The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013): Thorin and his company are being pursued by
Azog and his
Orc party following the events of
the previous film. They are ushered along by Gandalf to the nearby home of
Beorn, a
skin-changer who can take the form of the bear. That night, Azog is summoned to
Dol Guldur by the Necromancer, who commands him to marshal his forces for war, so Azog delegates the hunt for Thorin to his son
Bolg. The following day, Beorn escorts the company to the borders of
Mirkwood, where Gandalf discovers
Black Speech imprinted on an old ruin. Heeding a promise he made to
Galadriel, he warns the company to remain on the path and leaves to investigate the tombs of the
Nazgûl. Upon entering the forest, the dwarves lose their way and are ensnared by
giant spiders. Bilbo sets about freeing them with the help of his recently acquired
invisibility ring. He subsequently drops the ring and first begins to understand its dark influence after he brutally kills a creature to retrieve it.
The remaining spiders are fended off by the
Wood-elves led by
Tauriel and
Legolas. They also capture the Dwarves and bring Thorin before their king
Thranduil. Thorin confronts Thranduil about his neglect of the Dwarves of Erebor following
Smaug's attack 60 years earlier, and is consequently imprisoned with the other Dwarves. Bilbo, having avoided capture, arranges an escape using empty wine barrels that are sent downstream. While being pursued by the Wood-elves, they are ambushed by Bolg and his Orc party, and
Kíli is wounded with a
Morgul shaft. They engage in a running three-way battle down the river, but ultimately the Dwarves are able to escape both groups of pursuers. Thranduil then seals off his kingdom when an Orc captive reveals an evil entity has returned and is amassing an army in the south, but Tauriel decides to leave and assist the Dwarves, and Legolas goes after her. Meanwhile, Gandalf and
Radagast go to investigate the tombs of the
Nazgûl, which they find to be empty.
The company are smuggled into
Esgaroth by a bargeman called
Bard, but are discovered raiding the town armory for new weapons. Thorin promises the Master and the people of Laketown a share of the mountain's treasure, and it is revealed that Bard is a descendant of the last ruler of Dale, and possesses the last black arrow capable of killing Smaug. Kíli is forced to remain behind, tended to by
Fíli,
Óin, and
Bofur, as the remaining company receive a grand farewell. Meanwhile, Gandalf travels south to the ruins of
Dol Guldur, while Radagast leaves to warn
Galadriel of their discovery at the tombs of the Nazgûl. Gandalf finds the ruins infested with Orcs and is ambushed by Azog. The Necromancer overpowers Gandalf and reveals himself as
Sauron.
Thorin and his remaining company reach the
Lonely Mountain, where Bilbo discovers the hidden entrance. He is sent in to retrieve the Arkenstone, and while doing so, he accidentally awakens Smaug. While trying to find Bilbo, Smaug reveals his knowledge of Sauron's return. Back in Laketown, Bard attempts to bring the black arrow to the town's launcher, as he fears what may happen when the Dwarves enter the mountain. However, he is arrested in the process and leaves his son to hide the arrow. Bolg and his Orc party infiltrate the town and attack the four Dwarves, but are quickly dispatched by Tauriel and Legolas. Tauriel then tends to Kíli, while Legolas leaves in pursuit of Bolg. Meanwhile, Gandalf watches helplessly as Azog and an Orc army march from Dol Guldur towards the Lonely Mountain.
Back inside the mountain, during a long chase, Bilbo and the Dwarves rekindle the mountain's forge using Smaug's flames to create and melt a large golden statue of
Thrór, hoping to bury Smaug alive in the molten gold. They do so, but Smaug emerges from the gold, storms out of the mountain and
flies off to destroy Laketown as Bilbo watches in horror.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014): Bilbo and the Dwarves watch from the
Lonely Mountain as the dragon
Smaug sets
Laketown ablaze.
