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Original characters exist to serve the story. Mary Sues exist to have the story serve them.
--Godawful Fanfiction board
All characters should serve a purpose within the stories they inhabit. Only in our heads do they exist in isolation; in narrative, they must prove that they can contribute to the entire tale in order to justify their participation in it. This is where the Mary Sue character type goes wrong: instead of contributing to the shape of a given work, she warps the shape of a work around herself and her own goals, causing an imbalance between the story’s focus and its natural narrative thrust. And where Mary Sue goes really wrong is her intrusion into already published material: when the shape of the story was perfectly fine as it was, and she not only leaches narrative energy to no benefit of the greater whole, but must often destroy the story’s existing infrastructure in order to do so.
Mary Sue, in short, is a story parasite, and as with any other, the overall costs of maintaining one will always outweigh the benefits. Some people think that if a Sue is written well enough, she can be viable as a character, but the problem is that it’s not just about how well the character is written. It’s about how well the character causes the rest of the story to be written. And if there is one thing that Mary Sue does without fail, it is destroy the integrity of the story she inhabits through a build-up of poor narrative choices made on her behalf.
I will dispense with the easiest counterargument, which is: adding a female character to a story automatically makes said story a better one. To accept this idea is to accept tokenism, rather than true representation. A female character, a male character, or any variant in between, only makes the story better by contributing in a positive way to the story’s narrative cohesion. Our featured character, Tauriel of Mirkwood, instead disrupts that narrative cohesion and adds in unneeded elements that divert the story’s attention away from its main character: Bilbo Baggins. Let us look at Tauriel’s function, not her form, in each of the scenes she occupies during her first movie, and witness the story veering off track in service to one character, at the expense of the whole.
[The dwarves have defeated their spiders, and are running through the forest. More spiders jump down on threads of silk in front of the dwarves and hiss at them. Thorin raises his sword in preparation to fight, but pauses and looks up. A blonde Elf, Legolas, runs through the treetops, then swings down a spider’s silk in order to land on it and kill it. He slides on the forest floor under the spider facing Thorin, slicing it in half, and comes up kneeling with an arrow nocked in his bow and pointed at Thorin. Several other Mirkwood elves appear, drawing arrows and pointing them at the dwarves.]
[Legolas:] “Do not think I won’t kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure.”
[The dwarves look around and see that they are completely surrounded and outnumbered by Mirkwood Elves, all with drawn bows aimed at the dwarves.]
[Kíli:] “Help!”
[Fíli:] “Kíli!”
[The dwarves whirl around and see a spider pulling Kíli away by the foot. A female Elf, Tauriel, runs through the forest. She kills three spiders with her bow and knife, then kills the spider pulling Kíli with an arrow. She turns to attack another spider behind her, and yet another spider rushes toward Kíli.]
[Kíli:] “Throw me your dagger! Quick!”
[Tauriel:] “If you think I’m giving you a weapon, dwarf, you’re mistaken!”
[Tauriel kills her spider with her knife, then spins and throws the knife, killing the spider that was attacking Kíli. Kíli looks on in amazement.]
In this scene, we are introduced to two impressive Elven archers who fight the spiders of Mirkwood and express suspicion about the Company. The first Elf kills a spider but does not explicitly save Thorin’s life, then says it would be a pleasure to kill him. The second Elf does explicitly save Kíli’s life and is only suspicious about giving him a weapon. Obviously, the second fighting Elf is the one that the film wants us to like the most, but there is not a material enough difference between the Elves to warrant their combined screentime. In other words, there are two characters here where one will do—so why is the less likable Elf in this scene at all? The answer is: because he is the one who was supposed to be here in the first place.
Regardless of the fact that Legolas is not mentioned by name in the Hobbit, he is the son of King Thranduil, so it would be strange if he weren’t present during the Company’s stay in Mirkwood. The script wants us to like Tauriel more, but it is actually Tauriel who is the cause of the character redundancy that occurs in this scene. Tauriel’s part could easily have been combined with Legolas’ and fit in with his characterization from the LOTR trilogy—except for Kíli’s stare of amazement, which is, of course, solely for her benefit. In this way, Tauriel takes up space and time without adding anything substantial to the narrative.
[The elf in charge of Fíli finds another large dagger hidden in his coat, and Fíli sighs in frustration. Kíli addresses Tauriel as she locks him in his cell.]
[Kíli:] “Aren’t you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers.”
[Tauriel:] “Or nothing.”
[As Tauriel haughtily slams the cell door shut and walks away, Kíli looks after her and smiles a little. Legolas stops Tauriel on her way out of the prison corridor.]
[Legolas:] “I Nogoth amman e tîr gin? Tauriel?” [Subtitle: Why does the Dwarf stare at you, Tauriel?]
[Tauriel:] “Ú-dangada?” [Subtitle: Who can say?]
[Tauriel looks away from Legolas as she says the next line, smiling a little and looking dreamy.]
[Tauriel:] “E orchal be Nogoth.” [Subtitle: He’s quite tall for a Dwarf.]
[She suddenly realizes what she’s doing and quickly looks at Legolas.]
[Tauriel:] “Pedithig?” [Subtitle: Do you not think?]
[As Tauriel walks away, Legolas addresses her.]
[Legolas:] “Orchal eb vui, mal uvanui en.” [Subtitle: Taller than some, but no less ugly.]
[Legolas and Kíli glare at each other.]
No time is wasted in arriving at the love triangle that only exists in the Hobbit because of Tauriel. This romance takes up considerable time and narrative focus throughout the last two Hobbit films; whether that is time and energy well spent is yet to be seen. This particular round of dialogue exists for Tauriel’s sake, and only Tauriel’s sake; nothing about Legolas’ or Kíli’s characters is developed, and since we already know that Elves dislike Dwarves and that Kíli is mischievous, there is nothing in this scene that is vital to the plot or thematically significant to the story. The scene exists to show that Tauriel is not only badass, not only more compassionate than Legolas, but also the love interest of two of the most conventionally attractive males in the trilogy—all essential for her own personal goal of being a character that female moviegoers would theoretically want to identify with…and all completely unimportant to the Hobbit.
