What Happened to Tauriel After ‘The Hobbit’ Trilogy?

Although Peter Jackson put much effort into adapting Tolkien’s stories as faithfully as possible, both ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ trilogies contain a fair amount of changes, subtractions, and additions to their respective narratives when compared to the original material. Most of these elements worked just fine, while a minority was and still is deemed controversial by the fandom. In this article, I am going to talk about one addition present in ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy, and that is the character of Elf-maiden Tauriel, who does not appear in the book but plays a major role in Jackson’s films. So what happened to Tauriel after ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy?

Since Tauriel is a creation of Peter Jackson, she does not appear in‘ The Hobbit‘, as written by J.R.R. Tolkien. Therefore, we cannot state her exact fate, as the movies never specified it. We know that she was exiled from Mirkwood by Thranduil after the Battle of the Five Armies, but what happened afterward remains a mystery. However, actress Evangeline Lilly has stated that Tauriel eventually returned to Mirkwood.

The rest of this article will be all about Tauriel and her fate. You’ll find out who Tauriel was, why she was added to the movies, and what happened to her after the Battle of the Five Armies at the end of the third film. We have prepared a lot of interesting information for you, so keep reading to the end!

Tauriel is not in ‘The Hobbit’ book

As already stated, Tauriel is a completely original character, created solely to appear in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy. Although the original characters weren’t all that surprising, Tauriel had a very large role in the story, especially through her romance with the Dwarf Kíli, one of Thorin’s companions on their joint adventure.

So, this clearly means that Tauriel was not present in ‘The Hobbit’ book, although Tolkien does mention the Woodland Elves in the novel; he never spoke about them specifically, but they do exist, so Jackson didn’t really change anything major; he just took one specific character – which might or might not have existed – and he made use of her in his movie.

Why was Tauriel added to ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy?

The addition of Tauriel was a very controversial one and is still perceived rather ambiguously by the fandom. The fans believe that she was added to appeal to the female audience, as she was a strong female lead. Still, they think that giving an original character such a large role in the story is an insult to Tolkien’s original work and that if she had to appear, that it would have been more appropriate for her to have had a minor role in the trilogy.

Even actress Evangeline Lilly, who portrays Tauriel in the trilogy, wasn’t thrilled when offered the role initially but later thought that the addition was justified:

“I believe she is authentic, because Tolkien refers to The Woodland Elves, he just doesn’t talk about who they are specifically… [Peter and Fran] know that world so well. They’re not going to create a character that is not true to Tolkien’s world.”

– Evangeline Lilly on the character of Tauriel

Tauriel was, ultimately, added for appeal. Whether it was to appeal more to the female portion of the audience or make some of Jackson’s narrative ideas more appealing to the fans is irrelevant, as we know that she was added for reasons of appeal.

Does Tauriel appear in ‘The Lord of the Rings’?

The simple answer would be – no, Tauriel does not appear in ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ Why? She was created long after the original works were written, and although her character appears in the prequels, she does not appear in the main story.

Tolkien never wrote about her, nor does he mention a character akin to her; he does mention the Woodland Elves, and it is safe to assume that there are many female Elves among them, but that’s about it. So, since Tolkien did not create her, she could not have appeared in the books.

Regarding Jackson’s movies, there is a theoretical possibility of Tauriel appearing in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. Still, it becomes null and void once you realize that she was created for the prequel series, and while they are prequels to Jackson’s original trilogy, they were produced a year after.

This means that, although Tauriel could narratively have appeared in the original trilogy because she was created years after those movies made her appearance impossible.

What happened to Tauriel after the Battle of the Five Armies?

Tauriel’s fate after the Battle of the Five Armies remains a mystery. Her conduct and her romance with Kíli were not met with enthusiasm by the other Elves, especially King Thranduil. We know that immediately after the Battle of the Five Armies, Tauriel gets exiled from Mirkwood because of her conduct. Thranduil does that personally.

What happened to her afterward is completely unknown. Since she is a completely original character, unrelated to Tolkien’s stories, we cannot even guess how her story developed. The only thing we know is a fact stated by actress Evangeline Lilly, who confirmed in an interview that Tauriel returned to Mirkwood at one point, so we can assume that her kin forgave her and that she followed their fate.

Tauriel did not die of a broken heart

There are, though, some things we know about Tauriel, but those are mostly things we know she did not do or did not happen to her. At one point, Tauriel says: “If this is love, then I do not want it. Why does it hurt so much?” This refers to Kíli and the emotions she had for him, which were forbidden because she was an Elf-maiden and Kíli was a Dwarf.

Still, she did follow her emotions, and the tragic end of their romance – Kíli, namely, dies during the Battle of the Five Armies – makes people wonder whether Tauriel died of a broken heart at some point in her life.

Although we do not know much about her life after the movies, we can safely state that she did not die of a broken heart, as there is absolutely nothing to suggest that she did. It is a fair assumption based on our knowledge, but it is completely false.

What do you think about Tauriel’s character? Let me know in the comments below!