The Legonater

Which is exactly the mistake they made in the Prequels by using Naboo instead of Alderaan. Already on to a great start here. That was an issue with TCW, as well. The SW crew seriously need to stop making new stuff and work with what they have. The worst part is that they break old stuff in order to make way for their unnecessary new stuff.

Interesting. If this pans out, I could see a lot of hatred for it, but it does make sense. Directors are saying Cap 2 is basically an Avengers prequel, so... My only question is what on earth he has to do with Ultron?

Keeping sure not to fall asleep during his quest, Dyric pulls out a pen and paper and begins writing. Dear Claire Hey, Claire, it's Dyric. I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you during the Grogmas Holidays - you know how these things go. Details are a bit hush hush for the moment, but be sure that what I'm doing is vital for the area. I'm actually right near my old home, everything is so familiar here, in a way. I wish you could see it. I'll have to take you around here someday. Maybe one day you'll see Duplovia itself. How are you? It's barely been a week but it feels like forever since we've talked. I hope everything's going fine in the Inn, I'm still sorry for all the damage we caused down there. I hate to cut this short, but I should probably focus. I really do miss you, Claire. In my absence, I'll have to give this diamond in this letter. Merry Grogmas, I love you! ~Dyric your Hero

If we can avoid any rash moves, this plan may actually work. I say we give it a start. I'm ready.

Karstaal makes a good point. I've lived in the glory of the High Kingdoms. Vim-Lhzar is a far cry from it. Restructuring their culture into something more tangible, more applicable can only mean good for the orcs here.

No, Haldor's right, if we blow that bridge there will be war. In a way, the heightened politics would assure it - it's all a mess of alliances that would drag anyone in. You don't know what it's like here. There's just some things - many thing - in which war is practically a guarantee, a disaster like that is definitely one of them.

I think traditional healing should definitely work. Exactly what does the Healing Staff run on? I always assumed it was a magic-based item, and thus wouldn't work on the helmet.

An Aepyorni cavalry? This I have to see. Any chance of learning to ride one by the end of this?

I can't stop humming the Lake-Town theme. If nothing else, I watch these movies for Howard Shore.

I smile at the sight of High Kingdom horses. It has been too long. I climb onto the cart.

Oh, really? I was under the assumption you were asking the rogues to add their stolen loot to the pool. I'm fully behind giving up after-battle loot if I have a large income from that battle.

How is reshooting scenes a bad omen? Literally every movie does reshoots. As for the duology, I just don't see that working. There isn't enough in the book to make a full two-movies, and the Necromancer arc wouldn't fit in two either.

I wave farewell. Well I'm glad that's over. What now?

Yeah, I was surprised of the lack of Thrain. Seeing more of the Dwarves against the Spiders would be cool, considering that's all we get of their weapons this movie. Still not really sure how that'll work out.

You make me sound like some pathetic thief. I will be fully willing to buy resources when the time cones, but I don't know if you've noticed, but we can't exactly buy resources right now. If not resources it would go into my tools, which stills helps the party. But don't for one minute think I don't care about this or any other party. You honestly think I'd let money come before others' lives!? That's insulting!

Oh lighten up, Hoke. Were it necessary, I'd gladly give my money, but in this case it is far from necessary.

Which is the exact issue of the whole 'why is the Hobbit a trilogy' question. You can either make it one movie and trim down a lot of stuff, or you can make it three and add a lot of stuff. Doing it in two probably wouldn't work either way. What's your source on the note of the love triangle? It sounds interesting if it's true.

I smirk at the kill and repeat my attack.