[We see Bilbo, invisible, sneaking through the Woodland Realm. Suddenly, Thranduil steps out from behind a corner and seemingly addresses him. Bilbo gives a little start, thinking that his invisibility doesn’t work.]
[Thranduil:] “I know you’re there. Why do you linger in the shadows?”
[Bilbo is petrified, thinking he has been found out, when suddenly Tauriel steps out of the shadows behind him. Realizing that the king was talking to her, Bilbo sighs in relief.]
[Tauriel:] “I was coming to report to you.”
[Thranduil:] “I thought I ordered that nest to be destroyed not two moons past.”
[Tauriel:] “We cleared the forest as ordered, my lord, but more spiders keep coming up from the south. They are spawning in the ruins of Dol Guldur; if we could kill them at their source-”
[Thranduil interrupts Tauriel.]
[Thranduil:] “That fortress lies beyond our borders. Keep our lands clear of those foul creatures, that is your task.”
[Tauriel:] “And when we drive them off, what then? Will they not spread to other lands?”
[Thranduil:] “Other lands are not my concern. The fortunes of the world will rise and fall, but here in this kingdom, we will endure.”
[Bilbo sneaks away; Thranduil, hearing a noise caused by Bilbo, looks his way. However, he looks back at Tauriel as she bows and walks away.]
[Thranduil:] “Legolas said you fought well today.”
[Tauriel smiles.]
[Thranduil:] “He has grown very fond of you.”
[Tauriel looks away, shocked and embarrassed.]
[Tauriel:] “I assure you, my lord, Legolas thinks of me as no more than a captain of the guard.”
[Thranduil:] “Perhaps he did once. Now, I’m not so sure.”
[Thranduil walks past Tauriel to pour himself a cup of drink. Tauriel stays rooted in her spot, looking worried.]
[Tauriel:] “I do not think you would allow your son to pledge himself to a lowly Silvan elf.”
[Thranduil:] “No, you are right. I would not. Still, he cares about you. Do not give him hope where there is none.”
[Behind Thranduil’s back, Tauriel looks worried and anguished.]
Here we have the first major warping of the story’s natural shape to better suit Tauriel’s needs. We originally view this scene from Bilbo’s eyes—which makes sense, as not only is this Bilbo’s journey, but the tension in the scene is greater when viewed through the eyes of someone who could be captured at any moment. Yet what should have been a demonstration of Bilbo’s hobbit quietness, bravery under stress, and ingenuity, suddenly turns into a Tauriel scene—Bilbo even sneaks away before the scene is finished, as if aware that he is no longer needed in it. It’s a shame, because in the book, Bilbo’s strength really comes through during his stay in Mirkwood. He struggles to find where everyone’s been taken; he often goes hungry; weeks go by without a plan. And yet, throughout it all, he remains determined to set his friends free.
What is this replaced by? Tauriel gets exposition about how Legolas loves her—and how well she fights, just in case we missed the fact that she is an amazing warrior.
Again, the scene does not develop Legolas’ character, because we have only Thranduil’s word that Legolas likes her; there is no reaction shot from Legolas, only from Tauriel. Do we get a fleshing out of Thranduil’s character here? A bit; unfortunately, it feels like stale filler instead of genuine characterization, because in order to give Tauriel the love triangle that she needs, Thranduil must play the part of Lord Elrond in the LOTR trilogy here:
[Galadriel (speaking to Elrond through her mind):] Do we leave Middle-earth to its fate? Do we let them stand alone?
[Tauriel:] “And when we drive them off, what then? Will they not spread to other lands?”
And here:
[Elrond:] He is not coming back. Why do you linger here, where there is no hope?
[Arwen:] There is still hope.
[Thranduil:] “No, you are right. I would not. Still, he cares about you. Do not give him hope where there is none.”
One of the worst things about Mary Sues is that their theft of narrative energy and purpose is not limited to the male characters; they are just as happy to intrude upon the female ones, which causes proportionally more damage because female roles are often disregarded and submerged as it is. If Thranduil is playing Elrond, this means that Tauriel is free to raid movie!Arwen’s storyline and use it for herself. We might call it an homage…except that it doesn’t add anything that Aragorn and Arwen’s story did not have, and since less time is spent on it, it feels, in fact, more superficial. Nor is there any connection to the world at large; Aragorn and Arwen’s forbidden love was rooted in the larger pattern of Elves leaving for Valinor and Men having to step up or watch their entire world fall. Whatever Legolas feels for Tauriel, it has no bearing on the world of Middle-earth and the important events unfolding. And what’s worse is that the only connection we do have to larger events—Thranduil talking about staying safe in his halls—is squandered for the sake of Tauriel’s conflict about Legolas. While she clearly shows an inclination to involve herself in the greater struggle, Tauriel’s most emotional expression (and the one that ends the scene) has to do, not with this, but with Legolas’ feelings for her. The scene thus implies that that is what is most important about this conversation, which really, it shouldn’t have been.
[In his cell, Kíli inspects a shiny black stone with an engraving in his hand. He flips it in the air and catches it on the back of his hand. Tauriel is checking on all the prisoners; she pauses at Kíli’s cell.]
[Tauriel:] “The stone in your hand, what is it?”
[Kíli:] “It is a talisman. A powerful spell lies upon it. If any but a dwarf reads the runes on this stone, they will be forever cursed.”
[Kíli quickly holds up the stone toward Tauriel, and she steps back slightly. She begins to walk away, but stops when Kíli speaks again, in a laughing manner.]
[Kíli:] “Or not, depending on whether you believe that kind of thing. It’s just a token.”
[Kíli smiles, and Tauriel smiles as well.]
[Kíli:] “A runestone. My mother gave it to me so I’d remember my promise.”
[Tauriel:] “What promise?"
[Kíli:] “That I will come back to her.”
[Tauriel looks down.]
[Kíli:] “She worries. She thinks I’m reckless.”
[Tauriel:] “Are you?”
[Kíli:] “Nah.”
[He smiles and tosses up his stone. He misses when he tries to catch it, and it rolls out of his cell, but Tauriel stops it with her foot before it can roll into the deep pit outside the cells. She picks it up and inspects it. Kíli goes up to the bars of his cell, then hears elves laughing in the distance.]