Bard breaks out of prison, and eventually kills Smaug with the
black arrow brought to him by his son
Bain. Smaug's falling body crushes the fleeing Master of Laketown and his cronies, who were escaping on a boat laden with the town's gold. Bard reluctantly becomes the new leader of the people of Laketown as they seek refuge in the ruins of Dale, while
Legolas travels to investigate
Mount Gundabad with
Tauriel. Thorin, now struck with "dragon sickness" over the vast treasure in the mountain, searches obsessively for the
Arkenstone, which Bilbo had previously found but kept hidden. Thorin, hearing that Laketown survivors have fled to Dale, orders the entrance of the Lonely Mountain sealed off.
Meanwhile,
Galadriel,
Elrond, and
Saruman arrive at
Dol Guldur and free
Gandalf, sending him to safety with
Radagast. They battle and defeat the
Nazgûl and a formless
Sauron himself, banishing them to the East.
Azog, marching on Erebor with his vast Orc army, sends his son
Bolg to Gundabad to summon their second army. Legolas and Tauriel witness the march of Bolg's army, bolstered by Orc berserkers and giant bats.
Thranduil and an Elf army arrive in Dale and form an alliance with Bard in order to reclaim a treasure once withheld from them by
Thrór. Bard goes to the mountain and asks Thorin for the share of gold that he had previously promised the people of Laketown, but Thorin refuses. Gandalf arrives at Dale to warn Bard and Thranduil of the threat posed by Azog, but Thranduil dismisses him. Bilbo sneaks out of Erebor to hand the Arkenstone over to Thranduil and Bard so that they can trade it for the treasures they were promised and prevent a battle. When Bard's and Thranduil's armies gather at the gates of Erebor, offering to trade the Arkenstone for the promised treasures, Thorin angrily refuses to believe they have the Arkenstone until Bilbo admits giving it away and chides Thorin for letting greed cloud his judgement. Outraged by what he sees as betrayal, Thorin nearly kills Bilbo, but Gandalf appears and shames Thorin into releasing Bilbo. Thorin's cousin
Dáin arrives with his Dwarf army, and a battle of Dwarves against Elves and Men begins, until
Wereworms emerge from the ground, releasing Azog's army from their tunnels. With the Orcs outnumbering Dáin's army, Thranduil and Bard's forces, along with Gandalf and Bilbo, join the battle. However, a second front is opened when many Orcs, Ogres, and Trolls attack Dale, forcing Bard to withdraw his forces to defend the city.
Inside Erebor, Thorin suffers traumatic hallucinations before regaining his sanity and leading his company to join the battle. He rides towards
Ravenhill with Dwalin, Fíli, and Kíli to kill Azog; Bilbo follows them, using
his magic ring to move through the combat unseen. Meanwhile, Tauriel and Legolas arrive to warn the Dwarves of Bolg's approaching army. Fíli is captured, and Azog kills him as Bilbo and the other Dwarves are forced to watch. As Thorin engages Azog in a fight to the death, Bolg knocks Bilbo unconscious, overpowers Tauriel and then kills Kíli, who had come to her aid. Legolas battles Bolg and eventually kills him. Thorin kills Azog, but is fatally wounded in the process. The
Great Eagles arrive with Radagast and
Beorn to fight the newly arriving Orc army, and the Orcs are finally defeated. Bilbo regains consciousness and makes peace with the dying Thorin. Tauriel mourns Kili, and Thranduil acknowledges their love. Legolas then tells Thranduil he must leave, and Thranduil advises him to seek out a Dunedain ranger in the north who goes by the name
"Strider".
Bilbo bids farewell to the remaining members of Thorin's company and journeys home to
the Shire with Gandalf. As the two part ways on the outskirts of the Shire, Gandalf admits his knowledge of Bilbo's ring and warns him that magic rings are not to be used lightly. Bilbo returns to Bag End to find his belongings being auctioned off because he was presumed dead. He cancels the sale, but finds his home pillaged; he starts to tidy up and to settle back in.
Sixty years later, Bilbo receives a visit from Gandalf on his 111th birthday.
