5 Reasons Why Tauriel Is The Best Addition To The Hobbit

2. We Get A Window Into The World's Moral Triangle

Early on, Beorn says: "I don't like dwarfs. They are too quick to dismiss lives they deem of less value than their own." All through the film, we see characters making judgements about the values of people's lives. Thranduil carelessly tells an Orc: "I do not care about one dead dwarf." Then he kills the Orc he promised to free. Thorin leaves his nephew behind, sick, without looking back. Then he nearly doesn't go to help Bilbo, calling him "one burglar." The Master of Lake Town, Smaug, Thranduil: all these characters are treading on lives they don't care about. Legolas LITERALLY treads on lives he deems worth less than his own - using dwarf heads as stepping stones in one of the more ridiculous scenes in the flick. Tauriel doesn't do things like that. It's not how her mind works . She thinks like Gandalf, or Bard, or Bilbo (maybe) think. She looks at life and she judges it on its own merits, not on the categories others impose. When she turns back to heal Kili, she's making a decision about the value of his life. Legolas didn't even think Kili's life was important enough to say "that's too bad" about. Tauriel makes the decision to do what she can to save a life she thinks has value... even if others disagree. She's willing not only to kill, but to heal. Tauriel's moral surety doesn't mean she is an uncomplicated character. Everyone in this movie faces difficult choices without easy answers, and Tauriel is no different. She and Gandalf are the only characters acting from unselfish motives, who think in terms of evil sweeping the world and the need to fight it. But they still struggle, still wonder if they've made the right choices. They face pain and sanction for the choices they make, be it the wrath of King Thranduil or imprisonment in Dol Guldur. Tauriel's love triangle is an important part of her character, sure. But she's not contained by that plot. She comes into conflict with Legolas and Thranduil not just because of lovey-dovey stuff, but because of her belief in the need to fight evil, and in the need to protect lands beyond their borders. She's aware that everyone is "part of this world," and that they have the responsibility to fight evil. That sets her apart from a lot of characters, and simultaneously reveals both her own and others' motivations.