Part 3/7:
Questioning the Subjugation of Beorn's Kind
A perplexing aspect remains: if Beorn is so powerful, how could his kind, the skin-changers, effectively be defeated by mere orcs? In the films, Bilbo questions Beorn about whether others of his kind exist, to which he sadly responds that many once did, but now only he remains—a poignant reflection on the loss his people suffered at the hands of the orcs.
The film emphasizes this subjugation symbolically through a chain still shackled to Beorn’s arm, representing the enslavement of his kin. This imagery presents a significant thematic layer regarding freedom and captivity in Tolkien's works.