So I'm snowed in today and I decide to sit back and re-watch Peter Jackson's epic but flawed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (the Extended Cut, featuring even more scenes that weren't in the book). I've seen it several times now of course, but this time I noticed something I hadn't seen before.
The film opens as old Bilbo (played by Ian Holm) is writing about his adventure with the dwarves and the dragon.
He opens an old chest and begins rummaging around it it, reminiscing. If you look closely in the upper left corner of the chest, you'll see what appears to be a little carved wooden hedgehog. It looks almost like a chess piece.
A chess piece? Shaped like a hedgehog? I've seen that somewhere before, but where?
Ah. That's where. It's from the chess set in Beorn's house, in the next movie in the series, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (or Smowg, as in rhymes with "ow," as everyone in the movie insists on pronouncing it).
Jesus R.R. Christ! Bilbo must have taken his "burglar" title literally! He pocketed a souvenir from the house of a tightly wound, eight foot tall psychopath who seems like he could snap at any second, not to mention turn into a goddamned giant bear!
How do I know he stole it and Beorn didn't just give it to him? Because Beorn can barely stand the sight of Thorin and Company and can't wait for them to leave. Why the hell would he start handing out parting gifts? Nope, Bilbo swiped it from him, plain and simple.
I guess he really did find his courage after all!
By the way... why the hell does Beorn have a chess set in the first place? He shuns all human contact and lives in a house with a bunch of animals. So who's he playing with? His cows? The mice that infest his home? Or does he make a move as a human and then turn into a bear, move to the other side of the table and make a counter move?
What else was in that chest? What kind of claw was that, that Frodo was holding when he looked into the chest.
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