Elven army (BOFA)

After Lake-town was destroyed by Smaug and it's people moved to Dale, an armored Thranduil arrived in Dale upon a magnificent large elk, and gave supplies to the townsfolk who had lost everything to the dragon's fire. Despite Bard's thanks, he told him that his true purpose for coming was to reclaim a jewel necklace in Thorin's possession - the White Gems of Lasgalen, which was revealed much later to be a remembrance of his late wife, who had died in the hands of the Witch-king. Bard was aghast at the prospect of fighting for jewels, but Thranduil doubted that a Dwarf could be reasoned with. Nevertheless, he agreed to give Bard a chance to convince Thorin to give in. Bard failed, and Thranduil ordered his army to march.

Elsewhere, Legolas revealed to Tauriel that his mother (Thranduil's wife) had been taken prisoner to Gundabad, where she died, and Thranduil never spoke of her, as if she had never existed to begin with. When Gandalf arrived, he urged Thranduil and Bard to call off the attack on the Lonely Mountain, and informed him about Sauron's elaborate plans of taking the Mountain, which would enable him to eventually destroy all of Middle-earth. However, Thranduil refused to believe him, and accused him of reigniting the enmity between Elves and Dwarves by urging Thorin and his Company to embark upon their quest and trying to save the Dwarves. Even after Bilbo gave them the Arkenstone so that Thranduil could exchange this for his gems with Thorin in an attempt to stop the fighting from materializing, a war nearly broke out, but Azog's arrival and Dain's departure to deal with the army of Orcs called it off. Initially, Thranduil was intensely reluctant to participate in the fight, but after Gandalf forced him to realize that it was madness to not fight the Orcs, he relented - sending his swordsmen into the fray, instructing his archers to rain down death, and he himself wielded his broadsword skillfully against the forces of evil.

However, Azog realised that the armies could not fight on two fronts, and sent the rest of his army to Dale to cut them off. This forced Thranduil to retreat to the city with Bard, Gandalf, Bilbo, and a large portion of his army, leaving the Dwarves to fend for themselves. Upon his entry into the city, he was dismounted and surrounded, but easily killed his assailants and continually participated in the battle, but ended up being aghast at how much Elven blood was spilled in defense of a Dwarven land, and rather than warning Thorin or helping Dain, he attempted to take advantage of the respite to pull out. It was then that he encountered Tauriel, who declared that he would not depart, for the Dwarves would die if he left, but his response was that it did not matter as the Dwarves were mortal. At this, Tauriel drew her bow and accused him of being a loveless person who viewed his life as more important than those of others. Thranduil retaliated by slicing her bow, telling her that what she felt for Kili was not real, and asked if she was ready to die for love.

This reduces Tauriel to tears, but before Thranduil had time to strike at her, Legolas intervened by striking down Thranduil's sword, and told him flatly that he would have to kill his son if he wished to slay her. Legolas and Tauriel then departed for Ravenhill, leaving Thranduil in shock. In a deleted scene, it was at this moment that Gandalf reminded him that his wife not only left him with gems, but also a flesh-and-blood son (Legolas), and asked him which did he think she would prefer him to value more, causing Thranduil to turn to Gandalf in a state of greater shock and grief.

It was unknown if Thranduil had a change of heart, and stayed to aid the Dwarves. However, after the battle ended and that he regrets his mistakes, he went to Ravenhill alone to find Legolas and Tauriel. He ran into Legolas, who confessed that he could not go back with him. Thranduil advised him to find the Dunedain, for there was a young ranger there whom he should meet - his father, Arathorn, was a good man, and he might become a great man himself. He went on to explain to Legolas that the ranger's name in the wild was *"Strider"*, but his true name (Aragorn) was something he had to learn for himself, and he also confided in Legolas that his mother loved him more than anything else in this world. At this, father and son exchanged a mutual gesture of farewell and affection, and Thranduil accepted Legolas' decision to be on his own.

As Legolas left to go to the North, Thranduil found Tauriel weeping over Kili's corpse, and upon seeing him, she asked him why love could hurt so much. Touched by the sight, along with the memory of his wife's death at Angmar's hands, he replies *"Because it was real"*, and agreed with her plan to bury Kili. Though he was not seen afterwards, it was safe to assume that after the funerals and burials, he departed for Mirkwood.