So, I saw it last night. Fairly impressed. The prologue was pretty well done. Love that PJ was basically the first character in the movie. After that, the beginning was a little odd. I was expecting it to start with them leaving the Carrock, not suddenly on the run again. Also, pretty disappointing in the way they did the whole Beorn scene. The transformation sequence was pretty cool, but other than that, I was disappointed. It was one of the more prominent scenes that was changed, not just added to. In the end, it felt like the scene was really necessary at all. Mirkwood was really cool, though. Lots of subtle stuff going on with Bilbo and the Ring. I was really excited that they actually had the spiders talk, unlike most of the animals so far. Some feel differently, but I like how the Elves didn't really subtract from Bilbo freeing the Dwarves. Speaking of which, really loved the way the Elf Palace was done. Not how I visualized it, but still very cool. Thranduil was amazing, and I liked the sense they gave that he was at the Battle of Gondolin or something along those lines fighting dragons. Again, people may disagree with this, but I feel Legolas' appearance was thankfully not as egregious as it could have been. There were a few moments that bothered me, but I'll talk about that later. I actually feel the Tauriel/Kili content was pretty downplayed, and felt a lot more natural than how they did Aragorn/Arwen. I was probably most worried about the barrel scene after watching the trailers, but it was actually a lot of fun. It definitely captures some of the mad-cap adventure of the original book. A bit saddened to see everyone without their weapons, though. Is Orcrist still in the Palace? I hope they get those back, they were major parts of the characters. They managed to segue into introducing Bard pretty well, who was a really cool character in his own right. Lake-Town was really interesting, and was basically the point in the main plot where things really began to be added. All the Necromancer stuff was alluded to in various sources of the Legendarium, but this was largely new. The movie added a lot to the political situation that wasn't in the book, but it made for some really interesting scenes. I loved, loved the moved when Thorin stepped up the stairs with his theme playing triumphantly, something about it was just so kingly. It definitely sold Thorin as a future leader of the dwarves for me. I was initially unsure about leaving behind four of the dwarves, but I do feel it helped all the dwarves stand out individually more. What bugged me the most about Lake-Town was the whole orc attack. Them at the barrel chase was a bit odd, but it worked. This felt really off for some reason. Of all the scenes, this felt the most blatant excuse for a Legolas fight, which was disappointing because in the end Bolg ran away. I suppose he has to be at the Battle of the 5 Armies, but having Legolas fight him and not kill him was really anti-climactic, and kind of ruined the already odd sequence. Still, having everyone at Lake-Town while Smaug attacks will be cool. Before I talk about Erebor, I'm going to jump into the Necromancer arc, which actually felt really short. It was essentially everyone saying 'Sauron is coming' 20 different ways. Unlike a lot of people the existence of this arc doesn't annoy me as this was basically what Gandalf was doing at the time, but for this installment it felt like some pretty wasted opportunity. On the plus side we got to see Gandalf really using his abilities for once. Erebor was beautiful, like in the first movie. There a sad desolate feel to it, though, which was definitely appropriate. Seeing Thorin slowly unhinge as he got closer to the Arkenstone was great, as well as Bilbo being subtly affected by the ring. Words don't describe how well done Smaug was. Cumberbatch had the perfect voice, and the animation was flawless. I loved the effect when he gets ready to breathe fire, very cool. That said, everything kind of fell apart in the third act. As mentioned above, the Lake-Town battle felt forced, and the Dwarves attacking Smaug was even worse. It was impressive, sure, but it felt totally overblown, and far too elaborate. I liked where they were going with them all splitting up, but sadly it wasn't payed off as I felt it would. That ending, though. Many complained, but I definitely feel Ed Sheeran's song perfectly fits the mood of those final shots. Even knowing what was happening, the way they did I felt completely shocked. The verdict? A well-done movie in its own right, despite the weak third act. This movie definitely felt like a middle piece, as opposed to its own entity, which is disappointing, but I think it'll be better once the trilogy is out as a whole. Was it accurate? I will honestly say that it isn't, and many purists will probably dislike a lot of it. Personally, I was fine with many of the changes, save Beorn's scenes and the Lake-Town orc battle. 7/10.

I again fire an arrow at Ognar from the back.

Just make sure you don't get him riled up. I've managed to do damage without starting anything. I repeat my attack on the Ognar.

I'm pretty sure that's Endgame's whole modus operandi.

I draw another arrow and repeat my attack.

Did you take account of Dyric being lucky?

I knew that was going to get linked!