In this section, the idea Tolkien began developing in Chapter 15—that the dwarves are in the wrong and that the truly heroic path is the one that ends in peace—comes to fruition with Bilbo’s moral choice to leave the dwarves. Bilbo’s motivations for defecting to the enemy camp are twofold. First, he realizes that the best way out of the conflict is a peaceful one. Second, despite his friendship with the dwarves, Bilbo feels more of a natural camaraderie with elves (and, to a lesser extent, with men) than with dwarves. Though this second motivation may be questioned, Bilbo’s defection is nevertheless one of the most courageous acts of his short career as a burglar, since without Gandalf’s intervention he may easily have been killed by Thorin for giving away the Arkenstone.