Skirmish on Ravenhill

Peter Jackson is a talented director of several films such as the famous Lord of the Rings (a trilogy) [1] and The Hobbits. He is a producer and a well-known writer, as well. Tolkien's book of the same title inspired his movies. The LOTR movies are as follows: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, last 2001, shortly followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002, and finally, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. New Zealand is a country wherein they filmed most of the movie scenes. Peter Jackson is a Kiwi.

This article is about one of his movies, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. [2] Released in 2014, it is the last of the trilogy with less than three watching hours. The setting is mainly in Ravenhill, near the Lonely Mountain. Ravenhill is the inhabiting area of the big and blackish birds − Ravens.

The Battle of the Five Armies was an encounter between Azog and Thorin Oakenhield. Other creatures involved were; Legolas, Tauriel, Bolg, Fili, and Kili. Azog was an orc, a wise leader of Moria Goblins, and an enemy of the dwarves. He had a son named Bolg to whom Legolas had a fierce encounter. Thorin Oakenshield, or the Mountain King, on the other hand, was a relative of Fili and Kili. He was a brave, noble, and smart leader of his army. His weapons were mainly swords and orcrist (also known as Goblin-Cleaver)

Thorin had well-trained warriors, namely; Dwalin, Kili, and Fili. They went to Ravenhill intending to kill Azog, their enemy. It happened after Thorin, together with his companion, left the Lonely Mountain. Dwalin thought that Azog was not in Ravenhill anymore, but Thorin did not believe. He commanded Fili and Kili to search for Azog in Ravenhill. Fili and Kili crept inside the cave slowly. Nobody saw them; hence they continued.

On the other hand, Dwalin and Thorin fought with a group of Goblin Mercenaries and defeated them. In one of the towers, Azog kills Fili by thrusting his blade-arm through him. Kili was stunned, seeing Fili's dead body fall near him. He was enraged because of what happened. Hence, he was committed to taking revenge on his brother's death. Thorin saw everything that happened to Fili and Azog, so he decided to follow Kili.

Legolas, together with Tauriel, hurriedly came to rescue Kili from the attack of Bolg and his Gundabad Orcs. Tauriel had a personal encounter with Bolg, so Kili tried to help her. Kili and Bolg had a fierce fight. Unfortunately, Bolg defeated Kili using his mace. Kili's death enticed Tauriel to fight Bolg until both of them fell off the mountain.

On the other side of the battle, Legolas continuously shot arrows at the orcs fighting with Thorin. The encounter was so intense. Legolas saw that Bolg was about to kill Tauriel, so he reached out for his arrows from his back. Oh no! There were no arrows left! He took his weapon (sword) and now ready to fight Bolg. Meanwhile, an orc tried to pull down the tower from where Legolas was standing. He jumped off immediately and knocked down the troll with the same. Lengthy combat between Legolas and Bolg occurred after it landed near Bolg.

The battle continued between Thorin and the Orc Berserkers. It happened at the Frozen River. Thorin thrust his broken sword to the leader's neck when he attacked. The orc died and fell down the bridge. His heavyweight shook the bridge. Its shaky movement caused Bolg to fall at the bridge's lower level. Huge stones covered him up; hence he cannot move. Was Bolg still alive? Yes, he was! Meanwhile, Legolas rescued Thorin from an orc by hurling an orcrist at his chest. Eventually, Bolg managed to remove the big stones which covered him. Forcefully, he threw his weapon to Legolas. Legolas warded off himself from the weapon then pursued Bolg with his small swords. They had a personal duel. Finally, Legolas thrust his swords at Bolg, and their battle ended. Bolg fell off the mountain. A huge rock crushed his body, and then he died.

Azog commanded his finest men to fight with Thorin. The battle was intense until they reached the icy area. Meanwhile, Thorin also fought with the Pale Orc. Azog dropped his current weapon then chose another one (stone on an iron chain) to defeat Thorin. He threw his flail to Thorin, but the latter wrestled it off. With great force, Azog pinned his flail to the Frozen River. He saw Great Eagles (led by Radagast and Gwaihir) behind Thorin. Thorin lifted the flail's ball from the icy river and threw it to Azog. Since the ball was heavy, it crushed the ice when it hit the frozen river. Due to this, Azog fell into the cold water.

Thorin thought that Azog was already dead. He followed Azog's body as it moved away with the cold water. However, this was just a trap! At Thorin's surprise, suddenly, Azog stood up! He was still alive! He pierced the foot of Thorin with his blade-arm and impaled him. Thorin was in great pain! Despite his current situation, he gathered his strength and reached for an orcrist. He firmly held the orcrist then thrust it to the Defiler twice. Thorin would not give up this battle. The orcrist wounded the Defiler's torso fatally. Thorin grabbed this opportunity. He exerted more force, so the sword passed through the ice. The orc, in much pain, pierced the ice and eventually died. Azog died in front of Thorin, with wide-opened eyes.

1. ^The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
2. ^The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).