2. Tauriel Is Not A Tolkien Character
In The Desolation Of Smaug we meet Tauriel, an Elven archer who serves in the ranks of King Thranduil. She assists in the capture of the Dwarves when they trespass into the Elves' realm in Mirkwood, impressing a certain young Dwarf with her spider-slaying skills. Like all Elves, Tauriel is initially distrustful of the new prisoners, but her growing relationship with Kili causes her to start thinking differently about the Dwarves. Also, the incursion of the Orcs into Mirkwood convinces her that the Elves need to team up with Thorin and help hm and his companions defeat the Orcs since they are a threat to all Middle-Earth. But Thranduil refuses to listen, and Tauriel sets out on her own, convincing Legolas to join her. Anyone who has not read The Hobbit but wants to after watching the movies will be surprised and, perhaps, disappointed to find that Tauriel is nowhere in the book. At all. Nor does she appear in The Fellowship Of The Ring or The Silmarillion; she is a creation of Jackon's, not Tolkien's. Introducing an original character was a risky move but could have added an interesting dimension to the story. Instead, the contrived Legolas/Tauriel/Kili love triangle makes the movie series feel like lavish, multimillion dollar fan fiction.