As fans watching The Desolation of Smaug were introduced to Lake Town, a.k.a. Esgaroth, the Master and his closest servant, Alfred, discussed political matters, such as inquiries, elections, and trouble-makers. Essentially, viewers were meant to interpret the Master as this corrupt yet inept leader who usurped power and did nothing for the common good, while his servant whispered falsehoods in his ear to convince the Master that his power was waning. However, this entire dialogue never took place in the book, and did not serve any greater purpose with respect to the film. It was meant to engage the target demographic and teach them the importance about criticism of authority and the possible corruptions of power. While this mightve been a noble endeavor on Jacksons part, it had nothing to do with Tolkiens original tale whatsoever. The Master and Alfred were insignificant characters in the original books, so giving more attention to them took the focus away from the central storyline. Furthermore, the Masters rivalry with Bard was explained well enough during Thorins speech to the town; adding all of those scenes in which the Master went after Bard in any way he could were simply more examples of political corruption that was a subtext that The Desolation of Smaug didnt need.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
