After three years, eight hours of (48 fps) film and so much CGI George Lucas is blushing, Peter Jackson's unexpected second journey into Middle-Earth is at an end. And that naturally means now The Hobbit Trilogy can be properly evaluated, which is still the cause of much debate. The ultimate outcome is one of division. Some fans are delighted to get to spend some more time in Middle-Earth, while others watched the movies head-in-hands, viewing this trilogy on a level below the Star Wars prequels. No matter which camp you fall into, however, there's no denying that Peter Jackson sure knows his Tolkien and has stuffed the films full of enjoyable easter eggs and references for fans to pick up. With The Battle Of The Five Armies cleaning up at the box office, come along and take a look at ten things in the final part of The Hobbit you probably missed the first time round. Obviously there'll be spoilers for the whole plot, so if you haven't seen The Battle Of The Five Armies yet, bookmark this page and come back after watching it. And, on the topic of disclaimers, painfully obvious moments - Thranduil sending Legolas to go find a ranger name Stryder (ho ho, who could that be?) - won't be included; everyone in the audience will have already spotted them. If you've somehow missed them, also check out the easter egg spotlights for the previous films in the series, An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation Of Smaug.
Honourable Mention - Ori Is In The Fellowship Of The Ring
In the publicity drive for The Battle Of The Five Armies, Peter Jackson revealed what's being treated like an exciting, hitherto unknown easter egg. It turns out the tomb the Fellowship find themselves in when going through the Mines of Moria in The Fellowship Of The Ring is Balin's, the kindly white haired dwarf, while the scribe by his casket is none other than Ori, the child-like dwarf who uses a slingshot because battle-readiness is only a suggestion for members of the dwarf company. "I find hilarious because we didnt have a clue when we were filming the first one," Jackson's reportedly said. Which is pretty bizarre, given that this easter egg has been obvious to a passive Tolkien fan since An Unexpected Journey - how the director of the movies didn't clock it is hard to fathom. So yeah, Ori is in The Lord Of The Rings, but it's not exactly a shocking new development. Now on to the proper surprises.
