Ok but I will NEVER be over the “dwarvish windlance” scene (what a fakeout for how Bard would kill Smaug that turned out to be -_-;;) because it’s the first time we see Thorin in red and Bilbo in blue.

And I know the color swap didn’t turn out to be quite as consequential as we expected based on trailers, but it’s still very interesting that the first time we see Thorin in red is just after he after he’s seen the Lonely Mountain so close. Whenever I look at his dragon sickness, I always debate whether or not he really began to show the first signs of it in Erebor with the gold, or here, looking at the windlance. 

Red, in the context of “The Hobbit” films, is not a positive color. On the surface level it may seem warm, but contextually it represents Smaug, and what does Smaug represent in the context of the story? Greed, sloth, pride, isolation. Bilbo is wearing red at the beginning of the story and he does show Smaug-like qualities. He doesn’t wish to leave his house, he’s extremely protective of his treasures like his mother’s dishes. He is reluctant to share his plentiful food, and though it’s a deviation from his book character, reluctant to have company over. We see him as extremely isolated, not enjoying the presence of Gandalf or other guests, not wanting people over. In effect, he is hoarding the many rooms and riches of Bag End to himself, treasures that he has no use for but will not part with.

Bit by bit, over the course of his journey, he loses the trappings of Bag End, of his hoard, of his comfortable, stagnant, and greedy life. He loses his brass buttons, he loses his red velvet coat, but though he’s becoming dirtier, these are positive changes. It’s the dirt of the road of adventure. He did gain the Ring in the Goblin Tunnels, but he’s not entirely lying to Gandalf when he says he gained his courage there too. By the time he reaches Lake-town he needs to change clothing. Keep in mind, the original Carrock hug scene was supposed to be an apology scene from Thorin after the barrels, where Bilbo came into his own as a hero, so in a version of the Hobbit which is over 2 films instead of 3 (as PJ wanted) Lake-town is where his heroic outfit change was supposed to happen as he goes from a passive to an active Company member, and becomes a hero.

Meanwhile, Thorin has now taken a step closer to his own corruption. Away from Erebor he’s heroic, loyal, a war hero and a family man. But Erebor is where Thorin comes closer to Smaug, his nemesis and foil, and it’s where he becomes more like Smaug. The gold absolutely bewitches him, while Bilbo gets his heroic costume change, we see the first seeds of Thorin getting his fallen costume change, which eventually turns to black and gold inside the mountain, where Bilbo’s takes on the white of the mitrhil shirt in contrast. Red here is the color of violence in addition to being that of greed and Smaug for Thorin. 

It is worth noting that The Hobbit trilogy is one of those very rare mainstream stories where “home” represents corruption rather than safety and positivity. Both Thorin and Bilbo are worse people in their own homes, Thorin when he returns there, Bilbo before he leaves, and after he comes back, he falls under the thrall of the Ring.

But going back to color symbolism, by donning blue in Lake-town, Bilbo is demonstrating a color change that he is becoming more like Thorin was originally, which becomes critical under the dragon sickness as he tries to remind Thorin of himself, by demonstrating back to him the qualities that Bilbo learned from him. 

At least, that’s how I always saw it 🙂