It’s one theory that fits the known facts anyway.
Instead, There And Back Again will almost certainly be used for an eventual box-set release. Now there’s a piece of news that will surprise precisely no-one — expect a box-set of all three films (probably in Extended Edition format, like with LOTR) at some point.
Now that certainly is a fitting sub-title to encompass all three films, and this will perhaps placate the many folk who agitated to for the retention of There And Back Again.
One last thought: as a title, The Battle of The Five Armies might also provide fans pointers as to content.
The struggle for control of the dragon’s hoard almost certainly becomes the centrepiece of the film. Previously, some have speculated that it might not be too much bigger than whatever Jackson has planned for The White Council forcing Sauron from Dol Guldur.
Now I suspect the Dol Guldur battle will be short and sharp — which is more canonically consistent with Sauron’s feigned flight into the East as detailed in the The Lord of the Rings.
On the other hand, the Battle of the Five Armies will be an enormous and extended set-piece occupying a substantial portion of the film, and encompassing the lead-in negotiations, Bilbo’s betrayal of Thorin, the confrontation at the gate, the subsequent arrival of Dain (I really want to see a war-moose versus war-pig faceoff between Thranduil and Dain regardless of how silly it sounds) and only then the battle itself.
Plus the tragic aftermath.
It probably also means that the journey home is truly little more than a coda. The last two chapters of Tolkien’s novel (The Return Journey and The Last Stage) are famously brief, but I wonder if the film might not almost directly cut to Bag End. I still hope to see tea with Balin, though.
Demosthenes has been an incredibly nerdy staff member at TheOneRing.net since 2001. The views (and wacky theories) in this article are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of the site, or of other TORn staff.
