The Fall of Mirkwood Changed Thranduil Forever — Here’s What the Lord of the Rings Movies Didn’t Tell You

The dark, dreary, and dangerous forest of Mirkwood and its enigmatic leader, Thranduil the Elvenking (Lee Pace), play a pivotal role in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit book and a significantly larger one in director Peter Jackson’s film trilogy adapting said novel. Although the first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, features Mirkwood the most as a location, all three movies expand upon Thranduil's flawed leadership where his region of Middle-earth is concerned, as well as the White Council's investigation into a mysterious sorcerer known only as the Necromancer (spoiler, but not really: it's Sauron in disguise). Once the final frame of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies fades to black, Mirkwood doesn't reappear in The Lord of the Rings except for one extremely key, but off-screen, incident. Likewise, what fate befalls Thranduil's realm — and the regal Elvenking himself — during the War of the Ring can only be found in Tolkien’s legendarium, not his main tomes.