okay, hold the fucking phone, you have completely missed the point of Bilbo as a character. Tolkien was a veteran who fought in the battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles in history, he did his duty, but he hated war, at a time when being a vocal pacifist would get you shunned by everyone around you. He used his talent to write this great story, to show kids that war isn’t glorious, and the real hero is Bilbo, the pacifist. Like Gandalf says in AUJ, true courage is knowing when not to use violence. In the book, Bilbo takes the Arkenstone to prevent the war that Thorin wants to start. They’re all willing to die for glory and gold, but Bilbo sees it as senseless. He has felt that senselessness himself, through his use of the Ring, that violence is rooted in hatred, it ought to be a last resort, not something to glorify. Bilbo is a true hero because he is willing to risk everything, to betray his friends for what he knows to be right. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how much you love your friends, if you know they are wrong and they’re going to get themselves killed, you would do anything to stop them, even if they would hate you for it and not understand.
In the movies the same motivation is there, but also added to that, is the idea that the Arkenstone is the pinnacle of the treasure horde, and it will make Thorin’s sickness worse. Richard Armitage plays this sickness perfectly, he’s just like an addict. As someone who grew up with an alcoholic father, I found it spine-chilling to watch my beloved Thorin become addicted and obsessed. As much as I loved him, I still thought Thorin was wrong, and Bilbo was right to protect him. If you love an addict you will do anything you can to help them get clean even if they don’t want your help and hate you for it. Sometimes you need to embarrass someone to shock them into realising exactly how much of a dick they are being. Thorin frequently makes a fool of himself without any help from Bilbo!
But Thorin didn’t die still full of rage at Bilbo, did he? He had snapped out of the worst of it by then, he admitted that he had been blinded by greed, and he even asked Bilbo to forgive him. He accepted that he had been in the wrong, he was thankful that Bilbo had tried to help him. He said with his last breath, that the world would be a better place without greed.
I think if you really love Thorin, then you would see why he loves Bilbo too, and why his anger against him was so swiftly forgotten. You would love Bilbo too.
andulkaphoto
discoholicmusic
baratheonpilled
germansingergirl
tangentwithtanner
stormborns
blakekathryn
areudirty
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
