'storm queen'. She walked barefoot, gently before the gates of Dol Guldur, and Orcs desperately rained arrows on her, though it was if she was invisibly shielded by some force field, the arrows falling like blades of straw harmlessly about her to the ground. Then, with a simple outreached hand, she apparently softly touched the gates, and suddenly they violently blasted open, shattering the defences there. Then she proceeded to enter Dol Guldur, and there she tore the evil place apparent, annihilating every evil creature that remained erstwhile besieged by the Elven armies, this witnessed by Thranduil and Celeborn. She tore down every tower, gate and parapet, and leveled every stone, destroying every last spider nest, warg pit and Orc lair, until there was practically nothing left. She created a furious tempest of wind and water, in a magical storm, cleansing every crevice in the foul old fortress and practically wiping it from the map. In its place, she magically caused flowers to grow and quickly blossom, with the rays of the sun bearing down on the cleansed hill of Amon Lanc. Dol Guldur had long ago before, in the Second Age, been the seat of power for Thranduil's deceased father, Oropher, at Amon Lanc, before he abandoned it for unclear reasons. Oropher was later slain in battle, during the Battle of Dagorlad in the War of the Last Alliance, something Thranduil himself possibly witnessed and took part in. Now it was restored to being an Elven possession, and Thranduil and Celeborn officially renamed Mirkwood; the north would return to being Eryn Lasgalen - the Greenwood - once the name for all of what had become the Mirkwood in evil times, ruled by Thranduil and his people still. The midriff of the woodlands would be given to the Beornings, the followers and descendants of Beorn, the woodsmen. The Southern section, where Dol Guldur had been, was part of what became known as East Lorien, to be ruled by Celeborn (Galadriel departing to the Grey Havens and the ship to Valinor, Celeborn possibly following himself in the end) Although all this good had happened, and although Sauron was gone and wasn't coming back, the truth was it had exhausted Elves and Dwarves to do so. The time of the Elves was over, and the Dwarves were never going to become numerous again. The Age of Men had truly come forth, and their stories would dominate Middle Earth from there on in. The Fourth Age had begun. When Sauron was destroyed with the destruction of the One Ring, and his southern forces were effectively annihilated, the news soon reached the north, with the Easterlings currently besieging Erebor. How close to breaking into Erebor, or not, they were, is unclear. What is clear though, is that the news devastated the morale and motivation of the Easterlings, and their panic was clearly visible to the Men and Dwarves from the defences. Something strange was going on, and the attacks petered out, and essentially stopped. The battle and siege ended 10 days after it had begun to the east of Dale, with the Men and Dwarves exploiting the visible lack of confidence and possible in-fighting they were witnessing from the defences of Erebor, by opening the gates and counterattacking with full force, everything they had left. The attack was sufficient enough to scatter and route the enemy Easterlings that remained, and they chased them away beyond Esgaroth even. Gandalf knew, very clearly, that all the heroics and bravery of the Fellowship members, Gondorians, Rohirrim and Dunedain of the North, in the southern theatre of the war, would have been for *absolutely nothing* if Erebor had fallen. Dain and Brand's sacrifice, was comparable to the sacrifice of King Theoden in importance. Dain, most of all, had shouldered a heavy part of the burden. Thinking on it, Sauron could have concentrated on destroying the Elves first, with all those Easterlings helping, before taking Erebor with even greater forces. The main reason I think he didn't was because of seeing that the Elves and Dwarves could cooperate in the Battle of Five Armies, decades earlier, and would never again risk such cooperation from occurring so easily, by keeping the Elves and Dwarves separated by attacking both simultaneously. Perhaps Dain would have marched with Brand to aid Thranduil, if Sauron concentrated most of his forces in the north including all those he did devote to the Battle of Dale and the Siege of Erebor, on the Elves of Mirkwood alone at first. Perhaps that would cause a massive defeat, and so his armies wiped out in Mirkwood's forests. Maybe Sauron wasn't illogical to attack everywhere at once, though perhaps a little paranoid. Dain might just not have found out in time, or decided to stay where he was with his forces defending Dale. Who knows. But I'd say Dain would march out, its just in his character. Had Erebor fallen, Sauron's vast armies would combine in the north, and pick off the Elven realms one after the other. Though Sauron himself would be required to personally defeat Galadriel, and even then with the One Ring, hundreds of thousands of Orcs and Easterlings attacking Lorien simultaneously, could overrun it, forcing her to flee with what remained of her people. Effectively even as victory on the Pelennor Fields was finally won, if the northern armies won, then they could have combined, rallied together and swung back round south on Sauron's orders, with the additional 60,000 Orc reserves Sauron had inside Mordor still to be unleashed, and then attack Minas Tirith again, perhaps after laying waste to a relatively weakly defended Rohan from the north. It was extremely important to the war effort for Erebor and Mirkwood, Lorien and Dale, to hold in the north. Had they fallen, it would have all been for nothing. Aragorn being crowned King or not, wouldn't change the fact that hundreds of thousands of units in Sauron's northern armies, could theoretically swoop down on an exhausted and depleted Rohan and Gondor, and finish what the Witch King had started. Dain II Ironfoot is to me easily the best of all the Dwarves, in my opinion at least. His sacrifice at the age of 252, was far deeper than fighting for his own life, as he very clearly risked himself for Bilbo Bagginses safety. Paid the price, too - but in doing so, helped change the fate of Middle Earth.

[@rio20d]

And yet we probably won't be able to see these other battle scenes during the war of the ring period. Even if Hollywood wants tol bring them into a big budget film, it will be probably under different director. Perhaps in another 10 years it could happen. For me personally, the thing with Battle of Dale is that the Dwarves of Erebor & Men of Dale, fought Easterlings, and Easterling are also men, just evil men of darkness in general, but they are feared even amongst Rohirrim and Gondorians. I remember we did see abit of Easterling marching out of the blackgates in Lord of the Rings movie but thats about it. If I could watch the Battel of Dale while I am still alive, I would be forever grateful LoL, and also I remember in the Lord of the Rings, there is a scene in return of the king, I cant remember which character but he said that the elves are leaving, the dwarves are not coming, I guess because at that time, both of the elves and dwarves are also busy fighting Sauron forces. Too bad we didnt get to see this filmed.

