At first—like many people—I was weary of the idea of
Tauriel. I feared that she would be a slightly shiner version of Arwen from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, who
brought little to the plot outside of her love and longing for Aragorn. I
anticipated Tauriel would be the same, especially after reading that she was
supposed to be a love interest for Legolas. I expected a timid She-Elf, who’s
only action would involve longing glances at Legolas with some occasional
archery thrown into the mix.
How very
wrong I was.
She bursts
on screen fighting and killing very large—and rather scary-looking—spiders. The
goal of the elves at this juncture is to kill the giant spiders and rid their
forest of them. Saving Thorin and Company happens by accident really; even Legolas
says to Thorin he would consider it a privilege to kill a dwarf. Tauriel saves
Kili (for the first of many times), but she flat out refuses to give him a
weapon to defend himself, seeing him as an intruder and an enemy. She then
proceeds to kill two on coming spiders. She helps the rest of her group round
up the dwarves (as prisoners) and escorts them back to the city.
That’s a
kick-ass entrance for any character, and I was already rethinking my rashly
formed opinion of her.
Throughout
the movie, she is shown to be an excellent archer and fighter. When she returns
to Mirkwood, she and the Elvenking, Thranduil, discuss the increased presence of
the spiders. She tells him that she and her guards must kill the spiders at
their source, eliminating the threat instead of simply placating it, but
Thranduil has little in anything beyond their borders. He then chastises her
for Legolas’ growing feelings for her. While it’s a bit unclear if she feels
anything in return, she becomes clearly angry when Thranduil agrees that he
wouldn’t let Legolas “pledge himself to a lowly Silvan elf.” (Jackson, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug).
When
Thranduil orders his gates closed after interrogating an Orc about the dwarves
(where he learns that Sauron is slowly making his return), Tauriel leaves with
her weapons. Legolas goes after her and begs her to come back.
She tells
him that the elves are a part of the world—of Middle Earth. How can they not
care about an oncoming darkness and evil? “When did we allow evil to become
stronger than us?” she says to him. (Jackson, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug).
She and
Legolas travel to Lake-town to stop an onslaught of Orcs from reaching the
Lonely Mountain and killing their escaped prisoners, the dwarves. They save
Bard’s family, along with the four dwarves left behind from the final leg of
the journey to the mountain. When the Orcs discover that Thorin isn’t among
those dwarves, Bolg orders a retreat. Legolas pursues, puts in a good fight
with three Orcs, kills two, and then follows Bolg out of Lake-town while
Tauriel stays behind to heal Kili.
Since seeing
the film, I was all onboard for the Tauriel and Kili ship. For years I have
been waiting for a story (in my mind a superhero story, but this works as well)
where we see the female character constantly having to rescue her beloved
instead of the other way around. Though anachronistic, I was almost expecting
her to say, “We have got to stop meeting like this.” Tauriel saves Kili on
several occasions: from the spider, at the gate on the river, and again in
Lake-town where he has taken refuge because of a wounded leg. She (and Legolas)
stave off the Orcs, but only she remains to heal Kili.
There has
been a lot of talk about the
existence of Tauriel. Many hardcore (and not so hardcore) Tolkien fans have
dismissed her, even after seeing the film. I’ve heard that she is “useless” and
that she brings nothing to the plot. But the biggest complaint surrounding
Tauriel, is that she has been created for the film merely to serve the purpose
of being a love interest. Then there are further criticisms about the love story: that it makes
Tauriel weak and dampens her importance. Even positive reviews for the film
chalk her up to a common romantic counterpart. “And the risky move of inventing
his own Tolkien character—the elf guard Tauriel—as a love interest for Legolas
pays off.” (Gleiberman, “The Hobbit,” Entertainment
Weekly.)
I was able
to write three full paragraphs describing what I loved about Tauriel before
mentioning her budding relationship with Kili (even though I really approve of
it). Tauriel exists as a character, as a person/elf on her own accord with her
own story line, without Kili. If Tauriel existed solely for the romantic
subplot, then she wouldn’t have needed to do all of the righting and Orc
chasing that we see. Take away the subplot completely, and she is still a
driving force for the elves.
The growing
rapport between Tauriel and Kili begins subtle and flirtatious and ends strong.
It’s not in the audience’s face and it doesn’t detract from the overall plot at
all. Their interactions are poignant and funny. After being captured by the
elves, as the others are being searched, Kili asks: “Aren’t you going to search
me? I could have anything hidden in my trousers.”
“Or
nothing,” she replies with a sly grin as she locks the door and walks away.
(Jackson, The Hobbit: The Desolation of
Smaug). They bond over starlight, memories, and promises. It’s sweet, it’s beautiful
to see on screen.
Only with
female characters are romances seen as a character weakness. In The Lord of the Rings trilogy, a great
force behind Aragorn is his love for Arwen. After a battle, falling off a
cliff, and being dragged down river, her presence and memory help him stand and
make his way to Helm’s Deep. At the very end of The Return of the King, they are reunited, she becomes his queen,
and he just couldn’t be happier.
Introducing
a love story into a character’s arc doesn’t create weakness, and if done
properly, as seen in The Desolation of
Smaug, it doesn’t have to pull attention from the main plot. A female
character can exist outside of any relationship she may have.
Tauriel is
a joy. She kicks ass and doesn’t apologize. She cares about the livelihood of
her people and the very existence of Middle Earth. She saves lives. Her relationship
with Kili is fun and gentle, and doesn’t make her any less of a strong or independent
character.
Works Cited
Gleiberman, Owen. “The Hobbit: The Desolation
of Smaug.” Review. Entertainment Weekly 20 Dec. 2013: 46. Print.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Martin Freeman,
Ian Mckellan, Richard Armitage. Warner Brothers, 2013. Film.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin. New
Line Home Entertainment, 2001. DVD.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen Sean Astin. New Line Home
Entertainment, 2002. DVD.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Iam McKellen, Sean Astin. New
Line Home Entertainment, 2003. DVD.