Peter Jackson has followed up with the final installment in his rendition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, titled The Battle of the Five Armies. It’s a fitting title, because this time around the story is all about the thrill of war in Middle Earth. And perhaps not much else. A look at The Defining Chapter…
I’m a fantasy racist. There I admit it. It’s not entirely my fault. It’s what I was taught. From an early age, my fantasy godfathers and godmothers (well, mostly fathers actually), raised me to despise Goblins, Orcs, Trollocs and a host of other sub-human beings who tend to congregate in throngs, masses and “teeming hordes.” Let’s face it, when was the last time you met a “horde” that was “teeming” with good intentions? Right. I thought so. Vicious, mindless, perverse, prone to mayhem, pillaging and not above stewing other sentient beings in a cooking pot, I came to learn that there were precious few worthy qualities about any of them. The only good Orc is a dead Orc! Right….?
Phenderson Djèlí Clark 