[@ThePalaeontologist]

***** I was just replying to someone else on another video about these sorts of things. Basically, Tolkien Estates has withdrawn the rights to *anyone* making *anything* to do with any of the published books of J.R.R Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien. In 2012 Tolkien Estates even filed a lawsuit against production companies connected to the films by Peter Jackson, basically targeting the removal of certain gambling games, saying it was against the values held by J.R.R Tolkien and a low cheapening of his high fantasy literature and moral tales. They had a point to be fair. But when it comes to the films, it is essentially that they are not fully satisfied with how the film trilogies have turned out, even The Lord Of The Rings, and there is no further permission to Peter Jackson or anyone else at this time for making more films. It is heavily unlikely we will see films like these ones for a good long while, and for whatever downsides and detractors PJ's films have, I still think it is safe to say they are still critically acclaimed and well loved by a vast fan-base worldwide, and regardless of many criticisms from many angles, are excellent films that will be able to stand the test of time. Timeless classics. Alas, we can only dream for the foreseeable future of films relating to the other aspects of Tolkien's legendarium that have yet to be shown. Imagine the Easterlings in their tens of thousands marching on Dale and Erebor, and battle raging there for like 10 days. Imagine King Dain II Ironfoot and King Brand fighting to the death back to back on a mound of dead Easterlings at the very foot of the gates of Erebor, and the counterattack avenging them when the Easterlings falter and panic, learning of the downfall of Sauron to the south mid-siege. Easterlings truly were a force to be reckoned with. More than once in the history of Gondor, the Easterlings posed a very serious threat. It was partly thanks to the powerful Wainrider tribal faction Easterlings attacking Gondor while Southrons did, during the same time Arnor was in mortal danger from the attacks of the Witch King, that Gondor arrived to Arnor's aid with the Elves too late to save Arnor, the Witch King overrunning the last bastion of the last constituent realm of Arnor, Arthedain, in the Siege and Battle of Fornost Erain in TA (Third Age) 1974. The Witch King with probably well over 60,000-75,000 units, overwhelmed the defences and massacred most of the gathered Dunedain survivors, man, woman and child. Those few that escaped, becoming the Dunedain Rangers of the North, the last legacy of Arnor for the rest of the Age until King Aragorn II Elessar renewed Arnor in a revival and rebirth, during the Fourth Age as part of the Reunited Kingdoms. Prince Earnur of Gondor, had arrived with his Elven allies, in TA 1975, finding Fornost Erain a smouldering ruin, inhabited by the Witch King and his evil forces, who'd gloated over the fall of Arnor and desecrated the shattered halls and streets of Fornost Erain with their corruption. Prince Earnur, an extremely headstrong and stout battle champion, led a massive Gondorian Heavy Cavalry charge, alongside the many horsemen of the Eldar (Elves) and crushed the Witch Kings armies, with the heavy infantry of Elves and Men marching into battle and the Elves and Men defeating the Witch King on the plains outside Fornost Erain, around 1 year after it had been the scene of the slaughter the Witch King had inflicted on a massively outnumbered Arnorian last stand. The Easterlings menacing the Gondorians from the east, had distracted the northern army group of Gondor from acting in time to save its sister-kingdom with the Elves, from certain destruction. The Angmar Wars had lasted from circa.TA 1300 and therefore the Witch King had been wearing down the Arnorians in a near constant and relentless state of war and pestilence which he caused, lasting around 675 years pretty much non-stop. He'd destroyed the defences of the Watchtower of Amon Sul, and killed numerous members of the monarchy of Arnor across the generations. He had enslaved Rhudaur, destroyed Cardolan and in TA 1974 finally crushed the surrounded Fornost Erain, and the realm of Arthedain which it was the last stronghold of. Had the Easterlings not been attacking Gondor constantly, it could have saved Arnor from the doom that befell it. Gondor and the Elves were about 9 months to a year too late, which in the balance of things wasn't massively late, considering the distances and the military predicament facing Gondor and the other free peoples. The Wainrider Easterlings were no mere or minor threat. They had pushed Gondor to the limit and Gondor had almost been defeated by them at a few points. It was a very serious threat. Also, while Gondor recovered from the fighting with the Southrons, Wainrider Easterlings and having managed to defeat Angmar utterly and dismantle Angmar as an evil realm, back to its very source, this gave Sauron and the eight other Nazgul besides the Witch King, time to rally massive Orc armies in preparation for a new attack aiming to remove Gondor's influence over guarding Mordor itself. Not long after the Witch King returned to Mordor, he was tasked with capturing both Cirith Ungol and Minas Ithil. Minas Ithil, sister-fortress city to Minas Anor (Minas Tirith as it was soon to be later named) was, like all Gondor, not only weakened by the many wars it had to shoulder the burden of, but also the great plagues (caused by Sauron most likely) which tore through the population, leaving Osgiliath devastated several times for example, in the years leading up to these events. Cirith Ungol meanwhile, was a Gondorian fortress, one of the few left manned in the wake of the decline of Gondor. The grim to be in outpost (called Cirith 'Ungol', precisely because of that hideous giant spider and daughter of Ungoliant, Shelob, which lived literally right next to their outpost, probably occasionally picking off the odd unwary and unlucky guard on patrol from time to time) was kind of out on a limb, and it was certainly a grim place to be on active duty. The small garrison there could have had little idea what was coming; the Witch King with a massive army which was prepared to overrun Minas Ithil in size and power, let alone Cirith Ungol, a much smaller stronghold. The few soldiers there held out for a brief time, in TA 2000 when the attack came, but the attack was fatal and a Gondorian traitor opened the gates one night. The Witch King had loudly proclaimed to the Gondorians trapped inside that they would be shown mercy and sent back to Gondor alive, if they simply surrendered. One Gondorian snapped in fear, and thought the promise would be kept. Instead, they were all massacred brutally, the Witch King lying and merciless of course. Very shortly after this calamity, the Witch King descended on Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Moon, with the full might of Mordor, possibly over 100,000-125,000 Orcs and evil men, with trolls etc. The Gondorians inside the city, were trapped due to the geographically restricting nature of the narrow Morgul Vale. It was besieged constantly, for what turned out to be 2 long years of siege warfare. It is highly unlikely that Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun, its sister-city, was unaware of the plight of Minas Ithil. It is unknown and unspecified if or how the Gondorians tried to relieve the siege, from the west, but considering the