4. Thrain, Thorin's Dad
Why do we even care about this Thrain guy? He shows up once in the movie, and is briefly mentioned in the book. So, why am I bringing him up?
Because, I think we can learn a lot about Thorin from his dad, or his dad's absence thereof.
I kinda get the impression that Thrain isn't the most emotionally stable guy on the planet.
In the 8-10 minute Hobbit intro, when we are introduced to Thror, Thrain, and Thorin, we see Thrain standing respectfully before the throne of his father (Thror). But, where's Thorin? Thorin's standing next to the king's throne. We can talk about family devotion all we want, but when Smaug attacks and Thror goes into his treasure chamber and loses the Arkenstone, is it his dear son Thrain who drags him out (kicking and screaming though he is) and rescues him from Smaug? Nope. Thrain is mysteriously absent from the scene. The hero is Thorin. He's not about to let his gold-happy grandaddy die a needless death at the fiery breath of a dragon like Smaug.
Another, more gory and disturbing, example of this relationship is the Moria battle flashback (by the way, this battle and Thror's encounter with Azog are referenced in Tolkien's The Hobbit book). Thror comes face to face with Azog, who for one reason or another is on a mission to destroy the line of the Durin (the ancestor of Thror, Thrain, and Thorin). As Balin describes, he begins by beheading Thror.
Thrain's reaction: go insane, get captured by orcs, and never be seen again...
Thorin's reaction: scream "NO!" in slow motion, attack Azog, cut off Pale Orc's arm, then lead army in a final charge on Moria.
From this evidence, who do you think is a better candidate to be the next King Under the Mountain?
Here's another interesting thing regarding Thorin's dad: After the Smaug battle, Bilbo is narrating, and clearly says (paraphrasing) the young dwarf prince worked among the race of men to provide for himself. There's no mention of Thrain. No one rallied behind Thrain after this event. Bilbo never mentions "Thorin and Thrain did this" or "Thrain and Thorin did that". Nope. Thorin's literally on his own. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Thrain had a nervous breakdown, which then forced Thorin to become "man of the house".
Thorin (Hobbit, 2012), Katniss (Hunger Games, 2012), and Ree Dolly (Winter's Bone, 2010) need to get together for Starbucks. They have so much in common.
In fact, Thorin only mentions his father once while arguing with Gandalf about seeking help from Elrond. "The Elves didn't help my grandfather…or my father." (more on this later) When Azog shows up at the end of the movie, he [Azog] says of Thrain, "I remember [Thorin's] father reeked of [fear]". But, when Thorin faces off with Azog several minutes later, he says nothing about "You killed my dad!" or "What did you do to my dad?" No, if anything, I think he's trying to avenge Thror's death.
And, when all is said and done, Balin makes his (I think it should be famous) line: "There is one who I could follow. There is one who I could call King" (at least, I think that's the line). But, he's not talking about Thrain. He really doesn't have anything to say about Thrain other than the fact that he's Thorin's dad and that he goes insane after Thror's murder. Balin is talking about Thorin.
I have very little doubt that Thror raised Thorin, and had some legal document in place that would bypass Thrain, and give the Kingdom directly to Thorin.
That's my opinion, anyway.
- Updated May 22, 2013 -
- Updated May 22, 2013 -
Some have raised the question, "Why did Azog say that Thorin's father reeked of fear?"
It's a good question, and one that is actually easily answered.
Some animals in the natural world can sense certain emotions, like fear.
This seems to be true in fantasy worlds (like Middle Earth), as well.
Although Azog is not your typical animal, he also isn't entirely human. He's actually more of a half-elf, half-goblin creature (there's a long story about that, which you can hear summarized in The Fellowship of the Ring movie). So, taking into consideration that Orcs and goblins are technically intelligent fantasy creatures, it would be natural to assume that they possess the animalistic ability to sense certain emotions. Such as fear.
The scene where Azog makes that statement is also the scene when we sorta kinda find out what happened to Thorin's dad.
"I remember he reeked of it" is very telling if you think about it. The fact that Azog "remembers" this indicates that Thrain was, at one time, taken prisoner by Azog and the Orcs. Azog also makes this statement in the past tense - "I remember he reeked of it". Taking into consideration that Azog is on a quest to rid Thorin of his head, and what he says about Thrain (mainly the "I remember" part), I think we can safely assume that Azog beheaded Thrain.
So, maybe my earlier statement about Thorin not fighting Azog to avenge the death of his father was wrong. Emotionally unstable or not, Thrain was still his father, so there was probably a bond between them. A bond which is apparently enough to drive Thorin to take revenge on Azog not only for the death of Thror, but also for Thrain.
The "reeked of fear" line is also telling regarding Thrain. Just the fact that Azog remembers him reeking of fear indicates that Thrain was pretty terrified during his captivity to the Orcs (however short). I think this is also evidence of Thrain's emotional instability. In fact, Balin flat out says that Thror's death during the Moria Battle drove Thrain insane. That grief-stricken insanity could be enough to explain why Thrain would have been a little more terrified of the Orcs than Thorin appears to be when he faces off with Azog at the end of the 1st Hobbit movie. Whether or not Thrain was emotionally unstable before the Moria Battle is still questionable, but any prior instability definitely would have added to the situation. Either way, this would explain Azog's memory of Thrain "reeking" of fear.
5. Seven Rings for the Dwarf Lords
However, we can sorta kinda forgive Thrain, when we take into consideration his connection to the Ring.
Oh, yes, Thrain and Thorin are connected to the Ring. Albeit indirectly.
During the Council of Elrond, Gandalf reveals another detail about Thrain that we didn't already know from reading The Hobbit. Thror was a bearer of one of the 7 Rings that were given to the Dwarf Kings way back in the days before the One Ring was forged. Thror gave it to Thrain. But, that Ring never came to Thorin.
Why?
Thrain somehow managed to end up in Dol Guldor (aka the pre-Mordor fortress of Sauron - yes, Sauron was around back then). We don't get all the gory details, but we are told that the Ring was taken from Thrain in Dol Guldor by Sauron (or someone appointed by Sauron). We know that Thrain had suffered in Dol Guldor. He was eventually rescued by Gandalf, but even Gandalf "came to late". But, he wasn't Gandalf the White back then. But, we don't know exactly when all of this happened.
So, if the Dol Guldor episode occurred before the Smaug attack, we can better understand why Thrain seems to be emotionally unstable, and why Thror probably had to raise Thorin.
As stated earlier, one of the many reasons Thorin doesn't like Elves is "The Elves didn't help my grandfather…or my father." This is the point in which I may be reading a lot into the context of the line, so please proceed with caution. Since Thrain never actually got his sticky paws on the Kingdom of Erebor, what help could the Elves have lended him? Financial help after the Smaug attack? I kinda doubt it. Taking into consideration what Gandalf said about him having been, at one time, captured by Sauron and held prisoner in Dol Guldor, could it be that Thorin is referencing this incident in that line "or my father"? Could the Elves have intervened to help Thrain or somehow have kept him from getting captured by Sauron? Since there is no evidence for this in the book or in the 1st Hobbit movie, we may never really know.
But, none of this stuff about the Dwarf Ring really comes into play in The Hobbit.
No comments:
Post a Comment