Heartwarming / The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Spoilers Off applies to all "Moments" pages, so all spoilers are unmarked.

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• In An Unexpected Journey, Galadriel tells Gandalf not to worry, that if he has need of her, she will come. Trapped in a cage in Dol Guldur, Gandalf recalls her words as his body is battered and his spirit is broken. And then he sees that yes, Galadriel came.
  • Then there's Galadriel tenderly carrying Gandalf out of Dol Guldur. Until the Nine show up, surrounding her, and Sauron reveals himself. It's all a weakened Galadriel can do to stand up. The mere presence of The Nine drives her to her knees, and she tries to cover Gandalf with her own body as Sauron mocks her:
    Sauron: A solitary light, alone in the darkness.
    Galadriel: [takes a weak breath] I am not alone.
    • At which point Saruman and Elrond reveal themselves.
      Saruman: Are you in need of assistance, my lady?
• Tauriel could have easily run off when Smaug attacked, knowing that trying to save the dwarves and Bard's children would only slow her down and risk her own death. Instead, she makes sure all of them get out alive.
  • The next morning she remains with the girls, watching over them like a caring aunt while they separately search for Bard.
• In Desolation of Smaug, Kíli told Tauriel his runestone was given to him by his mother so he'd remember his promise to return to her. In this film, before Kíli's about to leave with Bilbo and the others, he gives Tauriel the runestone and tells her to keep it, symbolizing a promise to return to her. Tauriel tries her best to keep her mask.
  • In the same scene, Kíli telling Tauriel "Amrâlimê" which is Dwarven language for "My love". And the following exchange, just after Tauriel visibly realizes what he said, just off the way he said the above word:
    Tauriel: (with a touch of uncertainty) I don't know what that means.
    Kíli: [smiles] I think you do.
  • All the above would easily count as Tear Jerker as well however when you're aware of Kíli's fate...
• Doubles as a Tear Jerker: There was no practical reason for Bain to face Bard when acting as a makeshift windlance for the last black arrow. Bard must have done this so that if he missed, Bain's last sight would be of his father, not the terrifying Smaug.
• Seeing Fíli, Kíli, Óin, and Bofur re-unite with the other Dwarves, who are ecstatic that their friends survived Smaug's burning of Lake Town.
• Thorin and Kíli touching foreheads as part of their reconciliation before going into battle.
  Thorin: Everything I did, I did for them.
• Bilbo shows Thorin an acorn he picked up at Beorn's home. It's been months since they were last there (Bilbo is revealed to have been gone from the Shire for at least 13 months), and Thorin, who at this point is slowly being corrupted by the gold Smaug's been hoarding, jokingly says that one acorn is too small a reward for the trouble he's been through. Bilbo simply states that he'll take it back to his home, plant it, care for it, let it grow, and remember his amazing journey with them whenever he looks at the tree. This is enough to make Thorin smile gently and draw his old, honorable self out from deep within the dragon sickness, at least until his attention is drawn back to their present situation. Bilbo truly is the top contender for the title of The Company's heart.
  • Though it's never stated, the acorn appears to be the Party Tree we see in The Fellowship of the Ring. So Bilbo did take it home, plant it, cared for it, and watched it grow.
• In the extended version only, there's hands down one of the best scene in the trilogy were Bilbo tries to escape Erebor by night, to give the Arkenstone to Thranduil. Bofur finds him and, although aware his friend is going to leave, he simply implies he'll give him time to go unnoticed and wishes him goodbye. It's only when Bilbo knows he can leave without disappointing one of his closest friends that he finally decides to go. This scene is remanescent of that one in the first film where he tried to go back to Rivendell. Seeing the trust those two characters have for each other is just heartwarming.
• When Bilbo gives the Arkenstone to Thranduil and Bard in an attempt to bargain peace, he bluntly tells the kings that he's not doing this for them but for Thorin and the Dwarves that he's come to love and care for so much. Even with the possibility that it could cost Bilbo their friendship, he's still willing to take the risk in order to guarantee both Thorin's and The Company's safety.
  Bilbo: I've grown very fond of them, and I would save them if I can.
• Thorin giving Bilbo the mithril shirt. It pretty much states that Thorin suspects Bilbo of the theft the least, if at all, implying that he trusts the Hobbit to a sizable degree. Though the moment gets a little squashed when Thorin tells Bilbo he thinks one of the Dwarves stole the Arkenstone.
  • Even better. Both the book and extended film edition of The Fellowship of the Ring reveal that a shirt made of pure mithril is worth more than the land of the Shire and all its content. Thorin obviously wasn't about to let Bilbo have a meager acorn as the only treasure from the journey.
    • And Thorin called it a token. Say what you will about his Descent Into Madness, but he clearly appreciated everything Bilbo did for him.
