Quote Originally Posted by Trent View Post
The other reason for them that I just thought of might be to expand along the Necromancer plot line from the book. The only reference in the book was Gandalf telling the others about events with him and saying to stay the hell away and at the end of the book to say he was driven out of the wood. Peter Jackson may expand upon this idea and turn it into a major story line in the movies.

We'll see…
Pretty much on the money. The White Council takes a much larger role in the Hobbit trilogy, means there can be a big battle in all three films, and may even lead to a bridging of sorts in the third film, maybe where a young Aragorn tracks Gollum?