never forget that bagginshield is real. thorin and bilbo’s love is real.
thorin told gandalf he wouldn’t be responsible for bilbo’s fate, and then risked his own life to save him in the misty mountains.
thorin was humbled and deeply touched by bilbo’s dedication to the quest, so much so that he couldn’t even maintain eye contact with bilbo (he fell in love with him, then, and realized it too).
bilbo, with no combat training at all, threw himself at a warg and then an orc to save thorin’s life at the risk of his own.
bilbo looked on in fear as gandalf worked to heal thorin.
thorin hugged bilbo, in what is arguably his greatest display of affection to anyone, in front of the whole company and in lieu of looking at the lonely mountain, his home. then he looked at bilbo like he was looking at someone he loves. (heart eyes, motherfucker)
thorin, king and leader of the company, deferred to bilbo’s leadership and ordered the others to do the same while escaping thranduil’s halls. (then, in a deleted scene, he frantically shouted bilbo’s name and searched for bilbo in the water, essentially ignoring his kin for bilbo’s sake)
in laketown, bilbo and thorin swapped colors - thorin wearing bilbo’s red/maroon, and bilbo adopting thorin’s blue.
bilbo vouched for thorin in laketown, staking his own honor on thorin’s word. thorin looked at him so fondly, so warmly.
bilbo and thorin led the climb to the secret door.
the moment with the key. do you see the way they looked at one another?
thorin can’t even speak bilbo’s name while bilbo is in the mountain alone with smaug - he can barely choke out the word ‘burglar’.
thorin goes running into the mountain alone to help/retrieve bilbo.
meanwhile, bilbo taunts a live dragon in an effort to find the arkenstone for thorin.
and the dragon smaug verbally attacks bilbo’s relationship with thorin, casting doubt on it, as if he somehow knew it was the weak spot in bilbo’s bravado.
during their plan to ensnare the dragon, bilbo wants to follow thorin, but thorin asks him to follow balin instead. this scene. go rewatch it.
thorin doesn’t doubt bilbo’s abilities. he gives him a really important task in the dragon-ensnaring fiasco.
bilbo hides the arkenstone from thorin, believing that the one thing he really wants will actually cause him the most harm. he risks their friendship and his place in the company in an effort to keep thorin well.
when thorin starts to show signs of the dragon sickness, bilbo is the first to notice, and the most visibly concerned for thorin’s well-being, noticing and vocalizing that he doesn’t eat or sleep.
thorin doesn’t ask bilbo to look for the arkenstone. he gives him places of honor, instead. bilbo stands on the throne dias with thorin while thorin addresses other members of the company.
the acorn scene. happens.
thorin gives bilbo what is arguably the second most valuable item in the mountain, in the throes of dragon sickness when he is at his most greedy and covetous - a mithril shirt, that no blade can pierce, armor for the upcoming war. he calls it a token of their friendship, and calls bilbo a ‘true friend’.
thorin trusts bilbo when he has already lost faith in his people, his family, his kin. he trusts bilbo when he can trust no one else.
bilbo is willing to throw away everything in order to keep thorin safe - he betrays him to save him. he stands up to him and tells him that he is lost, when no one else will.
thorin cries when he learns of bilbo’s betrayal. he acts like a hurt and betrayed lover. and even in madness, even after threatening bilbo harm, he throws down his weapons and only grabs bilbo’s clothing; presses him to the wall instead of dangling him over it. he doesn’t hurt bilbo. something holds him back, even in this deranged state.
bilbo’s voice cuts through the cacophony of voices in thorin’s head during his auditory and visual hallucinations.
bilbo is willing, once again, to risk his own life for thorin, to warn him that another army is coming.
the way thorin says bilbo’s name on raven hill. the way they nod at one another. the unspoken agreement. they turn to leave, together.
thorin is genuinely happy, the happiest we have ever seen him, as he is dying… because bilbo is there.
bilbo is glad to have shared in all of thorin’s perils. he begs him not to die.
thorin wants bilbo to go home, live his life, be happy. this is his dying wish.
bilbo is broken at the funeral, but not until he comes to stand by thorin’s still body.
bilbo can’t even express to his friend balin what thorin meant to him. balin smiles knowingly.
bilbo goes home, and haltingly, as if it was a half-truth, tells the auctioneer that thorin was his friend. because what else can bilbo call the person he loved and realized he loved in the same moments that he lost him.