Adaptation challenge 4: Protecting the flavor of The Hobbit
Making these changes to the journey to the Trollshaws of course means that we have abandoned (or completely re-defined) the concept of The Edge of the Wild that was so central to The Hobbit. And yet The Hobbit has other unique charms beyond the sense of magical possibility inherent in the Edge of the Wild idea. Chief among these are the sheer modesty of the work, when compared to its successor, and the sense that this relatively simple quest is taking place against a bigger, deeper and darker background, which remains only glimpsed. This version of the tale is not incompatible with LOTR — it is simply the story as seen through Bilbo’s eyes only. And I think it is both possible and desirable to communicate at least some of this flavor before explicitly opening up the tale to the full canvas of Middle-Earth and its history.
It is the parallel tale of Sauron’s return that contains the depth and darkness, and as I explained in Part 1, this story thread will be knit together with the Erebor quest when Gandalf realizes that Sauron is planning to use Smaug as a weapon against Rivendell. But from the time the Sauron thread is introduced until the time it is united with the main storyline, it has the potential to overshadow it, when it is intended merely to complement it. A quest to recover treasure just can’t compete with the return of the embodiment of all evil, and the imminent threat it represents.
So we have two good reasons to delay the introduction of the Sauron storyline: to savor the flavor of the original modest Hobbit story and to avoid the danger of overshadowing the quest. For this reason, I think it almost certain that when Gandalf finds the Morgul-blade he will characteristically decline to tell Thorin and Co. anything about it or explain why he is leaving them for the time being. And of course, keeping the story from Bilbo’s perspective and not showing us what Gandalf is up to while he’s absent is necessary for the surprise of his rescuing them from the trolls. The Sauron storyline can be held off until the White Council, which will quite likely happen just before the party leaves Rivendell for the passes of the Misty Mountains.