siege lasted for as long as 2 years, ending in TA 2002, then it seems heavily plausible that the Witch King had to deal with Gondorian attempts to save Minas Ithil from time to time, coming in from the west, from Osgiliath and Minas Anor. King Earnur, as he now was, the man who had triumphed outside Fornost Erain and driven the Witch King's faction of Angmar into ruin with the Elves, basically would surely have tried to do something. He hated the Witch King more than anything else in the world, and had a serious, deep-seated personal grudge against the Witch King. During the final fall of Angmar, the Witch King fled, and Carn Dum his hidden lair and fortress was overrun, and his minions slaughtered to the last. Pursuing the Witch King, was Prince Earnur himself, and his ally Lord Glorfindel of the Elves of Imladris (Rivendell, and technically the resurrected and major-effing-badass Balrog slayer from the First Age, had first been resident of Gondolin, before it was overrun) Furiously chasing the Witch King, the Prince, and nobody else up until that point either, even realised who and *what* the Witch King was. But having tried to keep this secret by acting like a mere mortal sorceror (hence, the 'Witch King' moniker that became forever attributed to him), during his final defeat and retreat from Angmar, the Witch King could no longer hide the truth of his nature, not to Glorfindel that is. While Earnur hot-headedly tried to catch up to the Witch King, the Witch King let out a furious Nazgul screech, which caused Earnur's horse to stall and bolt in terror, throwing Earnur from the saddle and massively angering him in what he saw as the disgrace of it. He tried to pursue even still as he got to his feet, but in that moment Glorfindel had sensed the truth; the Witch King of Angmar was Nazgul, the Lord of the Nazgul, in disguise as a black numenorean sorceror. He was *far* more deadly and dangerous than anyone had so far realised, and Earnur was in mortal danger trying to challenge him to single combat. Nothing Earnur could possibly do in combat, would harm the Witch King (even though Earnur was a beasty battle champion, I'd say even much stronger, powerful and skilled than Aragorn years later) No man could harm the Lord of the Nazgul. Glorfindel reached out his sword hand, and declared to Earnur (I paraphrase) that; Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man shall he fall! (there is more to it than that, and he is basically telling Earnur to stop for his own safety, while also having a genuine prophecy which he doesn't fully understand, about the Nazgul's eventual fate, which we know of course to be a reference to him being slain at last by Eowyn and Meriadoc Brandybuck over a thousand years later on the battlefield of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields) It is highly unlikely that Earnur, still spoiling for a fight with the Witch King, would sit by and do nothing at Minas Anor. But whatever the Gondorians did, if they did at all, they simply could not lift the siege of Minas Ithil. The couple of thousand massively outnumbered and progressively less well supplied Gondorians inside, fought to the last man when the Witch King broke in. They were utterly massacred, and any civilians inside there too (probably mainly the wives and children of the soldiers of the garrison, Minas Ithil long having declined and already been much less well populated even at the time it fell to Sauron's armies) The ethereal moonbeam white light shining from the walls and towers of the Tower of the Moon, changed, as the corruption of the Nazgul in the Tower, turned Minas Ithil into Minas Morgul. The light, once pale and bittersweet beautiful, became a more odious, terrifying and ominous sickly green, and though a luminous pale green in hue, it was an eerie, haunting light, a 'dead light, which illuminated nothing', full of shadows and the silent dread and terror emanated by the Nazgul. Minas Ithil had fallen, and Minas Morgul it had become. In grief and solemn mourning of this disaster, King Earnur renamed Minas Anor, the Tower of (the) Sun, to Minas Tirith, as a symbolic indication of the changing nature of Gondor in the Third Age, and its more emphatically clear role as the primary, obligatory protector of the west; Minas Tirith tellingly meaning, 'Tower of (the) Guard'. It was a sad state of affairs. Worse, the Witch King sent a gloating, goading message to Minas Anor/Tirith, demanding that Earnur stop being a coward and to come out and face him in single combat. Naturally this boiled the blood of the headstrong Earnur, who desperately wanted to fight him. But his Steward Madril, managed to calm him down, Madril knowing that to accept the challenge to ride to Minas Morgul and fight the Witch King, would be a trap, and a suicidal as well as pointless disaster. It took every ounce of effort and energy for Madril to plead with, reason with and stop Earnur from brashly, angrily riding to Minas Morgul for a showdown with the Witch King. However, 7 years later, the Witch King decided to randomly issue the same threat and challenge to King Earnur, who had spent those years lamenting the loss of Minas Ithil and Cirith Ungol no doubt, and being extremely self-conscious of his own people thinking he was a coward (which they almost certainly did not think) But this time, nothing Madril could say would stop the inevitable reaction. Madril could only weep and watch as his King assembled a small escort of Royal Guard Knights of Minas Tirith, to ride with him to Minas Morgul, where he intended to duel and kill the Witch King once and for all. Now, Earnur was a very deadly warrior, very seriously a battle champion among the best that ever lived among men, or even Elves and Dwarves too. But still, he was no match for the Witch King. Only very few warriors in the history of the Third Age were able to truly claim that they were the match or superior combatant to the Witch King. Even if Earnur was, he could stand there all day hitting him with his mighty Royal Sword, but to no avail. By prophetic insistence, the Witch King was immune to all men. So, Earnur rode to Minas Morgul, and he and his knights were never seen against. Most definitely slaughtered, trapped and surrounded without a hope of return. Earnur wasn't necessarily the wisest King Gondor ever had, obviously, though very prideful and warlike. But so ended the line of the Kings of Gondor, until Aragorn reforged the monarchy of Gondor and Arnor simultaneously, in his coronation, over a thousand years later. Later in Middle Earth history (about 500 years after the events involving Earnur), the Easterlings also took part in a massive, renewed assault on Gondor's territories, in the form of the Balchoth Easterling tribal faction. They posed a serious threat, and like the Wainriders before them, were attacking Gondor while it was weakened by internal strife and when declining, and also while still deeply troubled by the Haradrim and others such as the Corsairs of Umbar to the south, not for the first time. Steward Cirion of Gondor, (the prime ruler of Gondor as had his predecessor Stewards been since Madril the Steward of King Earnur took over after the obvious death of Earnur at Minas Morgul) had marched a large Gondorian army north, to confront the Balchoth on the banks of the Anduin. But unknown to the Steward, was the fact that both the Easterling army had swelled to a size they Gondorians had not expected, and they were also going to be attacked by a