Chapter 9

The remaining dwarves are also captured by armed Wood-elves as they try to find their way out of Mirkwood. Bilbo becomes invisible after wearing the ring and manages to avoid capture. Bilbo remains invisible and follows the dwarves, who are taken by the elves to the cave palace of the Elvenking. The dwarves are all kept in separate prison cells but not ill-treated. Bilbo hides in the palace till he finds the dwarves and Thorin.

Bilbo passes messages from Thorin to the other dwarves and devises a plan for their escape. Bilbo discovers a river that flows through the palace. Every day, empty wine casks from the palace are dropped through a trap door into the river, which flows to the Lake-town, also called Esgaroth.

Bilbo steals the key from the prison guard and frees the dwarves. Each dwarf hides in barrels and escapes the palace to reach the Lake-town. Bilbo rides atop these barrels, still invisible, to escape the palace.

In this chapter, we can see Bilbo as the leader. He formulates and successfully executes the plan to free the group from the Elven king. In this episode, he takes the responsibility of helping put the entire group and keeping the journey alive. We can already see the transformation that Bilbo has undergone since the start of the journey.