4. Gandalf’s Departure/The White Council
Originally rumored as just one movie (and then two), The Hobbit finally found its way into three parts. Though this was the cause of a relative outcry amongst fans of the book (“it’s only 300 pages!”), Peter Jackson was able to extend our time in Middle-Earth by incorporating many of author J.R.R. Tolkien’s appendices. One particular moment is sure to be elaborated on in An Unexpected Journey, and that’s Gandalf’s sudden departure from Bilbo at one point in the story. He leaves on an “errand” – and only in the appendices are the events of said errand told.
Gandalf actually left the party to consult The White Council, an elite group of wizards based in Middle-Earth, one of whom is Saruman (before he is corrupted by Sauron in The Fellowship of the Ring). Going by the name of a track on the soundtrack, this scene has been plucked from the appendices and placed into this film. Which means we can look forward to a scene in which a bunch of bearded men feverishly argue with one another. But what are they consulting about, exactly? Well, let’s just say a certain Dark Lord has taken up disguise in Mirkwood as The Necromancer. Will we get to see Gandalf and the wizards go up against him? We really hope so.
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