large Orc army from the Misty Mountains attacking from the west, in tandem with their Easterling allies attacking from the east. This trapped Cirion in the pincers of their combined offensive, and though the Gondorian army was tough, well trained and well armed and armoured, it would still have most likely faced annihilation. *However*, charging in from the north, totally unexpected, was the Eotheod of King Eorl the Young - these, were the first generation of what would soon become the Rohirrim. They were entirely unexpected, and Cirion must have thought the game was up. If he was killed and his army destroyed, as it so easily could have been, the Balchoth Easterlings and all the Orcs of Mordor and elsewhere, would descend on Gondor, and likely crush it in its relatively defenceless state. Eorl and his Eotheod, in their many thousands, shattered the Orcs and Easterlings, and allowed the Gondorians to counterattack. It was a glorious victory, and Cirion was forever grateful to Eorl. Barely 3 months after the incredible salvation the riders of Eorl had given to the Gondorians (very surely saving Gondor itself from being destroyed in one of its darkest hours) Cirion Steward of Gondor, happily signed an agreement and oath of allegiance with Eorl the Young. As a gift of gratitude from the people of Gondor, Eorl the Young and his roving horsemen, were granted the then Gondorian province of *Calenardhon*, vast open plains between the Misty Mountains, White Mountains, Fangorn Forest, the Wold and the great river Anduin. This was the land that would one day be called Rohan (originally for the initial years, called Rochann, and the Riddermark became its alternative name for many years too) The home of the horselords. Originally the people of Eorl, the Eotheod, organised into cavalry wings called Eorlingas, had come from the Vales of the Anduin, 500 leagues north of the battle site of the Battle of the Field of Celebrant, where they had dramatically saved Cirion and the Gondorians out of the blue without being anticipated whatsoever, by friend or foe. Therefore they were once living not so very far away from Dale, Esgaroth and Erebor, ancestrally. They favoured the open plains perfect for their beloved horsemanship and culture built around horses and horse riding, and so dismantled and abandoned their old homes far north, and soon enough inhabited Calenardhon, which became Rohan. But the Easterling threat never really went away, and they hated the Rohirrim for their actions in saving Gondor and defeating them. Therefore some of the reigns of the subsequent Kings of Rohan, were plagued by the Easterlings attacking them. Eorl the Young himself, was finally killed in battle by the Easterlings, years after securing the new and better lands for his people, and saving Gondor from catastrophe. Both Gondor and Rohan fought Easterlings for years to come, and they were always a menace that would not go away. People don't really give the Easterlings enough credit, in terms of their role as important enemies of the free peoples. Some even (very wrongly) consider the Easterlings to be a sign Tolkien was racist, making easterners out to be evil. No, it was a west centric legendarium with the east occupied by a demonic fallen angel, Sauron, a Maiar Ainur from the dawn of time (like Gandalf and Saruman etc) who had twisted and corrupted the lands in the east with immense evil for thousands of years. To the point that generations of Easterlings and Southrons grew up knowing only a life of servitude and enslavement, brainwashing and enthrallment under the banners of Mordor. To the point that their cultures were in intensive competition with the Gondorians, for the sheer sake of it, and pure hatred for Gondor was all they knew for so long. Promise of riches to the west, such as the great treasure vaults of Gondor and the even greater hordes of gold and jewels beyond comprehension in Erebor, would have been motivation to serve Sauron too. The Easterlings were highly esteemed by Tolkien. He specifically noted that their arms, armour as well as cultural sophistication, were 2nd only to Gondor. Even, then, they were catching up and giving Gondor a run for its money, militarily, culturally and technologically. They had very heavy infantry of elite quality, which Sauron knew were far beyond the quality of practically any of his Orcs or even Uruk-Hai. They were brave, well trained, well armed, beautifully armoured in elaborate plate, scale and mail iron and bronze armour, not a million miles away from the quality and look of Gondorian and even Dwarven armour. They were tough, well disciplined, routinely displayed unity in combat and the ability to make neat battle formations, and they served with pride and excellence in the ranks of the armies of the Dark Lord. Over 50,000 of them assaulted Dale, and tens of thousands would have served in the southern campaign theatre. In fact, the very last battalion of Sauron's forces at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, when the battle was being lost by Sauron's armies and the tide had turned with the arrival of Aragorn and the Northern Dunedain from the ships, in any good order or fresh fighting shape, was a rearguard Legion of Easterlings, close to Osgiliath. They could have just run away, saving themselves at the end of a battle which was now so clearly lost. But they didn't. They dug their heels in, proudly and bravely, chanted war cries and locked shields in a rigid battle formation. They simply refused to leave, and preferred to fight to the death. That they did, and they sold their lives dearly in fighting to the last man. Just wouldn't allow Gondor, Rohan and the Dunedain of the North, the relief and satisfaction of a more simple and bloodless victory. No, they had to stand and fight and make the Men of the West take even more casualties. To their credit, it shows that they truly were elites, and had their own agendas which the cowardly Orcs which fled all around them and drowned in the river Anduin while chased by Eomer and the Rohirrim into Osgiliath, couldn't understand or copy. The Orcs, Sauron had tried to, over the ages, shape into combatants as good as men, elves and dwarves at battle tactics and formations. But ultimately, they were craven at heart, and would never match the quality of the Easterlings. Obvious then why Sauron used overwhelming numbers of Orcs as the backbone of his army, although his very best Orcs and Uruk-Hai eg Morannon Orcs, Morgul Orc Guards and Black Uruks of Barad-Dur, were indeed extremely tough, but still not as strong as the Easterlings. The Easterlings continued to threaten both Rohan and Gondor well into the Fourth Age, even after Sauron had been defeated; On the Oath of Eorl being renewed by King Aragorn II Elessar of the Reunited Kingdoms and King Eomer of Rohan; *"Often he fulfilled it. For though Sauron had passed, the hatreds and evils that he bred had not died, and the King of the West had many enemies to subdue before the White Tree could grow in peace. And wherever King Elessar went with war King Eomer went with him; and beyond the Sea of Rhûn and on the far fields of the South the thunder of the cavalry of the Mark was heard, and the White Horse upon Green flew in many winds until Éomer grew old."* - (p. 352, The Return of the King). Truly, the Easterlings were not to be taken lightly, and their evil affiliations may well have subsided, as more and more time passed by after the bad influence and corruption of Sauron was removed.

