What Happened to the Dwarves of Erebor After The Hobbit? | Middle-earth Lore Explained

At the end of The Hobbit, Bilbo returns home to Bag End where he resides there for the next 60 years. But within those 60 years, what happened to the remaining dwarves at Erebor, and what was the fate of Thorin's company? Of course, at the end of the Hobbit novel, we know Thorin, Fili, and Kili had been killed on the battlefield in the last chapter, Chapter 19, The Last Stage, but the way that they died in the Battle of the Five Armies was far more dramatic than in the book. Instead of Azog murdering each one, one by one, and having Tauriel cry over Kili, the two died attempting to protect their uncle. And Thorin Oakenshield had died on his deathbed, asking Bilbo to forgive him, and he told him almost the same thing he did in Peter Jackson's film. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. And even though Thorin no longer had Orcrist in his possession, Thranduil had placed it on his tomb and Bard returned the Arkenstone by placing it on Thorin's chest. If they had shown this in the movie, it would have further improved on all three of their character arcs. It would have shown that even though they were at war with each other, in the end they also learned to respect one another. And unless you've seen the extended cuts, you wouldn't even know of Thorin's funeral, or that Dain Ironfoot becomes the new king under the mountain, which I think should have at least been included in the theatrical cut. But what happened specifically to the rest of them? Most of this is mentioned in the Fellowship of the Ring novel, but after the credits of the Battle of the Five Armies rule, Dain continued to reign, they gained riches, and Dale was rebuilt and restored. And in TA 2989, Balin decided to go on an exposition to Moria with a group of other dwarves. There they had hoped to reclaim it and find Thror's Ring. The Ring of Thror, or originally known as the Ring of Durin, was one of the seven rings given to the Dwarf Lords as mentioned in the opening of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. These rings were used to gain wealth and help further increase their riches, and eventually Thror's Ring was given to his son Thrain II. Balin and others did not know this however, and still went searching for it as they thought it was lost in Moria when Azog had killed Thror. Once they reached Moria and the dwarves were able to reclaim it, Balin became the Lord of Moria and they had decided to stay there and explore and retrieve many lost treasures. But this was short lived because five years later on 10th November TA 2994, an army of orcs had emerged and Balin was shot by an orc archer. Some of the dwarves, like Oin, attempted to make their escape through the Dwarves of Durin, but they ended up getting killed by the Watcher in the water. Then the few that survived had closed themselves off in the chamber of Mazarbul, where Balin's body was placed in a tomb. There Ori wrote in the final pages of the Book of Mazarbul, and there they also eventually took the last stand of Balin's colony. In the Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 2, The Council of Elrond, there is a lot of discussion there. Gloin tells them that the dwarves ventured into Moria, where they would send word often to Erebor, which suddenly came to a halt. But before they took their leave, Dain did not approve of them going, but he also knew he couldn't stop them. Gloin also told them that about a year ago, a messenger came to Dain, but not from Moria, from Mordor. A horseman in the night who called Dain to his gate. The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning hobbits, of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. For Sauron knows, said he, that one of these was known to you on a time. Here, he tells them that a messenger of Sauron, presumably a Nazgul, came looking for Bilbo, and so Gloin was sent to warn Bilbo of this and to seek Elrond's counsel as to what this is all about and what it could mean for Erebor and Dale. Shortly after, Gandalf reveals the actual fate of the Ring of Durin. Balin will find no ring in Moria, said Gandalf. Thror gave it to Thrain, his son, but not Thrain to Thorin. It was taken with torment from Thrain in the dungeons of Dargorgul. I came too late. So after finding out what exactly the Dwarves were up to during the War of the Ring, their contributions didn't quite end there. Because both Dain and King Brand, Bard the bowman's grandson, had refused to join Sauron and his forces, Sauron sent the Easterlings to attack Dale at the same time Sam was rescuing Frodo from Cirith Angol. Together, the armies of Erebor and Dale fought against them, but three days later, both kings were killed, and when it seemed that the Easterlings had the upper hand during the Siege of Erebor, they had fled to the east when they had heard the news of the victories in the south. And thus, the princes, Thorin III, also known as Thorin Stonehelm, and Bard II became the new kings, which I think beautifully parallels the kings during the End of the Hobbit. So that is all we know of the Dwarves and their fates, and as for the ones not mentioned in this video, it's not quite clear exactly what happened to them. But if you enjoyed this video, remember to give it a like, comment down below, subscribe and light the beacons to be alerted when a new video drops, and if you still haven't taken advantage of the 25% off code MEL21 on Teespring, you have until tomorrow. But anyway, thanks for watching, and until our next meeting, I bid you farewell and a happy Durin's Day.