[Kíli:] “Sounds like quite a party you’re having up there.”
[Tauriel:] “It is Mereth-en-Gilith, the Feast of Starlight.”
[She steps slightly away.]
[Tauriel:] “All light is sacred to the Eldar, but Wood Elves love best the light of the stars.”
[Kíli:] “I always thought it is a cold light, remote and far away.”
[Tauriel, who had walked a few steps away while speaking, approaches Kíli again and speaks earnestly.]
[Tauriel:] “It is memory, precious and pure. Like your promise.”
[Tauriel smiles and hands Kíli back his stone.]
[Tauriel:] “I have walked there sometimes, beyond the forest and up into the night. I have seen the world fall away and the white light forever fill the air.”
[Kíli:] “I saw a fire moon once. It rose over the pass near Dunland, huge; red and gold it was, filled the sky. We were an escort for some merchants from Ered Luin, they were trading in Silverbuck for furs. We took the Greenway south, keeping the mountain to our left, and then, this huge fire moon, right in our path. I wish I could show you...”
[They continue talking; Tauriel sits down on the stairs by Kíli’s cell to listen. Unseen by them, Legolas watches from the distance, his face a blank mask.]
In this comparatively lengthy scene, Kíli is sharing knowledge of his people’s customs and perceptions, and Tauriel is sharing hers; a cultural exchange, if you will. This could have been relevant to the overall story—the enmity of Elves and Dwarves bridged by a connection between one Dwarf and one Elf who form a deep bond with each other. There are several problems with this, though. One is that that story has already been done, and done much better, by Legolas and Gimli in The Lord of the Rings. Another is that in the Hobbit, the time has not yet arrived for such a friendship; Elves and Dwarves absolutely cannot get along, and the best they can hope for is an intermediary. That’s what makes Bilbo’s role so important: only he has a shot of talking to both sides and avoiding war. Thus, when Tauriel cuts out the middle-Hobbit by exchanging this information with Kíli, she also dilutes a principal strength of the story’s protagonist.
If there must be a forbidden bond between an Elf and a Dwarf, it would be better if Tauriel and Kíli had a tangible interest to share, instead of the extremely shaky common ground of, “It is memory, precious and pure. Like your promise.” The first thing that comes to mind is archery: isn’t it odd that the script goes out of its way to make Kíli the archer of the group, then goes out of its way to make him fall for an Elven archer, yet neverbrings archery up as a subject between them? My theory is that if it did bring this up, the audience could see how much more naturally this storyline falls to Legolas instead of Tauriel. We’ve already cheered Legolas’ archery on many occasions; we already know that he forms a fast friendship with Gimli. Wouldn’t it contribute so much more to the overall story if Gimli weren’t the first Dwarf that Legolas had tried to befriend, only with Kíli, the budding friendship was cut short by mutual enmity and the greed of both Elves and Dwarves? Yet instead of a moment of true poignancy and foreshadowing, we have Legolas towering over Kíli and Tauriel in a pose of obvious jealousy.
Said pose leads to this scene’s greatest problem: we have all this time spent on Kíli and Tauriel’s conversation, all that exposition and even some characterization, and where does the scene end? With a jealous Legolas. By having Kíli’s words fade out and ending the scene with Legolas, the point becomes not that Elves and Dwarves have traits in common, but that there is a love triangle involving Legolas, Kíli, and Tauriel.
A scene that costs so much in terms of time should not have so trivial an aim.
[Tauriel strides up to the empty cells and address the other elven guards.]
[Tauriel:] “Where is the keeper of the keys?”
[In the cellar, Bilbo frantically runs back and forth and stomps on the ground, trying to make the floor tip again. Tauriel and her elves run toward the cellar.]
[Tauriel:] “Tolo hi!” [Rough translation: Come now!]
[Just as Tauriel and the guards get to the cellar, the floor tips and Bilbo falls into the river, yelling. He surfaces and grabs onto Nori’s barrel. Thorin and the company, still in their barrels, have been waiting for him.]
Wait a minute. Tauriel is the captain of the guard, and she doesn’t have a copy of the keys to open the cells? Wasn’t she the one in charge of locking the Dwarves in the cells in the first place? Furthermore, she’s in full battle gear with weapons strapped to her back when the Company’s escape has just been discovered, so she wasn’t attending the feast that she clearly wanted to go to. So if she wasn’t at the feast, and she wasn’t getting plastered via a bottle of Dorwinion, and she wasn’t guarding the cells (because Kíli wouldn’t have been able to escape if she were) …exactly what was she doing at the time of the Company’s departure?
Tauriel has momentarily disappeared from the story, for no other reason than that her position as captain of the guard must only matter when it makes her look good—not when it makes her look bad. Spiders were driven off? Captain of the guard. Slam Kíli’s door with a saucy retort? Captain of the guard. Legolas said you fought well? Captain of the guard. Thirteen dwarves and a hobbit escape downriver? Don’t look at me, it was the keeper of the keys’ fault!
This is the problem with a Mary Sue: her character must always err on the side of infallibility, whether or not it makes sense in the framework of the story. We can’t show her holding Dwarves in contempt the way Legolas does, or wanting to be isolationist the way Thranduil does, or getting drunk the way the keeper of the keys does. On the surface, this sounds like a good thing, but in truth, needing a character always to be likeable and right is incredibly restrictive. It doesn’t allow the character the proper breathing room to try, fail, struggle, and develop.
[Kíli groans in pain and strains to pull the lever, but falls over onto his back. Bolg strings another arrow. Thorin looks shocked.]
[Thorin:] “Kíli.”
[An orc leaps over to kill Kíli, but an arrow suddenly flies into its head. Kíli looks over and sees Tauriel running through the bushes. She shoots another orc, then kills others with her knife.]
[Bolg:] “Gor’-ash! Gor golginul! ” [Subtitle: Kill her! Kill the She-Elf!]
[Several orcs rush at Tauriel; Legolas and other elves appear from the bushes and shoot them down. As Tauriel, Legolas, and the other elves fight the orcs, Kíli manages to grab the lever and pull it, opening the sluice get and letting the dwarves in their barrels through. He then falls on his back again in pain. The dwarves in barrels fall down another waterfall and float down the river. Bolg sees them.]