[@ElCalvazo]

Holy mother of exposition.

[@ThePalaeontologist]

***** :)

[@ThePalaeontologist]

***** I don't need to do anything you say or think. There is literally no need to say that to me. I don't care about your opinion. But no, you felt the need to comment because you clearly think you have to. Why? go bother someone else with your inane socialite comment.

[@FreakyGremlinDK]

i got the chills when the elves came jumping over the dwarves "first kill is ours!!"

[@byalmo91]

That Dwarven army is the most badass thing I've ever seen

[@deathwatch_9736]

I just love the fact that the dwarves are the first to run to battle. their war cries are also awsome....

[@snakeboy1912]

THRAUNDIL THIS IS MADNESS! Madness? DIS IS MIDDLE EARTH

[@cubecraftgamesreports7141]

0:35 best formation

[@rio20d]

the famous defensive battle formation : Dwarven Shield wall.....if only the elves could stay in the backline, and leave the frontline to these dwarven tanks as they can hold the line long enough, while the elves keep shooting rain of arrows over them and eventually killing more orcs.

[@knightace2002]

***** It's also famous in our world as well. Many battles have been won using the shield wall and archer volley strategy (horses have also played a role but the main ones are those 2).

[@cubecraftgamesreports7141]

The fomation would be better if the elven/dwarven Bowman Shoots over the Shieldwall.

[@cseijif]

knightace2002 horses eventually crushed that foramtion, no shield wall could stop a full armored calvary charge.

[@cubecraftgamesreports7141]

I didn't see the dwarves riding goats in the trailer. Or the dwarves with large ballista's *Big Crossbows Any 1 knows?

[@GamenOpEenGameKanaal]

The shield wall looks so badass !

[@LucasRocha127]

i love their war cry at 0:48

[@wollypeople55]

Tanar durin nur

[@robinskold8190]

Im trying to figure out what that "captain" is yelling tho.. Any thoughts?

[@kortikorti2652]

I love it that elves, dwarves and men working together

[@meidi3331]

The Dwarves were massacred by the orcs because of their number ... Otherwise I loved the Dwarves , they are trops powerful ! ;)

[@rio20d]

These Ironhills dwarves are very strong and loyal veteran to Lord Dain, too bad they are outnumbered. If the number are even , the dwarves would have won. Still with that lesser number they managed to hold the line , until they got cornered near the gate of Erebor. From the battle scenes it looks like the elven army outnumbered the dwarven army as well, but most of the elves got wiped out, leaving only few survivors including King Thranduil

[@kauetadaieski3131]

***** Another who hasn't payed attention to the movie. Those with Thranduil were not the only survivors!!! He even tell one of them to call back the army that is fighting in another part of Dale.

[@mzkrevin]

1:07 sounds EXACTLY like the sound, Tauriel makes when one of the orcs tries to grab her bow at the barrel chase scene.

[@michaelf8309]

For the Noldor elves from the first age, battle like this is just another day in their endless pain and suffering

[@steverahmooni4042]

ah! the Dwarves ...what a mighty race

[@mattmoua7000]

A fully armed Noldor army from the second age will make this seem like another days battle .....

[@sticksZin]

i fucking love the dwarven tactits....dwarven defender army....

[@thomasprent2179]

Elves are so badass

[@matteogolino1307]

I know right

[@matthewchristiansen9978]

But they suck at strategy.

[@TheKawaiiStation08]

Matthew Christiansen In the battle of the last alliance when Lord Elrond led a army of Noldor elfs then they had very good strategy. But hey that was Elrond and not Thranduil and it was Noldor elfs not Mirkwood elfs.

[@kauetadaieski3131]

Matthew Christiansen No the diretor suck at it the elves are more disciplined than anyone.

[@Scottx125Productions]

Kaue Tadaieski In all fairness this is Peter Jackson's idea of what it would have been like. It is based off the events in the book but its not a 100% accurate retelling of the book. So either ignore it and wait for another version of the Hobbit to come out in the next 20-50 years or just enjoy Jackson's version for the time being.

[@gideonhorwitz9434]

Dain riding that armored pig like a boss

[@knightace2002]

haha my favorite part of the entire movie lol awesome.

[@lathenhertel5291]

Baruk Khazad!!!!! Khazad Aie Menu!!!!!!! Gotta love them dwarves. they need to just make an Ironfoot movie, kidnap Billy Connolly and make him do it!!!!!

[@MeliorIlle]

I got so incredibly excited and emotional for this scene, to finally after so many years of waiting see a fully organized, mobilized Dwarven army in combat... and then two minutes later I was a sad panda, since this is pretty much all we saw. Fuck this movie.

[@Orta_z8k]

Gandalf: thranduil! This is madness! Thranduil: madress?

[@Mr.HeisenbergTheCook]

Were this dwarves trained in Sparta ? ;-)

[@rio20d]

The Dwarves trained the Spartans

[@APOELULTRAS-mr3oh]

The dwarvs trained the spartans... Are u fucking kidding me? The spartans WERE REAL u noob ... I love the dwarvs but they are FAKE.... The spartans were REAL and much better.. So stfu and show some respect... Fucking nerd...

[@drFocak]

***** iron hill dwarfes = SUPER TANKS

[@rio20d]

Kotsios Apoellhn OMG you fucking noob, you know I was just joking when I said this, of course Spartans were real, it was based in our history, dwarves in this case are just fantasy character, geez you take my comment too literally,

[@OmsoiTekken]

Kotsios Apoellhn He was joking, sir.

