Summary

• Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy serves as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, setting up the latter's War of the Ring.
• Each film in The Hobbit trilogy escalates the conflict between Middle Earth's races by introducing new groups and major antagonists.
• Although less well-received than The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit trilogy does justice to Tolkien's work, capturing the spirit of Middle Earth.

When it comes to the fantasy genre, no franchise is more well-known than J.R.R. Tolkien's flagship work, The Lord of the Rings. This iconic trilogy, originally published in 1954 & 1955, created many of the genre's most well-known tropes, and even 80 years after its initial release, the series continues to introduce new fans to the world of Middle Earth. That said, The Lord of the Rings and its various adaptations would never have been possible were it not for the success of Tolkien's previous novel: The Hobbit.

Released in 1937, The Hobbit is the direct predecessor to The Lord of the Rings, so it's no surprise that the two works share plenty in common. Both stories feature a Hobbit as their main character, take place across Middle Earth, and see their protagonists gather allies for a dangerous quest. In addition to this, both narratives were adapted into a trilogy of feature-length films by acclaimed director Peter Jackson. However, whereas The Lord of the Rings novels were released by Tolkien in three volumes, The Hobbit has always been packaged as a single story, making the timeline of its film adaptations a bit trickier to follow.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Marks The Start Of The Quest For Erebor

Adapts The Hobbit Chapters 1 - 6

Although The Lord of the Rings films were released a decade before The Hobbit trilogy, the latter is actually set many years before Frodo Baggins initiates his quest to destroy the One Ring. Since The Hobbit movies are a prequel trilogy, the first chronological entry in Peter Jackson's Middle Earth films is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which debuted in 2012 to massive box office success. The film follows the beginning of Bilbo Baggins' journey, setting the stage for not only the events of The Hobbit trilogy but also the all-out war against evil that takes place in Jackson's previous film trilogy.

At the beginning of An Unexpected Journey, viewers are introduced to the Shire: a quaint, relatively safe location full of its easy-going inhabitants, the Hobbits. While these peaceful beings don't have a formal hierarchy like many of the races of Middle Earth, the Shire is home to Bilbo Baggins, a well-known Hobbit in the area who is particularly interested in the outside world. Because of Bilbo Baggins' adventurous streak, he attracts the attention of the powerful wizard Gandalf the Grey and the legendary dwarf Thorin Oakenshield; in the film's opening sequence, the duo recruits Bilbo to join them on their quest to reclaim the Dwarven treasure located in Erebor.

After some convincing, Bilbo agrees to join Thorin Oakenshield on his journey East, and at first, their journey goes smoothly — at least for the most part. However, as they travel across Middle Earth, they start to encounter powerful artifacts (like the One Ring to Rule Them All) and increasingly powerful groups of enemies, making it more and more obvious that the Quest of Erebor will be more dangerous than An Unexpected Journey's protagonists initially believed. The film concludes with a single scene that teases this danger by showing a glimpse of The Hobbit's most iconic antagonist: Smaug.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Prepares Middle Earth For War

Adapts The Hobbit Chapters 7-13

The first film in The Hobbit trilogy introduces viewers to the world of Middle Earth, but the second film — The Desolation of Smaug — significantly raises the stakes by putting its protagonists at the center of the realm's most important conflict in several decades. With Bilbo Baggins in possession of the One Ring, the Dwarves of Erebor nearing their ancestral home, and the powers of Sauron rapidly growing, The Desolation of Smaug is a powder keg waiting to explode from the moment that it begins.

To make matters worse for Bilbo Baggins and his allies — who are without Gandalf's assistance while he seeks out Sauron during most of the film — their journey in the second The Hobbit movie complicates things by introducing two new groups to the mix: the humans of Lake Town and the Wood Elves of Mirkwood. The involvement of these two parties means that the Quest for Erebor will feature all of Middle Earth's major races, including the titular villain of the film, the dragon known as Smaug.

As the last great dragon of Middle Earth, Smaug's mere presence has kept the Orcs, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves of Middle Earth at a political standstill for decades, so there are massive ramifications when Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, and their adventuring party wake the ancient beast from its slumber. The final moments of The Desolation of Smaug see the iconic dragon escape Erebor, take to the skies, and head toward Lake Town, initiating a series of conflicts that change the world forever.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Brings An End To An Era

Adapts The Hobbit Chapters 13-19

Unlike the previous entries in The Hobbit film trilogy, its final entry — The Battle of the Five Armies — starts in a moment of pure intensity: Smaug's assault on Lake Town. This fiery rampage sets the tone for the entire film and clearly establishes that Peter Jackson's final adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels has no intention of shying away from conflict, even after Bard the Bowman cements himself as a legendary hero by felling Smaug with a single arrow. In actuality, the death of Smaug only intensifies the brewing conflict between races, as the dragon's disappearance guarantees that multiple parties will be vying for the treasure residing within Erebor.

With the Dwarves of Erebor, Elves of Mirkwood, and Men of Lake Town unable to see eye-to-eye, various armies under the control of Sauron are able to make their move and begin an attack on The Battle of the Five Armies' protagonist. Orcs, goblins, and various other creatures band together under one banner, forcing the Free Peoples of Middle Earth to find common ground or fall victim to the ruthless forces at Sauron's disposal. Things are only intensified by Bilbo Baggins' possession of the One Ring, which could easily turn the tide of the battle in an instant.

As expected, The Battle of the Five Armies brings an end to almost all of the narratives previously introduced in The Hobbit films and plays a massive role in setting up the Fellowship of the Ring's iconic journey in The Lord of the Rings. While The Hobbit trilogy is generally regarded as a worse product than The Lord of the Rings, it more than does justice to Tolkien's work and legitimately brings Quest for Erebor to life on the silver screen, even if it falls short in some areas.

The fantasy genre is full of great films, but few are more well-written, well-structured, or well-liked than Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit. After the success of his The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was only appropriate that Bilbo Baggins' story also be told, and as evidenced by the overwhelming commercial success of An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies, it's clear that the trio of films did a great job of capturing the spirit of Tolkien's world.