Bilbo Has a Plan in a New The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Clip

Hot on the heels of this morning’s new stills and our own early review, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has brought online a new clip! In the player below, you can watch as Ian McKellen’s Gandalf exchanges words with Lee Pace’s Thranduil, leading Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins to make a noble decision.

“The Defining Chapter” hits theaters December 17 and offers a massive ensemble cast that also includes Cate Blanchett, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Orlando Bloom, John Bell, Manu Bennett, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Billy Connolly, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Lawrence Makoare, Sylvester McCoy, Graham McTavish, Dean O’Gorman, Mikael Persbrandt and Aidan Turner.

Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, Bilbo and his Company of Dwarves have unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town. Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo’s frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain. As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide – unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.