[Bolg:] “Khozdayin obguryash! Abgurid!” [Subtitle: After them!]
[Fíli:] “Kíli!”
[Kíli manages to slide himself off the ledge and into his empty barrel below. As he lands in it, the shaft of the arrow in his leg breaks off on the edge of the barrel. Tauriel distractedly looks over at him and is attacked by an orc, but manages to kill the orc. The remaining dwarves and Bilbo plunge over the waterfall and continue floating down the rushing river, as Bolg and his orcs follow the river on land.]
[The dwarves try to paddle and steer with their hands, but to no avail; the river is running too wild. As they come to a narrow part of the river, orcs on either side begin shooting arrows at them. Meanwhile, back at the guardpost, Tauriel continues fighting orcs. Legolas leaps to the top of the guardpost as well.]
[In the river, an orc leaps at Thorin in his barrel, but he manages to kill it with a sword he grabbed earlier. Tauriel, Legolas, and the other elves run after the orcs chasing the dwarves, shooting them. An orc jumps from an overhanging tree branch toward Balin, but Thorin throws his sword and pins the orc to the tree; as the orc drops its weapon, Thorin catches it while floating beneath him, and he throws back to Bombur, who throws it to Nori, who throws it to Fíli, who kills an orc with it. An orc leaps onto Dwalin barrel, only for Dwalin to headbutt it off and steal its axe. The dwarves see a low-hanging tree branch stretched across the river in front of them, with several orcs on it.]
[Thorin:] “Cut the log!”
[As he floats under it, Thorin hits it with his sword, then Bofur hits it with his weapon, and Dwalin, right behind him, hits the branch with his axe, breaking it and causing the orcs on it to fall into the river. Bilbo manages to climb atop a floating barrel.]
[Dwalin:] “Bombur!”
[Dwalin throws his axe to Bombur, who kills an orc that had just jumped onto his barrel. The Orc’s spear ends up pinning it to an overhanging tree branch; the other end of the spear catches onto Bombur’s barrel and catapults it through the air and onto the riverbank, where the barrel rolls and tramples multitudes of orcs. The barrel flips through the air to the other side of the river, where it tramples more orcs. Eventually, the barrel comes to a stop, and orcs surround it; however, Bombur kicks out the bottom, then sticks his arms holding axes through the sides. He then starts spinning rapidly with the axes extended, mowing down all the orcs around him. He then runs toward the river, tosses his axe to one of the floating dwarves, then gracefully jumps into an empty barrel.]
[Meanwhile, Legolas, Tauriel, and the other elves have caught up to the dwarves and orcs, and they fight the orcs. At one point, Legolas leaps over the river and lands with a foot on the heads of two dwarves, from this vantage point, he shoots orcs on either riverbank. He aims carefully, and manages to skewer two orcs through the head with one arrow. Legolas continues fighting orcs, using the heads of floating dwarves as stepping stones to get across the river. While he is preoccupied fighting an orc, another orc runs up behind him and raises its sword to kill him; Thorin, from his barrel in the river, throws his sword and manages to kill the orc behind Legolas. Legolas and Thorin look at each other with some sort of understanding; Legolas stops pursuing them as the dwarves continue floating down the river. It seems like all the orcs are dead. However, as Legolas watches the dwarves float away, an orc draws its bow and aims at him; it shoots, but its arrow is suddenly deflected in the air by Tauriel’s own arrow. As Legolas spins around in surprise, Tauriel attacks the orc and forces it to its knees. Just before she can decapitate it with her knife, Legolas stops her.]
[Legolas:] “Tauriel! Dartho! Ú-no hono. Ho hebo cuin.” [Subtitle: Tauriel! Wait! This one we keep alive.]
[Bolg and his remaining orcs continue chasing the dwarves.]
[Bolg:] “Ban khozdai-go! Sha-mogi obguryash!” [Subtitle: After them! Cut them off!]
[Legolas stares after the dwarves for a second, then turns and heads back toward the Woodland Realm. Tauriel watches the dwarves floating away, being chased by orcs, and looks conflicted as to whether or not she should follow them or Legolas.]
In this scene, Tauriel saves not one, but two characters: Legolas and Kíli. This showcases her incredible fighting skills yet again, but in terms of meaning, it falls extremely flat, simply due to whom she is saving. The people she saves are her love interests, people she has a narrative interest in rescuing. Thus her heroics become about her relationship to them, rather than creating a significant connection to the larger story unfolding.
By contrast, there is a much more meaningful save between Legolas and Thorin, despite the fact that they’ve had next to no screentime together. Here is the Elf who said to Thorin’s face that it would be a pleasure to kill him—the stance of an Elf against a Dwarf he sees as a trespasser and a thief. Yet when the moment comes, Thorin throws his sword and saves Legolas’ life. Then they share a look—not of true love, nor of friendship—but, as the script says, of understanding. Thorin has no vested interest in saving Legolas; there is certainly no love lost between them; yet he does so anyway. And Legolas, in turn, relents and calls off the chase.
That, in short, is how character development is done. It doesn’t need fanfare; it doesn’t need romance; it doesn’t need more than a few seconds of screentime. Yet it is powerful because it shows that Elves and Dwarves are both capable of honor, not just toward those they love, but even toward those they dislike. And once again, this is sapped of meaning by how the scene ends: with Tauriel being conflicted about following the dwarves, a.k.a. Kíli, or following Legolas. Just as we’ve made a real breakthrough between the prince of one realm and the king of another…we bring it back to the love triangle. Again.
(As a last note, remember how before the long, drawn-out fight scene started, the focus was on Bilbo, where it belonged? My opinion is that it should have stayed there. Jackson had a similar decision to make at the end of Fellowship, where originally there was going to be a fight scene around Frodo and Sam as they escaped to the boats. But the filmmakers realized that it would eat up time and draw attention away from what was important: Frodo and Sam’s undying friendship. Here, they were faced with the same decision, only they went the other direction—to the detriment of the film, I think. This is Bilbo’s escape plan; Bilbo’s moment of triumph after weeks of effort; and frankly, no one had any business being in a fight scene that would distract the audience from the clever escape Bilbo managed to pull off.)