[@bodasactra]

It was a thrilling way to show the elves would indeed fight. A hundred air born Legolas type warriors cycling like a giant Ninja food processor was sharp. Then the dwarves spear-wall charge laying out survivors was everything the LOTR final battle lacked with a men only fight. Those poor Orcs can't win no matter how well prepared and armed. You would think after all the butt kickings they have taken they would give it up and set up shop far away. I would go on Orc strike.

[@w-james9277]

I fucking love this scene, one of the best in the whole middle earth trilogy

[@SkyWingFeather]

At first I thought Thranduil was set on letting the dwarves risk their lives without help. But he continues to surprise and please me.

[@MrHnm92]

To the death dwarves of Ironfoot! For Erebor! For the King!

[@helmoXDHD32]

DAIN PIE DE HIERRO Y EL EJERCITO DE ENANOS LOS MAS VALIENTES , CARAJO QUE ESCENA PARA EPICA , VIVAN LOS ENANOS ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡

[@dragonking1097]

Drawing first blood or not, at least the elves jumping out into the fight did show how they were willing to help the dwarves despite the current issues. Bother elves and dwarves know that more is at stake than gold and gems. The men know it too.

[@Arathorn540]

why are the other dwarves staying in the back?

[@OperaCantata]

This is madess. This is spartaaa!

[@rio20d]

this reminds me of 300 lol, the only difference is that its the dwarves not human

[@nathanapplegate5374]

The dwarfish battle tactics are awesome

[@throrkingunderthemountain246]

This scene was so METAL! except for the part where the flower pickers do their rainbow jump over the Dwarven tanks and spoil the epic clash. I think it would have been better if the Dwarves pulled a 300 move where thy hold the orcs back and open up ranks to let the elves shoot between shields but I loved that one scene where thy all raise their spears and run the orcs through along with some cocky elves as well. . but other than that it was glorious! BARUK KHAZAD KHAZAD I MENU!

[@cesaronperu4541]

ESTA ESCENA ME PUSO LA PIEL DE GALLINA QUE EMOCION CARAJO , EL VALIENTE EJERCITO DE LOS ENANOS CON DAIN PIE DE HIERRO NUEVO REY DE LOS ENANOS ANTE LA CAIDA DE THORIN ESCUDO DE ROBLE , TUBE LA DICHA DE VER ESTA PELICULA EL MISMO 11 DE DICIEMBRE 2014 Y 3 VECES MAS , NUNCA OLVIDARE A LA TIERRA MEDIA , AHORA A ESPERAR LOS HIJOS DE HURIN Y EL SILMALLIRON SALUDOS DESDE PERU

[@bman2080808]

half the dwarf army stayed on the hill and did nothing in the beginning of battle.

[@amazingle7431]

what is it the guy from 0:47 say? sound epic

[@dennist.8210]

My dwarvish may be a little rusty but i believe he says " THIS IS SPA...EREBOR!" lol. No i think he just said something like " Ready for Battle" or something along the lines of that.

[@ahtim1900]

madness!? THIS IS SPARTA!!! dooooommmm

[@belongaskip]

Maybe PJ felt a rain of arrows got tired.

[@w-james9277]

The Dwarfs were the real heroes of the Battle

[@therammsteinboys]

The elves are just so stupid, the dwarven phalanx was perfect, they could just shoot arrows over the heads of the dwarves, no they must interrupt a perfect phalanx, messing it up, causing the dwarves to lose their formation, GENIUS

[@danielroberts2421]

0:55 Name of the music please?

[@MoniqueCassel]

Try "Battle for the Mountain"....on the soundtrack

[@danielroberts2421]

Monique Cassel Hmm nope. I was searching this one too xD

[@MoniqueCassel]

Yeah, I would have thought, but check "Sons of Durin" too

[@danielroberts2421]

Hmm...Nope ;/ Any other ideas?

[@MoniqueCassel]

Listen to it all?

[@gertvandenberghe5914]

you have filmed in cinema????

[@iliyanzhel8004]

Dain is good warrior with perfect weapon a :)

[@bigbaus3358]

i love the phalanx from the dwarfs

[@jozo-oy9eg]

The First Time that dwarfs and elfs Fight together

[@phoenixlord8419]

Actually here were many dwarves in the Last Alliance of Men and Elves as well and they fought together there as well.Just sayin'.

[@APOELULTRAS-mr3oh]

Can anyone tell me what are the dwarves chanting?

[@Lisan_Al_Gaib8]

if you look carefully when the elves go over the dwarves one orc is like OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@thearrow8304]

i loved this movie

[@betterthanyou9227]

love the wall

[@coll5342]

anyone know what they chant? that one dwarf specifically and what the rest reply?

[@Fourthss0716]

Best part

[@mikehilario-lapa3246]

i want to see all the battles because it might be good battle.

[@marcusantonius4121]

Those who are complaining about the elves not firing clearly haven't seen the movie.

[@justshorts8996]

what's the name of the song in 0:55

[@GeorgeofGondor2]

So the elves instead of using their bows and archery skills behind the dwarven phalanx they decided to jump over it . Ok...

[@CrystVeno]

I hate it when dps jump off ahead of tank. Usually I let the boss give him a slap first.

[@alealdin]

SOMEBODY KNOWS THE SONG WHEN THE ELVES JUMPS ABOVE THE DWARVES? PLEASE?

[@ThorinWind]

Alah al din Kôprulû In fact this is a medley between the theme when the dwarves make a wall with thme shields (Battle for the Mountain 1:20 to 1:40) and the Elven Theme which was in the Desolation of Smaug and also in BFOA

[@alealdin]

Thanks Thorin son of Thrail,but i can find the song,the song calls "Thauriel"..in the movie i guess they use a little bit,because it lasts 10 or 11 minutes. ImI 3:) ImI

[@ThorinWind]

You mean the theme when Kili dies ("Ravenhill" 4: 29 to 5: 19 ) or the Theme of Tauriel in the desolation of Smaug? ("Beyond the forest" 3: 12 to the end)

[@jacoblippert6297]

Is that Peter Jackson at 00:48 ? Or is he somewhere else in the film?

[@warbossgrotsmasha23]

aaaaahhhh the internet "experts" ranting my eyes see :D time to grab the popcorn and lol at this needless drama xD

[@iusprimaenoctis9913]

Best part 0:40, but what the dwarf yell??? in dwarven lenguage i mean..

