10 Great Movie Characters Killed Off Immediately In Sequels

There aren’t many areas, if any, in which the Hobbit trilogy managed to live up to Peter Jackson’s first trilogy in Middle-earth. What the prequels did have that the Lord of the Rings didn’t however, is a dragon. A firedrake from the north that held the key to much of the narrative.

The entire premise of the first two movies was that Smaug had taken Erebor for his home, and the subsequently nomadic Dwarves were journeying across all of Middle-earth to take it back. There were hints at the dragon during An Unexpected Journey, but Smaug wasn’t seen in all his magnificence until the end of The Desolation of Smaug.

The second movie ended with the dwarves having infuriated the self-proclaimed King under the Mountain, as the dragon dripping with gold broke free of said mountain and headed towards the defenceless Lake Town. This was one hell of a cliffhanger, and the attack of Bard and his people was an incredible way to kick off The Battle of the Five Armies.

Smaug laid waste to Lake Town, but in what felt like just five minutes, the scene was over, Smaug was dead, and that was that. Anyone expecting Smaug to play a bigger role in favour of Thorin’s descent into madness and Billy Connelly on a pig was greatly disappointed.