When a long-running film series reaches its climactic end, it’s a joyous yet bittersweet occasion for fans.

Fans look forward to obtaining a sense of closure, following a character’s journey to his or her ultimate end. When it comes to the final Hobbit film though, fans know the end is really just the beginning.

As a prequel to the legendary Lord of the Rings franchise directed by Peter Jackson, the Hobbit series follows the protagonist at the center of J.R.R. Tolkien’s hobbit universe, Bilbo Baggins of Bag End.

The first Hobbit film opens with the beginning of Bilbo’s life-changing adventure as he’s approached by famed wizard Gandalf the Grey with intentions of arranging a meeting to construct a master plan between him, Thorin Oakenshield and company of dwarves.

The powerful dragon Smaug has invaded the mountain Erebor and taken control of the surrounding “Kingdom Under the Mountain.” Up until this point, all those who approach to take the kingdom back fall to the dragon. The grandson of the last king, Thorin, plans his own assault to take his home back with his group of 13 dwarfs. However, the wizard Gandalf says that one more expert is needed: a burglar to steal treasure from Smaug’s hoard. And Gandalf recommends Bilbo as the right dwarf for the job thus beginning the saga of the Hobbit.

The plan to kill Smaug and retrieve the jeweled arkenstone unfolds over a dinner party at Bilbo’s home and starts the perilous journey that could result in the death of everyone. Along the way, Bilbo becomes known to the rest of middle-earth as he’s forced to interact with trolls and giant spiders.

As his journey reaches its supposed end, he obtains the One Ring, which sparked the entire first trilogy. Thorin and the dwarves have taken helm of Erebor, but at a high cost: The dragon has fled and is heading toward the nearby area of Lake Town to cause destruction.

This is where “The Battle of the Five Armies” begins. Bilbo and company must keep hold of their newly acquired Erebor as war between the Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Men, and military trained eagles is just beyond the horizon. Also they must deal with the aftermath of the dragon’s rage.

Eager fans and marketers have called this final installment of the Hobbit series as the “Defining Chapter of the middle earth saga” that will test everybody’s ability to overcome the overwhelming amount of pressure and peril.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies lives up to its mayhem potential by making maximum use of modern technology to create an abundant smorgasbord of wildly varied and sometimes mordantly amusing combat; this is an out-and-out war film, with gobs of trimmings.

The films are a spectacle to be seen,each getting more complex and story heavy. Although some argue that the choice to split a single book into the three part, two-hour plus films was a bad choice, it manages to hold as a trilogy.

The final hobbit film releases on December17,thus officially ending the adventures in Middle-Earth, and the groundbreaking Tolkien series that changed the filmmaking community and fantasy genre forever.