User blog comment:Rhilowe/The Hobbit (likes,dislikes,review) NO SPOILERS/@comment-66.88.181.178-20130102181830/@comment-5895009-20130103000440

I think they had to to be honest, if they didn't then people who haven't read the books or don't know the links between characters and places wouldn't have really had many links between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings apart from the finding of the ring, it also gives a much greater understanding of how Sauron comes to power which was never really covered in the LOTR. In the LOTR films there is very little screen time for Sauron and he never directly has much contact with any of the characters, a lot of fans think that the eye is Sauron when he actually has a physical form he's just not shown.