re: Official Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug Review Thread (spoilers)

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Yet it's still building at that time, almost as if there was a major setback that occurred. I didn't read the books, so maybe that will be tied up in the 3rd.

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The major setback is his defeat by the White Council that drives him out of Dol Guldur. And his current army suffers major defeat at the Battle of Five Armies. He then retreats to Barad-dûr in Mordor where he has to regroup.