  • That same mithril shirt will later save Frodo's life several times during the War of the Ring. So, although Thorin wasn't able to save Fíli and Kíli, he was still able to indirectly protect Bilbo's beloved nephew and thwart (for the second time) Sauron's final attempt to take over Middle-Earth.
• When Thorin finds out that Bilbo had taken the Arkenstone and then given it to the elves and men in order to prevent a war from breaking out, he flies into a madness-driven rage and orders the Company to throw Bilbo from the battlements. None of them obey, only looking at Thorin in varying degrees of horror and disbelief. When Thorin attempts to do it himself, every member of the Company surges forward to stop him. Ironically, it is Dwalin and Fíli, Thorin's best friend and heir respectively, who are the first to intervene on Bilbo's behalf.
  • Once Thorin is distracted Bofur eagerly pushes Bilbo away telling him to go before Thorin remembers him. It was reminiscent of the theme as well as the feeling of the scene in the first movie where Thorin didn't feel Bilbo was fit for The Company and Bofur wished him the best of luck leaving.
• Legolas reacts to the news that Tauriel is banished by choosing banishment with her and inviting her to go with him to Gundabad, all without a second thought.
• When Thorin finally snaps out of his Dragon Sickness and leads the charge the entire Dwarven army follows him, an army he was content to let die barely a few minutes ago. But he is their king and they will follow him anywhere. On a more personal note, when Dáin and Thorin reunite, it would probably have been acceptable for Dáin to take his cousin to task for abandoning them. What does he do? Give him a hug and good-naturedly ask him what took him so long.
• When Bilbo went to Ravenhill to warn Thorin of a second Orc army, it was the first time they saw each other after Thorin snapped out of his Dragon Sickness. It was clear, from the tone in Thorin's voice when he calls out the Hobbit's name upon seeing him, that he was very happy to see him.
• Thranduil acknowledging Tauriel's love for Kíli as she sits crying over his body.
• Furthermore, Thranduil giving gestures of love to his son Legolas. When Legolas decides to leave the kingdom for a while, Thranduil tells him to look up Strider (Aragorn), the son of one of his old friends, saying he should be able to help him.
  • The fact that Thranduil, who doesn't seem to have much use for anybody who isn't Legolas, considered Arathorn—a mortal—to be a friend. He also has nothing but praise for Arathorn and implies his son might even exceed his father.
    Thranduil: His father Arathorn was a good man. His son... might grow up to be a great one.
  • It also adds a heartwarming element to the Council of Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring. When Legolas tells Boromir that Aragorn is no mere Ranger, it's no longer just an exposition on Aragorn's lineage, but what is now confirmed to be an old friend sticking up for another.
• He may have had ulterior motives, but Thranduil's people offering aid to the Laketown refugees is a beautiful moment, especially as we spend a little time just watching their joyful faces on seeing the arrival of caravans laden with food.
  • In The Desolation of Smaug, when Thorin is speaking of the Elves refusing to help the dwarves after the dragon attack, Thranduil is clearly affected by his words, stunned and cringing slightly at the reminder of how he failed to honor old bonds. Now he gets a second chance to do what he knows is right.
• Bilbo tries to sneak away with a parting goodbye to Balin, asking him to pass it to the others. No need for that; they aren't about to let Bilbo go without a proper goodbye. Bilbo does his best:
  Bilbo: If you're ever passing through Bag-end... tea's at four, there's plenty of it, you're always welcome... don't bother to knock.
• Gandalf visiting Bilbo on his 111th birthday, as he did in Fellowship, with the same dialogue, albeit offscreen, as the film closes on the image of Thorin's map of the Lonely Mountain. Better still, Bilbo is sitting in quiet contemplation of the Ring at the time. He snaps that he doesn't want visitors, only for his face to split into a smile when he realises it is Gandalf.
  • Not to mention the perfect timing of it towards the end. Here we have the ring and its eerie theme, foreshadowing years of hermit isolation Bilbo would bring upon himself. The audience is left to helplessly think "It begins." That they're going to end the franchise on that creepy note. ...But no, instead we're treated to a warmer, more heart-felt ending with Bilbo and Gandalf greeting each other as old friends.
    • Better still, it hints that, although he's set apart by his journey and the ring he found, Bilbo would gladly go on those adventures again, for all the friends he made along the way.
• Tauriel staying in Laketown to help protect Bard's children.
  • Likewise this analysis of a brief moment at the films beginning.
  • All the sweeter if you know that LotR elves have very few children, often many decades apart, and their offspring become able to walk, talk, and care for themselves much faster than human children do. Yet Tauriel immediately intuits that little Tilda needs her big sister's support, and that helping her younger sibling will allow Sigrid to keep up her own courage.