[In the woodland realm, Legolas and Tauriel have brought their captured orc to Thranduil’s throneroom. As Legolas stands with his knife pressed to the orc’s neck, Thranduil paces around it.]
[Thranduil:] “Such is the nature of evil. Out there in the vast ignorance of the world it festers and spreads, a shadow that grows in the dark. A sleepless malice as black as the oncoming wall of night. So it ever was; so will it always be. In time, all foul things come forth.”
[Legolas:] “You were tracking a company of thirteen dwarves. Why?”
[Orc:] “Not thirteen; not any more. The young one, the black-haired archer, we stuck him with a Morgul shaft.”
[The orc speaks this while facing Tauriel; she looks worried.]
[Orc:] “The poison’s is in his blood. He’ll be choking on it soon.”
[Tauriel:] “Answer the question, filth.”
[Orc:] “Sha hakhtiz khunai-go, Golgi!” [Subtitle: I do not answer to dogs, She-Elf!]
[Legolas pushes the orc a bit as Tauriel whips out her knife.]
[Legolas:] “I would not antagonize her.”
[Tauriel:] “You like killing things, orc? You like death? Then let me give it to you!”
[Tauriel rushes forward with her knife, but Thranduil speaks.]
[Thranduil:] “Farn! Tauriel, ego! Gwao hi.” [Subtitle: Enough! Tauriel, leave! Go now.]
[The orc snarls at her, but Tauriel manages to regain her composure and leaves.]
[Thranduil:] “I do not care about one dead dwarf. Answer the question. You have nothing to fear. Tell us what you know and I will set you free.”
[Legolas:] “You had orders to kill them - Why? What is Thorin Oakenshield to you?”
[Orc:] “The dwarf runt will never be king.”
[Legolas:] “King? There is no king under the mountain nor will there ever be. None would dare enter Erebor, whilst the dragon lives.”
[Orc:] “You know nothing! Your world will burn!”
[Legolas:] “What are you talking about? Speak!”
[Orc:] “Our time has come again. My master serves the One. Do you understand now, Elfling? Death is upon you. The flames of war are upon you-”
[Thranduil, whose eyes have widened upon hearing about “the One,” suddenly whips out his sword and beheads the orc, leaving the orc’s head in Legolas’s hand.]
[Legolas:] “Why did you do that? You promised to set him free.”
[Thranduil:] “And I did. I freed his wretched head from his miserable shoulders.”
[The orc’s body, although separated from its head, shakes violently. Thranduil stomps on its leg to stop the shaking.]
[Legolas:] “There was more the orc could tell us.”
[Thranduil:] “There was nothing more he could tell me.”
[Thranduil turns and walks away, sheathing his sword.]
[Legolas:] “What did he mean by the ‘flames of war’?”
[Thranduil:] “It means they intend to unleash a weapon so great it will destroy all before it.”
[Thranduil addresses the elven guards.]
[Thranduil:] “I want the watch doubled at all our borders. All roads, all rivers. Nothing moves but I hear of it. No one enters this kingdom, and no one leaves it.”
What an interesting shape this scene takes! It begins with Thranduil developing some character by showing his firm belief that he understands the cycle of evil. Then it proceeds to the meat of the dialogue: the orc’s interrogation. And then…the scene completely loses its shape in service to Tauriel.
The orc looks straight at the latter, goading her about the Dwarf who was hurt by the Morgul shaft. There is absolutely no reason this orc would think Thranduil would care, and less than no reason why the orc would have known about Tauriel’s feelings for Kíli; thus, this interpolation into the questioning scene makes no sense and knocks it completely off-kilter. If the orc has to talk to her about something that would make her follow the Dwarves, why didn’t he say that the fires that are spreading will eclipse even the starlight? It makes more sense than him knowing about Kíli’s hold on Tauriel, and it lets us know just what she and everyone have to lose. Starlight is something so basic and often taken for granted, yet imagine what a world without it would look like! Tauriel’s presence and her previously established character would have contributed something back to the image we have of a free Middle-earth. Alas, we have no such luck; Tauriel merely loses her temper and is summarily dismissed, which may serve to show us how deeply she feels for Kíli, but also makes her look like a bit of a loose cannon.
As soon as Tauriel leaves, it’s back to business. The interrogation continues; we get a sense of Thranduil’s ruthlessness and underhandedness, and how Legolas is different from him; the Elves now know that this orc raid is part of a bigger plan. All the information actually relevant to the plot comes after Tauriel has her emotional moment and leaves. You can almost feel the world stretching to make room for her, then snapping back to its original form once she’s gone.
The end of this scene is frankly amusing. Thranduil wants the watch doubled at all borders, eh? Shouldn’t he be talking to, oh, say, the captain of the guard about that? If only he hadn’t had to dismiss her because, in a fit of pique, she endangered their interrogation by nearly killing the orc before he had a chance to let on who he was working for!
[Legolas approaches the elves guarding the entrance to the Woodland Realm.]
[Legolas:] “Holo in ennyn! Tiro i defnin hain na ganed en-Aran.” [Subtitle: Close the gate! Keep it sealed by order of the King.]
[Legolas turns to walk away, but one of the guards calls out.]
[Elf Guard:] “Man os Tauriel?” [Subtitle: What about Tauriel?]
[Legolas stops short.]
[Legolas:] “Man os sen?” [Subtitle: What about her?]
[Elf Guard:] “Edevín eb enedhor na gû a megil. En ú-nandollen.” [Subtitle: She went into the forest armed with her bow and blade. She has not returned.]
[As Legolas walks toward the gate, the guard points out toward the forest in the direction Tauriel went. Legolas looks anxious.]
Captain Tauriel, you have one job as a guard: stay. at. your. post. To leave your post suddenly, for any reason, without even informing the people you work with where you’re going, why, and how long you’ll be gone, is a serious breach of duty. To do so when you are not only a guard, but the captain, and have not even left proper instruction, creating a gaping hole in the command structure when your people have just suffered an orc raid, and doing all of this in express defiance of your sovereign ruler, is gross negligence verging on treason.
