"They are there, but those who are able have little interest." It is slightly galling, for all that being able to hold off its progression on their own is something which he can and does take pride in. Thranduil is independent, especially after so long. Few are there who could survive as his people have done in Mirkwood.

"Others are not affected as we are, through power or through distance." There was still something terribly unfair that his people had fought for survival for so many years, and Lothlorien and the realm of Galadriel was so much closer to Dol Guldur than the corner of Mirkwood he had claimed for his own, and yet felt not the affects of its proximity as his kingdom did.