• The scene after all the battles are over, where an awakened Bilbo sits dazedly on the wall beside Gandalf... slowly becoming aware of how the wizard is struggling to stuff and light his pipe. The hobbit looks at him, and slowly but surely both of them smirk and begin to chuckle. It's a Call-Back/Call-Forward to the two of them smoking together in Fellowship just before the birthday party, and it's also a Funny Moment as well.
  • Did it look like Gandalf lost his Playing with Fire abilities there?
• Bard comforting his son, who can barely keep from crying... while his father uses him as a makeshift Black Arrow launcher.
• Kind of minor, but Thranduil always treats Bard as a valued ally in the preparations for war—he accepts Bard's offer to treat with Thorin before war, he keeps Bard in the loop at all times by inviting him to the meetings with Gandalf and negotiations with Thorin, treats his people as an asset instead of arrogantly dismissing them as you'd expect and even gives some advice to Bard about state matters. All these may have more pragmatic reasons behind them, but it's still nice to see the xenophobic and ultra-arrogant Thranduil at least make an attempt to accommodate Bard and by extension the people of Laketown.
  • Thranduil's willingness to oblige Bard becomes all the more remarkable when their respective armies are on the field. The Elves outnumber the humans by five to one at least, are better armed and armored, extremely professional, and are in excellent physical condition. Meanwhile, Bard's "army" is nothing more than a pack of tired and hungry amateurs. It's painfully obvious that the Elves didn't need the Men at all, yet they still insisted on taking them seriously without any pragmatic reason or ulterior motive for doing so, even if the whole reason for their arrival was for a single white necklace.
• Thorin and Bilbo reconciling before the former succumbs to his wounds. When asked in an interview about the scene and his portrayal of it, Richard Armitage said that Thorin died at peace and full of love, which can be seen in his last words and smile.
  Thorin: I'm sorry that I made you a part of my perils.
  Bilbo: No, I am glad to have shared in your perils, Thorin. Each and every one of them. It is far more than any Baggins deserves.
• In all the heartache that is the end of the film, a silver lining can be found in the deaths of Thorin, Fíli and Kíli, who all die looking at someone they care about, and not at the ugliness of their enemies.
  • Fíli, whom Thorin refused to abandon to his fate even as his heir told him to run. You can see the heartbreak in Thorin's eyes as well as determination that he would be there until the very end.
  • Kíli, who has Tauriel by his side. Regardless of whether their affection is or is not of a romantic bent, it is comforting that he breathes his last beside a kindred spirit.
  • Thorin, who as mentioned above is found by Bilbo in the end. Not only does he witness the Orc armies being routed from Erebor after he kills Azog, he is also granted the opportunity to reconcile with the Hobbit.
• A brief, if you blink you'll miss it one but during the fighting in Dale just as Bain slays the orcs trying to attack his sisters, Sigrid wraps herself around Tilda and acts as a human shield.
• Bilbo carefully replacing his mother's portrait over the mantel when he returns to Bag End becomes more touching if you're aware that she'd passed away just seven years before Bilbo sets out on his quest, and his father, a few years before that. Traveling with the Dwarves may have done more than rouse their "burglar"'s appreciation for adventure: it got him to shed the solitary habits he'd taken up in the wake of losing his own parents.
• This scene which was removed by Warner Bros. from the extended edition but was restored by Peter Jackson for the digital release.
  • Also, listen very closely to the music playing in the scene. From the moment Bilbo takes the acorn out of his pocket to the end of the scene, the soundtrack is a slow rendition of the Shire theme from The Lord of the Rings done in a soft, almost angelic fashion. Crosses into Tearjerker territory when you also notice the music playing before that is the same music that plays when Thorin dies.
• Speaking of music, despite the fact that it plays over Thorin's death scene, the track 'Courage and Wisdom from the soundtrack is gorgeous, especially the part where the choir kicks in and contributes a lullaby-esc auroa to that particular moment. Howard Shore strikes again, indeed.
• The extended version of the Thranduil vs. Tauriel scene, in which Gandalf reminds Thranduil that his son matters more then his wife's gems.
• The tribute to Andrew Lesnie on the extended edition, while also sad, is very heartwarming as well. Cinematographers are rarely seen on set so it's heartwarming to see Lesnie on set almost all the time, looking like he's having the time of his life. Even people who don't like the films have admitted they loved Lesnie's cinematography and teared up watching the tribute.
  • Christopher Lee in the beginning said Lesnie was the best cinematographer he'd worked with since Freddie Young. For those who don't know, Freddie Young was the cinematographer for Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago and is considered one of the greatest cinematographers who ever lived. Coming from Sir Christopher Lee, that is an amazing compliment.

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