The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies - 10 Questions We Need Answering

7. Did Bilbo Already Pick Up The Arkenstone?

It's easy to forget in amongst the molten gold finale of The Desolation Of Smaug that going into the Lonely Mountain was actually meant to be a covert operation. As established in the film's opening, the main goal was finding the Arkenstone, which would in theory unite the Dwarve armies for an assault against Smaug; Bilbo, the burglar, was meant to sneak into the cavern of gold, find the Arkenstone and leave unnoticed. Otherwise known as the Heart Of The Mountain, the jewel discovered in the opening of An Unexpected Journey, symbolises the right to rule as King under the Mountain, so as you can imagine it'll be an essential plot driving force in The Battle Of The Five Armies. At the moment, however, we have no idea where it is. Throughout his exchange of quips with Smaug, Bilbo is chasing the Arkenstone, but the scene devolves into action before we get any confirmation whether Bilbo actually manage to pick it up. There's a couple of moments in amongst the fire and coin-flinging where he could have grabbed it, but Jackson seems happy being coy about it. In the book Bilbo does indeed grab the jewel before Smaug goes to seek 'revenge' on Laketown, but as that little emphasis is put on the question of whether he has it or not (coupled with the trilogy's habit of squeezing in extra action sequences), we wouldn't be surprised to see him acquire it in the last film.