I know that at this point, some people will bring up Éowyn, and how she left her position as Rohan’s de facto leader to fight in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Here is why that comparison is completely inapplicable:
1. Nowhere does it state that Éowyn left Rohan without instruction for leadership, or with her people not having any idea of what was going on. Frankly, if that had been the case, the Riders of Rohan would have come home to chaos, which clearly they did not. Yet that poor Elf Legolas talked to has no idea what happened or why his commanding officer just bolted for no reason.
2. There wasn’t anything Éowyn could have done to defend her people if she’d stayed home. If the orcs had not been stopped…if the Witch-King had flown across the plains and conquered Gondor…there would have been no hope at all. Whereas if Tauriel had not gone to battle…well, things would have stayed pretty much the same as they did. Pelennor was one of the great battles of the Age where they needed every warrior they could spare; this is a patrol of thirty orcs that the Company could probably have handled anyway.
3. Tauriel is part of the command structure of the guard and has been for a long time; as the book makes clear, Éowyn wasn’t even in the running to be a replacement ruler until Háma suggested it, and Théoden’s dialogue implies that this is a surprising recommendation that no one would have thought to consider before. The Elves are counting on Tauriel in a way that no one had thought to count on Éowyn (which, of course, was part of the problem that led to the latter’s departure in the first place).
4. Éowyn has been not once, but repeatedly been shunted aside and told to stay home while her brother, uncle, Aragorn, and all the warriors are off doing great deeds and making themselves useful. There is no indication that Tauriel undergoes the kind of rejection of her valor and abilities that would goad her into riding out against orders. Legolas even says that his father favored and protected her.
5. Tauriel’s first duty is to the King. So is Éowyn’s. Éowyn, though in defiance of orders, fulfills that duty by saving her lord from being ravaged by a fell beast; Tauriel, on the other hand, neglects that duty and then draws the king’s son into danger with her for the sake of destroying a single band of orcs. (She said it herself: she knew Legolas would follow her.)
The greatest contrast, though, is in how the story treats these respective decisions. Éowyn’s decision, though noble, is clearly motivated by anger and despair, thus coloring her decision with an element of humanity that makes her more three dimensional. With Tauriel, we are meant to see this as a cut-and-dried good decision, even though her actions are thoughtless, rash, and irresponsible. Tauriel’s actions could have been considered a character flaw—indeed, they should have been—but because they are not treated that way, the morality of the world simply warps around her decision...because it always has to be the right one.
[Tauriel, in pursuit of the orcs, comes to a rocky promontory at the end of the river and at at the banks of the lake. Far across the lake, Laketown is visible. On the rocks are pieces of a deer that the orcs had previously shot and ripped apart. Hearing something, Tauriel turns her head slightly and reaches for something at her side. She whips around and comes to a crouch with an arrow nocked to her bow. Several yards behind her is Legolas, also with his bow drawn.]
[Tauriel:] “Ingannen le Orch.” [Subtitle: I thought you were an Orc.]
[Legolas:] “Cí Orch im, dangen le.” [Subtitle: If I were an Orc, you would be dead.]
[They both lower their bows.]
[Legolas:] “Tauriel, you cannot hunt thirty orcs on your own.”
[Tauriel:] “But I’m not on my own.”
[Legolas smiles.]
[Legolas:] “You knew I would come.”
[Tauriel smiles.]
[Legolas:] “The king is angry, Tauriel. For 600 years, my father has protected you, favored you. You defied his orders; you betrayed his trust.”
[Legolas:] “Dandolo na nin...e gohenatha.” [Subtitle: Come back with me...he will forgive you.]
[Tauriel:] “Ú-’ohenathon. Cí dadwenithon, ú-’ohenathon im.” [Subtitle: But I will not. If I go back, I will not forgive myself.]
[Tauriel:] “The king has never let orc-filth roam our lands, yet he would let this orc-pack cross our borders and kill our prisoners.”
[Legolas:] “It is not our fight.”
[Tauriel:] “It is our fight. It will not end here. With every victory, this evil will grow. If your father has his way, we will do nothing. We will hide within our walls, live our lives away from the light, and let darkness descend. Are we not part of this world?”
[Tauriel:] “Tell me, mellon [Elvish for “friend”], when did we let evil become stronger than us?”
[Legolas looks conflicted.]
The only development Legolas gets in this scene is that he is attached to Tauriel; everything else is built around making Tauriel seem brave and wise. Yet paradoxically, it is here that Tauriel’s authority as captain of the guard becomes an utter disservice to the story. It is simply incompatible with the characterization of Tauriel and Thranduil, and makes both of them look incompetent.
Think, for a moment, of the kind of Elf a king like Thranduil would give such authority to. We know that Thranduil values the lives of his people far more highly than anyone else’s…so he appoints a captain of the guard who values the lives of other races at least as much as her own. We know that Thranduil does not appreciate having his authority questioned…so he appoints a captain who questions, and later, undermines his authority. We know that Thranduil views his age as a mark of superiority over “lesser” beings like Men and Dwarves…so he appoints a captain who is the youngest Elf we ever see on screen. We know that Thranduil is concerned for Legolas’ wellbeing…so he appoints a captain who goes into life-threatening danger alone, knowing Legolas will follow! Even if you personally think Tauriel makes a great captain of the guard, it is difficult to believe that Thranduil, of all people, would be of the same opinion.
As for Tauriel herself…this penchant for walking among the stars, falling in love with prisoners, and running off without telling her king is simply not a good fit for the position she not only occupies, but must have fought very hard to gain in the first place due to her status as a “lowly Silvan Elf.” If you want to have a character occupy a position of authority, that position must say something about who the character is and what her goals are in life. The Hobbit does no such thing for its Mary Sue. Tauriel’s youth and impulsivity, her concern for other lands and willingness to leave her city, all make her seem like a better fit for a scouting position or traveling with the Rangers of the North. Besides, running off without a by-your-leave when your city has just been attacked is about as far removed from the mentality of a guard as you can get.
But enough of this characterization nonsense; let’s get back to that love triangle!
