There are some folks out there incensed that Peter Jackson has added a character to The Hobbit, a sentiment I almost entirely lack sympathy for. In another case, I might understand, but unlike The Lord of the Rings, with its four women (three of whom appear in one scene each), The Hobbit has exactly zero named female characters. Jackson’s inclusion of material from the LotR appendixes have already brought Galadriel into a story in which she otherwise does not appear, and that’s about as far as he’s likely to get with canonical characters, since Liv Tyler hasn’t been hired on.

So those of you who, like me, welcome the addition of Evangeline Lilly’s Tauriel, kickass commander of Mirkwood military forices, will be interested to see what her character looks like, as revealed by some action figures.

Insert obligatory mention of how “Legolas” means “greenleaf” in elvish, so calling him “Legolas Greenleaf” is a bit like calling him “Greenleaf Greenleaf.”

Follow me into the land of possible spoilers. Not, of course, of the story of The Hobbit. The dragon dies. Bilbo finds riches. Goes home and kick his jerk relatives out of his house. You know.

No, follow me into the land of knowing, possibly, where in the story of The Hobbit The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will leave us, before we wait a year for another installment.

And no, it’s not going to be Smauglock. Nor is it going to be Fili/Kili, I just put the brothers up there because one of them will be involved. Fili and Kili are the youngest dwarves of the thirteen who hire Bilbo Baggins of the Shire to be their burglar, so young that in this movie adaptation their beards have barely come in yet. This has lead to some documented joshing amongst the cast that Fili and Kili (Kili in particular) are putting together Middle Earth’s first boy band, and it looks like Kili is going to be something of a hipster, in that he was interested in elves waaaaay before Gimli met Galadriel.

Oh, and if you’re still fuming over the introduction of Evangeline Lilly into the cast as new sorely needed female character Tauriel, you might just want to skip this post entirely. And then get over it.

Evangeline Lilly is something of a Tolkien purist, which is an odd attribute to have when you’re starring as one of the only non-canonical characters in a highly anticipated adaptation of The Hobbit. But frankly, we’re glad she’s here. There. (And back again.) Whatever. We’re glad to have her on board the production, and we can’t wait to see Tauriel in action, especially after hearing Lilly describe her. Beginning with the sentence:

“She is a warrior.”

Contrary to popular belief, this weekend’s box office winner, Real Steel, was not based on the game Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. It was based on a short story, Steel by Richard Matheson, which became an episode of The Twilight Zone featuring Lee Marvin. Matheson also wrote the stories for the classic William Shatner episode, “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet,” and a bunch of other stories you might have heard of: A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, to name a few. So, how different is Real Steel from Steel?

Earlier this year it was announced that Evangeline Lilly would be joining the cast of Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit movies, and that she would be playing an elvish inhabitant of Mirkwood named Tauriel. It was one of the first signs that Jackson’s adaptations would not just be including portions of Tolkien canon that were contemporary with (but not included in) the story of The Hobbit, but would also be introducing entirely new characters to the story. This Tolkien fan is pretty much willing to watch anything Jackson puts together on principle, but I can definitely understand people who feel this sort of thing is a death knell to the movie’s “authenticity.” Okay, understand, because come on the Scouring of the Shire, but not sympathize with because look the books are always going to be there.

And so I understand that those fans might be interested to know that Evangeline Lilly is also a Tolkien purist, one who was reluctantly won over by Jackson’s films.

Evangeline Lilly will be playing a new character—the Woodland Elf, Tauriel. Her name means ‘daughter of Mirkwood’ and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.) – Peter Jackson, on his Facebook page.

Let it never be said that P.J. doesn’t understand his audience. Lilly, a veteran of Lost joins the cast of The Hobbits, making Tauriel the second female character in a cast of about three dozen. So, yeah, we’re willing to put aside the adaptation decay rage in trade.