[@Aministo]

What are those dwarves saying after they make that shield wall? (What I hear: "Bakaru bakaara!!" Awooo-HA!!! )

[@vultronhd6942]

Are high elves Lorien elves?

[@KushPapi]

Dope scene

[@Tomassssssso]

Every army shoot arrows at charging enemy causing huge damages and casualties. Especially if archers are elves. But no, lets just waste the power of dwarf wall of shields and spears which could hold and kill lots of orcs and jump into the direct fight with strong orcs, which statistically overrun weaker elves.

[@belegthoron8603]

And to the ones who say that the Elves are stupid becuse they don't shoot their arrows,Do you think that a volley of arrows it's better than that epic entrance to battle and fighting with courage side by side with the Dwarves, forgeting their hatred to fight together against a common enemy ?????? They would stayed as f***ing cowards ! And the Elves don't attack in the begining becuse Thranduil it's kinda asshole ,but as all we know it's just another badass good guy ...

[@rio20d]

I kind of understand why Peter Jackson did this, yes visually it looks epic and cooler, but strategy wise, a volley of arrows is in fact much better, they will have more and more kills and they can do it safely from the distance. My understanding when I see the dwarves forming the shield wall, is probably because the dwarves already know and acknowledge how good the archery skill of the elves, they have so many archers there in the scene along with some melee unit to protect the archers. If you remember, just before the orcs came, we could see that the dwarves are about to have a clash with the elves, you could see the same tactic carried out by the elves, their elven tanks with shield immediately move the the front while the archers move to the back. The simply swap their position. so why, when the Dwarves were trying to do the same thing, the elves suddenly jumped over them. The dwarves are like the main tanks in this scene fully and heavily armored to the teeth, and they are meant to hold the line, I am sure they would do just fine, but I think Peter Jackson wanted to have the elves jumped over them as it is visually cooler. I would say that the elves shooting arrows while the dwarves tanking the orcs is still considered fighting side by side. It's still the same thing, they fought together.

[@durinV]

Probably in the extended edition they will show a volley or two of arrows, but yeah,kinda weird... And Beorn only appear like 5 sec. :S

[@belegthoron8603]

***** well, in a way i agree with you with the thing that these Elves would have been more efficient shooting volleys of arrows ,but in the other hand i think that a charge to battle in these movies are very important cuz when we watch them ,the emotional feeling it's so strong that it give us the same feelings of the characters ,the feeling to fight against darkness,the feeling that turn us brave and courageus ,the feeling ti fight for freedom ,that extraordinary feeling that makes us ti believe that there still hope when it seems that everthing it's lost!! That's why i love these movies ,that's why i love J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpieces ,that's why i think these charge scenes are my favorites from the six movies and that's why i love LOTR!!!!! Damm im with the tears in my eyes ! Hahaha Anyway the thing is that an heroic and glorius charge it's very important (sorry if i was a little inspired haha) cheers man ! :)

[@rio20d]

TheSpartanWarrior33 Yeah I know man, I was bit emotional too when I first watched it, well this is fantasy movie, I still enjoyed the battle scene, I think visually they look allright .

[@SpiritZaraki]

Even though I love the dwarves. Thranduil is not an asshole, his race is in the verge of dying out.

[@matteogolino1307]

Elves are braver and badass. Rather than form a wall, they go into battle! Mirkwood elves are better fighters in my opinion than the Lorien Elves and so on

[@rio20d]

Which led them to getting killed eventually, The Dwarves from Iron Hills did show courage of steel, they are the ones who charged first to the front line when they noticed the orcs are coming, that to me is a very brave move. Forming a shield wall is not gonna make the dwarves less brave than the elves who jumped over them. it's called battle tactics, when you know you are greatly outnumbered you should be on the defense mode, not going all out offense like those elves who suddenly jumped over a heavily fortified Dwarven shield wall, they could have stayed behind shooting arrows, and let the 500 Dwarven tanks hold the line. That will give them a much better outcome, more kills and less casualties. When I saw the movie before the battle begin, I could see a sea of elven soldiers with their shiny golden armor standing in front of Erebor gate, but after the battle I could only see very few of them including King Thranduil, while the dwarves probably only lost half of its soldiers, you can see there are still few hundreds dwarves that got cornered near the Erebor gate and they are still able to press forward after Thorin and the company came out.

[@TehOneAndOnlyDuckyyy]

***** Remember that half of the elven army went to assist the city

[@kevinflem2036]

***** dain ironfoot split army in two, 250 going with him in the front line and the other 250 in back where the elf army is with thranduil .

[@wolfeon6434]

***** And that's because I loved the warg chase in the first movie. The elves on their horses were just badass.

[@wolfeon6434]

Who do you mean?

[@24framez_]

I expected tons of arrows.., but instead this "cringe attack" by the elves...

[@Michaelair2323]

check the EE....

[@ThroneOfBhaal]

***** There should be a ton in the Extended Edition, battles tend to get hit with the 'cut for time' hammer pretty damn hard in editing.

[@corsijtsma3546]

1:20 what does dain say?

[@matthewsahagun5831]

Any Shield Wall battles movies? Name the Title of the Movies

[@nedvedwot464]

and this dwarven battle cry behind the shields! oh dear! Anybody knows what they screaming?

[@Joker1983pl]

Baruk Khazâd! This is the famous battle cry "Axes of the Dwarves!" Tolkien states in Appendix F that the Dwarves had used it "on many a field since the world was young." Gimli used it at the Battle of Helm's Deep as well, along with the other half Khazâd ai-mênu!

[@nedvedwot464]

Waldemar Bursztynowicz is there any translation? And do u recognize what this (kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH3NkoCIq9mIfJY#t=47) nice gentelman shout?

[@robinskold8190]

Waldemar Bursztynowicz U sure about the Baruk part? sounds more like baka something?

[@MsOffbeat]

Should have been a pretty stupid move by the Elves who ought to have been splatted between the Orcs and the Dwarven shield wall. But movie physics are often treated so so.