This cannot be the first time that “foul things” have crossed Mirkwood’s borders and threatened Thranduil’s people; in Tauriel and Thranduil’s conversation during the scene she stole from Bilbo, she makes it clear that this is an ongoing problem. The implication is that this is just the first time she’s actually doing something about it; why?
“The king has never let orc-filth roam our lands, yet he would let this orc-pack cross our borders and kill our prisoners.”
Ah, I see: what Tauriel is really objecting to is that the orc pack is killing their prisoners. Very clever, Tauriel, to make that word plural, but we all know there is only one prisoner in danger of dying: Kíli. We also saw Tauriel’s reaction to the orc saying that Kíli had been hit: she was so deeply affected that she nearly ruined an interrogation over it. The logical conclusion is that, not the safety of her people, but the safety of Kíli, is what this mission is really about—this mission, which is forbidden by the king, endangers the prince, and will lead to Tauriel being banished in the third movie.
Tauriel is literally willing to destroy her career for a man. I’m open to other explanations, but this is the one the movie implies.
But wait! There is another excuse given for this behavior. Tauriel is not running off just because of Kíli; she’s doing this in service to the greater good, the bigger picture:
[Legolas:] “It is not our fight.”
[Tauriel:] “It is our fight. It will not end here. With every victory, this evil will grow. If your father has his way, we will do nothing. We will hide within our walls, live our lives away from the light, and let darkness descend. Are we not part of this world?”
Perfect. This is just what was needed from her character all along!
And yet, I have the strangest feeling that I’ve heard this somewhere before…
[Treebeard:] This is not our war.
[Merry:] But you’re part of this world! Aren’t you?
I have heard it before; we all have, almost word for word. You see, it isn’t enough that Tauriel takes away story elements from Legolas and Arwen, and draws attention away from Bilbo…she’s now set her sights on Meriadoc Brandybuck. This wisdom was stolen from a character with genuine depth and development and given to Tauriel, cheapening it in the process because Tauriel didn’t do anything to get it.
Merry grew up in the cloistered Shire, where everyone was supposed to be suspicious of outsiders, not travel too far, and keep out of trouble. In the Shire, it was common wisdom that if you didn’t bother anyone, no one would bother you back. But by the time he says this line, Merry has seen the Black Riders rip through Bree and hunt him. He has been captured and nearly killed by those who have no grievance against him. Through hardship and pain, he has gained the understanding to see what’s at stake, to understand the magnitude of the threat they are facing, and he’s learned the hard way that even Shirefolk must sometimes mobilize to protect their own peace and that of others.
What is Tauriel’s backstory for this wisdom? Why does she have the foresight to know how deadly the spread of this evil is, when movie!Elrond does not, and movie!Thranduil does not? Both of them are far older and more experienced, and have been through world-shattering battles before. Moreover, her position as a guard practically mandates that she not stray too far from Mirkwood’s borders, that she not visit other lands and see how evil affects them, too. Through what experience, what struggle or sacrifice, did she learn all of this?
The script has no idea. Neither does the audience. And without a clear explanation or learning curve for Tauriel’s insight, not to mention a lack of lines and ideas that are her own, there is nothing genuine or believable about the enlightenment that the script decides to give her.
[In the house, the girls scream as an Orc flips over the table they were hiding under. Another Orc leaps to the balcony in front of the house, but suddenly, Tauriel appears and stabs it in the throat with her knife. She pulls out her other knife as well, and begins killing the Orcs in the house. Legolas jumps in through one of the holes in the roof. He too begins killing Orcs. An Orc approaches Kíli and grabs him by the wounded leg. As Kíli screams in pain, Tauriel throws her knife and it plunges into the Orc’s throat. Legolas and Tauriel slay Orcs left and right. As an Orc runs at them, Fíli grabs Bain and forces him down.]
[Fíli:] “Get down!”
[Tauriel kills the Orc, then turns to kill another one. Kíli stabs the Orc as well with the knife Tauriel had thrown earlier, and they together kill the Orc. But then, Kíli falls over onto the floor, howling in pain, and Tauriel looks at him in worry.]
[An Orc, Bolg’s lieutenant, flees from the house and jumps over the balcony, landing in a boat in the water below. He yells to Bolg, who is striding toward the house.]
[Orc:] “Ekinskeld. Obguranid!” [Subtitle: Oakenshield has gone!]
[Bolg:] “Gur! Arangim!” [Subtitle: Fall back! Regroup at the bridge!]
[The remaining Orcs join him.]
[In the house, Legolas stabs an Orc and trips it, and it falls backward over the balcony railing and lands in the boat below. The boat acts like a seesaw and sends Bolg’s lieutenant orc, who had jumped into the boat earlier, flying up into the air, where Legolas slices off its head with his knives. As the orc’s body falls into the water below, its head still looks at Legolas. Legolas releases the head and it falls. Legolas looks and sees the remaining Orcs running through Laketown after Bolg.]
[Bofur dazedly gets up and sees the Kingsfoil lying in front of him.]
[In the house, Bain speaks to Tauriel amazedly.]
[Bain:] “You killed them all.”
[Legolas:] “There are others. Tauriel, come.”
[Legolas strides toward the door. Tauriel, who had been looking after Kíli, looks up. Kíli is on the ground, and Oin examines him.]
[Oin:] “We’re losing him!”
[Tauriel, looking shocked, looks at Kíli, then at Legolas, who is waiting at the door.]
[Legolas:] “Tauriel.”
[Legolas looks at her for a moment and then walks out the door. Tauriel remains standing. Legolas jumps over the balcony and onto a bridge, then begins running. Tauriel looks away and begins to head out the door to follow Legolas. Just as she reaches the door, Kíli moans in pain, and Tauriel turns to look at him. Legolas catches up to the Orcs and shoots one at point blank; the arrow goes all the way through its head and into the wood planking behind. Tauriel looks after Legolas, then at Kíli again. Hearing a noise, Tauriel grabs her knives, then sees Bofur running up with the Kingsfoil. Her eyes open in shock and she takes the leaves from Bofur’s stunned grasp.]
[Tauriel:] “Athelas.”
[She reverently examines it.]
[Tauriel:] “Athelas…”
[Bofur:] “What are you doing…?”
