Ainu Laire: Prepare for LOTS of special effects that hopefully do not overrun the story. Crossing fingers.
Sarumann: Oh, I’m prepared!
Garfeimao: Kili gives Tauriel his Rune Stone, which clearly means a lot to him and she accepts it willingly. Still not sure it’s actual love between them, but rather a mutual understanding of how they wish the world was and the affection one feels when meeting someone who agrees with their way of thinking.
Elessar: So Kili gives her the special rock. I think we saw this coming in DOS. Does she die with it though?
Aragorn the Elfstone: “Tauriel, you’ve got really small hands for an Elf.”
Ainu Laire: Ugh. Just… ugh. I want to think it’s a friendship, but… the whole scenes in the second film didn’t paint them incredibly platonically. It’s annoying. I hope we don’t see much of it.
Calisuri: ‘It is mine to give to whom I will’ Arwen says to Aragorn… Oh wait. Sorry, wrong movie.
Kelvarhin: Nothing against Evangeline Lilly, I think she’s done an excellent job with a character that has caused so much dissent amongst the fans, but, you can add me to the list of fans who hates the whole Elf/Dwarf love-story sub-plot, it really does not work for me.
Justin: This whole scene reminds of Disney’s Robin Hood when they’re behind the waterfall singing “Love goes on and on”
greendragon: Kili is cute, but personally I would struggle with that height difference – and I’m not even an elf… 😉
Elessar: I don’t mind this so much. I just don’t want it to be too heavy handed.
Aragorn the Elfstone: I’ll lend the Kili/Tauriel bond some support. I’m a bit of softie anyway, and I think Turner and Lilly have done a great job playing off each other. I probably stand with the minority on this one – but their scene in The Desolation of Smaug is one of my favorites (I can’t help but mention Howard Shore’s wonderful music again in how it contributes to the scene). This scene itself is sure to turn on the waterworks.
Quickbeam: This may be the first time EVER in a Hollywood film where they allowed the “love interest” to be between such a short dude against a super tall chick. Remember back in “Days of Thunder” when they would make Tom Cruise stand on an apple box to be as tall as Nicole Kidman in the same shot?
Sarumann: A touching moment between Kili and Tauriel. That pretty much just screams, “This is not going to end well!”
Kelvarhin: Tauriel looks like Kili just spat on her lol.
Aragorn the Elfstone: The looks shared here do such a wonderful job of conveying the understanding between these two.
Quickbeam: Give her credit for being a cultural mechanism for great changes between the Elves and Dwarves; or you could just say it was a Mary Sue moment writ large. Either way, Tauriel still isn’t checking in Kili’s trousers…. I never thought it was a genuine “love interest” angle in the film; but rather a character dynamic of “free love is better for us than hate” overall message.
Garfeimao: Are those bats or flying monkeys? They just look so disturbingly large.
Aragorn the Elfstone: Crossover! Who invited Man-Bat?
Quickbeam: There’s bats in them thar hills!
Calisuri: Those are some pretty horrific bats. Very cool.
J.W. Braun: This might as well have a signpost that says “Plot Point”
Kelvarhin: Thranduil breaks Tauriel’s bow, seems he’s not happy about the Elf/Dwarf love-story either.
Garfeimao: Wow, Thranduil is royally pissed off at Tauriel, slashing out at her and severing her bow, putting his sword edge dangerously close to her face, close enough to move her hair aside. He’s also got a bit of the flashback dragon scar action going on with this face. Not sure what has him so mad. Is it simply that she put Legolas’ life at risk by running off, forcing Legolas to follow, or has she told him how she saved the life of a Dwarf by healing him, or is she standing between him and someone Thranduil wishes to get to? Can’t wait to see how this conflict plays out.
Justin: that blood splatter is shaped like a heart, speaking to fangirls worldwide.
greendragon: Why is Thranduil so angry with Tauriel? Is she protecting a dwarf?
Elessar: Thranduil ain’t happy about something.
Aragorn the Elfstone: Looks like forgiveness is off the table now.
Ainu Laire: Unfortunately I am jaded. I just see unnecessary drama in this scene. I hope to be pleasantly surprised and proven wrong.
Quickbeam: Clearly a stroke of violence against his own Captain of the Guard. There are rumors that this is the shot where Thranduil shatters Tauriel’s bow; but not her neck.
Demosthenes: As Calisuri has pointed out, it would be both ballsy and dark for the writers to have Thranduil slay Tauriel. I think that the later scene with Bolg indicates that this is not the case however there are still some heavy symbolic implications: the bow is a symbol of Tauriel’s role in Thranduil’s realm; it’s destruction an indicator that she has been summarily dismissed (if not actually executed). You could also think of it as a call-back to Thranduil’s summary execution of the orc in DOS.
Calisuri: I mentioned it before – but can you imagine if the writers took a dramatic risk and had Thranduil dispatch Tauriel? It would take this movie out of the ‘safe’ realm into a whole new level. Unfortunately, I don’t see it happening.
Sarumann: I’m not saying Thranduil doesn’t have reason to be angry at Tauriel. She did defy his orders and drag his son along with her. But a little less slicey rage might work better for him.
