Desolation of Smaug Photos and Plot Spoilers

So after a long drought of Desolation of Smaug info, the internet seems like its been raining and pouring Hobbit-related pictures, mostly from the Hobbit Annual. Additionally, the Annual has provided some (limited) insight into the plot of the Desolation of Smaug. If you're into spoilers, click here. If you just wanna see the pics, jump past the break!

What can I say about Tauriel? She looks awesome . . . but then, who was not expecting that? The thing I can't decide is whether or not she will fit into the narrative of the film. And then there are those persistent rumors floating around that there will be some kind of romance between her and Kili (and the first image in this post, which of all the dwarves only highlights Thorin and Kili may re-enforce those rumors). I hope (nay, pray) that they're just rumors, 'cuz a needless little side-romance would be distracting at best, awful at worst.

More dwarves in barrels. I can't decide how exactly this whole scene will play out. If the dwarves aren't completely hidden inside the barrels, I assume that the elves don't throw them into the river thinking they're just empty barrels. So if the elves don't release the dwarves by accident, does Bilbo do the whole thing by himself?

Since we've seen shots in the trailer of the elves shooting at the dwarves as they bob down the stream, I'm betting the scene plays out something like this: Bilbo sees the routine with the empty barrels being dumped into the river, and hatches his plan. He waits until the jailor is drunk, then takes the keys and releases the dwarves. As he's loading them into the barrels, they're discovered (possibly by Tauriel? or maybe Legolas?) and he has to dump the dwarves into the river in a rush and then dive in after them. After that, its a running battle down the river. And it looks like Azog and his ilk will get into the act as well.

See, its not actually that hard to tell boy and girl elves apart. Girl elves have LONGER hair.

I have to admit, the more winter scenes I see from the upcoming movie, the cooler Bard's coat is seeming.

These are the first images of Bard that actually look really, really cool to me. I'm looking forward to seeing how the character interpretation actually pans out.

Beorn! Bear! Huge!

Okay, I've been meaning to get this image up for the past week (or maybe two), and this seemed like a good place to do it. Legolas and Tauriel, chatting.

And lastly, a nice collage of Bilbo and Thorin. I hadn't considered it before, but the scene where Thorin sends Bilbo into the Lonely Mountain alone will be very interesting. Jackson and Armitage have portrayed Thorin in a much kindlier light than he's given in the book, playing up Thorin's nobleness and honor while omitting much of the character's greed and avarice. So if Thorin is so kingly, noble and honorable, what possible reason could he have for sending Bilbo in alone? Will he be so overcome by fear (maybe some kind of PTSD?) that Bilbo volunteers to go? Will he simply demand that Bilbo live up to his end of the contract, masking his own fear? Or will he play the angle Gandalf suggested at the beginning of TH:AUJ and insist that Bilbo is the only one of the company whose scent Smaug will not recognize? Can't wait to find out . . .