[Tauriel:] “I’m going to save him.”
Once again, the plot has completely gone off track from where it was in the book; once again, the scene cuts make it clear that the focus is not on Elves and Dwarves working together, but on Tauriel being heroic by saving Kíli; once again, neither Kíli, nor Bofur, nor Oín, nor Legolas gets any character development. Bard’s children don’t even get any development, and this is their house! All of this time could be better spent focusing on Bilbo and the rest of the Company.
[At Bard’s house, Tauriel washes and tears apart the Kingsfoil in a tub of water held by Tilda. Fíli, Oin, and Bofur pick up a moaning Kíli and lay him on the table and try to hold him down.]
[Tauriel:] “Hold him down.”
[She approaches with the bowl of water and examines Kíli’s wound. Seeing how black and festered it is, she looks away in worry. As the others look on, Tauriel closes her eyes and begins chanting in Elvish while she kneads the soaked Kingsfoil in her hand, then presses it to Kíli’s wound.]
[Tauriel:] “Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin, hon leitho o ngurth.” [Rough translation: May the blessing that was given to me be sent from me to him, may he be released from death.]
[Kíli screams and thrashes in pain, and Sigrid jumps in to help hold him down. She calls her sister to come help as well.]
[Sigrid:] “Tilda!”
[Tauriel continues chanting; Fíli looks at her strangely, and Oin listens in amazement through his fairly dented hearing trumpet. Kíli begins calming down. In his hearing, it seems as though Tauriel’s voice has become echoing and all-encompassing. To his vision, she appears to start glowing like a star. He stares at her, glassy-eyed.]
In this scene, we learn that Tauriel is not only a captain of the guard at a prodigiously young age, an amazing fighter, imbued with wisdom beyond her years, and the object of desire for an Elf and a Dwarf…she is also a healer. People might ask: is it a crime for her to have this amazing ability? The answer is no…unless it contributes nothing to her character and takes away from another character’s function in the story.
We have a whopping thirteen Dwarves in the Hobbit, making a Company of five more members than the Fellowship had—and that’s not including Gandalf. Even over three movies, the story has to work hard to differentiate, never mind develop, the majority of them. We can see this remarkably well with Oín: the most characterization he ever gets is that he is the healer of the group. Knowing that, what narrative sense does it make to draw the focus away from Oín’s one chance to stand out from the crowd, and give it to a character who already has plenty of screentime and several other traits to her name?
Furthermore, this ability of Tauriel’s also has the feel of a tacked-on skill to make her look awesome, rather than being an inherent and necessary part of her character. Tell me: what does Tauriel being a healer have to do with who she is or what she has previously been doing? Hasn’t her supposed function so far been to rebel against Thranduil and goad Legolas into taking a greater part in world events? For that matter, what greater intimacy does this give Tauriel and Kíli? Listen to how he talks about her during his healing:
[At Bard’s house, Tauriel binds Kíli’s leg with a clean cloth. Kíli lies on the table with his head in a basket of walnuts. Oin and Fíli are in the kitchen, watching a pot of water boil.]
[Oin:] “I’ve heard tell of the wonders of elvish medicine. That was a privilege to witness.”
[Kíli slightly opens his eyes and looks at Tauriel.]
[Kíli:] “Tauriel.”
[Tauriel:] “Lie still.”
[Kíli:] “You cannot be her.”
[Tauriel looks up in confusion.]
[Kíli:] “She is far away. Sh- She is far, far away from me, and she walks in starlight in another world.”
[Tauriel looks at Kíli.]
[Kíli:] “It was just a dream.”
[Kíli slowly raises his hand and entwines his fingers with Tauriel’s.]
[Kíli:] “Do you think she could have loved me?”
[Tauriel is silent for a few moments, then opens her mouth to speak, but the scene cuts before she says anything.]
“Far away,” Kíli says of her. “In another world.” He looks at Tauriel as if she is an angel—a complete contrast to their conversation in the prison, when they open up to each other, trade witty retorts, and learn to see each other as more than the sum of their races. Kíli’s healing, which makes Tauriel into an ethereal, untouchable being, actually goes against the more intimate and realistic tone that the romance has previously established. The only justification for the glowing Tauriel is so that she can try to recapture some of the magic of movie!Arwen and become even more amazing in the eyes of the audience.
But if all that isn’t bad enough, it gets worse: the healing of Kíli is intercut with Bilbo’s mesmerizing, terrifying conversation with Smaug and Thorin’s confrontation with the same. These are the climactic moments of the second movie, since the dragon’s attack on Laketown is reserved for the third. Energy is thus taken away from the final fight of the film in order to feed this schmaltzy and inconsistent romance that does nothing for the characterization of one-half of its participants. (Or two-thirds, if you count Legolas.)
[In Laketown, people see the fire and light coming from the previously closed gates of Erebor, and they shout and cower in fear. Bard grabs the bars of his cell in shock. In Bard’s house, the dwarves, children, and Tauriel look about in fear.]
Why is Tauriel’s reaction included here? Legolas’ isn’t (nor should it have been). I am sure she is concerned for the Men of Laketown…but not nearly as much as the Men of Laketown themselves are! The emotional weight of the dragon’s attack rests with the people about to lose their homes, their belongings, perhaps their lives—not with a stranger who has no significant ties to the town about to be burned. The children’s faces are the last ones we should see in this shot, not hers, but the camera just can’t resist that special Mary Sue pull.
As a character, Tauriel is not irredeemable, and with some tweaking, she could be a likeable addition to the franchise. The problem is that the overall story without her is tighter woven, flows smoother, centers more on its protagonist, and is free of a rather large and malignant Romantic Plot Tumor. That is the curse of the Mary Sue: no matter how well written she is (or isn’t), creating one amounts to cutting off your narrative nose to spite your face—or rather, cutting off your face to try and make your nose look good.
So it ends, at least for now. But Tauriel will be back in Battle of the Five Armies. Nor will she be alone: Legolas will follow Tauriel right down the Path of Sueness, with Alfrid the anti-Stu nipping at their heels. There will be plenty to be said on both fronts, but for now: Happy anniversary, LOTR and Hobbit fans!