[@cubecraftgamesreports7141]

0:46 What's he saying? Anyone knows

[@jlistetson]

Badass scene

[@dainiiironfootkingunderthe5865]

I personaly like the Dwarves the most of all races!Dain is my favoerite Tolkien character!The Dwarves are shown as thy are disciplined,heavy armred,tough with a lot of stamina,physical strength and hate for orcs!!dain is shown as a great lieader and the Dwarves react quickly without hesitation to the suddenly apperarence of the orc Army forming a perfect Shield Wall in a minutes!!Dwarves are definetly one of the strangest races but the High Elves above them,cuz they were created to be!IN therms of Weaponry and Armor the Dwarvs are the best!!There stamina and strength compares for the lack of cavalry over all not at all!But still I cant say dwarves are stronger than the Elves!!To the Sindar Elves they are equal or even a bitt stronger in my opijnion thought but to the noldor the first Elves created especially to fight the biggest Evil EVER they are inferior!!But still lets not forget that the Dwarvs played a significent role in battle against Dragons where there toughnes,hard amor and nature comes in quite handy and helped the Elves!!Even the Elves have gone to them for crafts and such!!But in battle Elves and Dwarfes combined are unstopuble but here the sheer numbers are overwhelming!Still the fact that almost half the Dwarvish Army is still alive and have enough strentgh to push the Orks back while 80% of the Elves are dead is a fact its because of there heavy armor and weaponry tactics and morale!!And still after all said Dwarves and Elves are not so different in strentgh each hase it weakness and strong points so they are about equal here!!just the Dwarves are more like Spartans disciplned and trained to fight orcs from small while the Leves at this point live mostly in peace!!And those Dwarfes here were all veterans!!And lets not forget Dain didnt bring the whiole Iron Hills Army he didnt have the time for that he assembled only the few elite veterans on a quick note and marched full speed!!Iron Hills is said to be the only kingdom capable of resisting Saurons Force in the East at that point which speaks only for Dains leadersjhip qualities and there big and strong army which is probably armored and withe the best armor and weapons in middle earth at the time! :) And lets not forget that in the War of the Ring tDwarves of Erebor play again a key role for the vicroty of the free people and there surviving!If it werent of the men of Dale(armored with crafts made from the dwarves of Erebor and weapons too althgough still inferior to the Dwarves them selves) along with the Amry of Erebor under King Dain(the best Dwarven King and Warrior in my opinion) holded 200 000 Easterlings which began to win only to there numbers again but sill coulndt do it in the end!!But if there wasnt the Dwarves and Dale Men the Levish realms would have been crushed since they are too little to stand gainst the vast armies and then thoe East Armies would have combined with Saurons Reamaingn forces and even though he lost at Minas Tirith and Helms Deep the free peple would have lost in ultimate end!!So everyone played there part and the Dwarves had a significant role!!Also the too wre in the Last Alliance under Durin IV (I think) whre he led almost 50 000 Dwarves from Khazad-dum to assist the High Elves and the Numenorians!!(all of this is not mentioned int the movies sadly cuz of the time limit! :)

[@darthvader4158]

the dwarves vs orcs

[@maxcarlen5982]

Sons of Durin FTW!!!

[@mycommentpwnz]

This was filmed in front of a live studio audience. (By a potato.)

[@zegsi364]

DAIN IS A FUCKING BAD ASS!! Oh and Warhammer anyone?

[@rio20d]

yep, reminded me a lot of warhammer online lol, Dwarf slayer class dude, Dain looks like that with his mohawk red hair lol

[@igsdnkk5]

I don't Agree on the elves staying behind the dwarves solid line! Most of the elves went to protect the city cause they were gonna get cut off regardless so them staying behind the wall shooting arrows wasn't gonna make a difference!

[@therammsteinboys]

Dwarven heavy infantry+ elven support ( Archers, shock infantry, cavalry) are unbeatable

[@kauetadaieski3131]

Jari van der Schans I would prefer a Noldor heavy Infantry but a Dwarven would be good as well.

[@ardrej]

ad rohan´s cavalry into the mix for the most broken army in Middle Earth

[@callofmeme]

dwarven heavy infantry + elven archers + rohirrim cavalry = *UNBEATABLE ARMY*

[@kauetadaieski3131]

CallOf Meme You realize the best heavy infantry was from the Noldor from the first age.

[@callofmeme]

the dwarven infantry with mithril armour and arms can match even the elven infantry of old

[@breakfastmachinearchive8]

Okay so the dwarves make a huge, impregnable barrier of shields and spears that the orcs have no chance of breaking through...then the elves JUMP OVER that wall so that it can't protect them, allowing the orcs to rip them to shreds and preventing the dwarves from moving forward or using their spears... Who the fuck came up with this battle tactic?

[@axocopan42]

Bloody elves. No sense in them!

[@loesrutgrink468]

dat is so cool alle dwarves and wats happend to die aders

[@AlyssMa7rin]

filming in theaters is illegal

[@heynub1233]

This scene pissed me off the most in the hobbit, joint with legolas jumping over rocks..... what kind of an idiot jumps over a friendly phalanx? Do they want to be back stabbed by dwarven spears? I was expecting the massive volley of arrows that we all see in the trailer...

[@rio20d]

the scene where Legolas defy gravity by jumping over rocks is the most ridiculuos scene ever in the Hobbit, I wish that scene could have just been deleted. There are many ways Peter Jackson can end that fight between Legolas and Bolg.

[@ahmetandrcynburakkahveci]

Bir daha böyle bir film olmıcak :'(

[@durinV]

Elves didn't stay behind doing volley of arrows after volley cuz of Peter jackson screaming charge!!! Shameful display! In the book they shoot a few volley before charge but probably they think: the surprise counter-charger will look alot better that shooting arrows behind the Dwarfs Shieldwall

[@86Corvus]

So we got dwarves on a hill... and a regiment of elves in front... and the dwarves move in front of the elves whom they hate instead of securing the flank on the hill and making the elves have to fight... Nonsense Not to mention with the elves pushing back fron the front and dwarves hitting of a hill from the side they would have had much easier job dealing with the enemy...

[@aceaace6977]

Fucking elves stole all the exp! Never trust an elf!

[@GrugSmesh]

How the hell did the orcs (or are they uruks?) lose this battle. Watching the Dwarves take them out is like watching toddlers beat the shit out of rugby players. Also Elves suck cause they are elves.