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    Will Galadriel Go Dark in The Rings of Power Season 2? – Let’s Get Nerdy!

    Ashley Victoria RobinsonBy Updated:6 Mins Read

    Amazon Studios The Rings of Power is here. We want all Spoilerites to have the best viewing experience possible and have the widest knowledge base about the Second Age of Middle-Earth. This is a weekly Let’s Get Nerdy article series highlighting a different piece of Tolkien I think you need to know about!

    From the pilot episode of The Rings of Power the Lord of the Rings fandom has been up in arms debating

    Morfydd Clark as Galadriel (The Rings of Power)

    whether or not the version of Galadriel we see Morfydd Clark bringing to life on screen is true to the venerated canon from J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. I’m not trying to stray too far into the adaptation debate, but I do want to explore where Clark’s version of Galadriel is heading in season two of The Rings of Power.

    There are a lot of male elf character surrounding Galadriel (Celeborn, Finrod, Elrond, Celebrimbor, Gil-Galad), who feel like they are on the precipice – from the precipice of coming baco to life to the precipice of raising an army and leading a resistence – which will, by association, push forward her inevitable ascension to Lady of Lòrien. We’ll probably see some – or all – of that in The Rings of Power season 2, but what has she been telling us about herself?

    I’ve sourced all of my quotes in this piece from 2 interviews with Morfydd Clark at TechRadar.

    The first statement that caught my eye was:

    “I’ve always been obsessed with the mirror of Galadriel bit from The Lord of the Rings films. She can’t let go until she’s rejected this completely because she feels temptation in that. But only the tiniest amount because of how dreadful she knows it would be. So it would be interesting to see how she’d handle a reunion.”

    This has also piqued my interest because it’s a topic I have seen hotly debated. Where I think it has legs (beyond it being spoken by the actor portraying the character), is if you take it in context with this scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:

    Evil mode Galadriel – The Lord of the Rings

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    Yes, I admit this scene is also an extrapolation from the original text, however when I look back at this Galadriel moment I can really see where The Rings of Power showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay built their warrior Galadriel from.

    “a reunion”, naturally, sparks Celeborn in my mind. However, it could definitely imply to a number of Númenorean characters she has not seen since the eruption of Mount Doom.

    Galadriel’s temptation by darkness could also be seen as personified by her relationship with Halbrand (a.k.a. The Dark Lord Sauron, played by Charlie Vickers), throughout the first season of The Rings of Power. It is not so much that Galadriel has been rejected by Halbrand in this case, rather she has rejected being by his side. This the two characters are now established as dark mirrors of each other in the traditional sense of literary foils.

    Clark went on to state about Galadriel’s relationship with Halbrand-cum-Sauron:

    “I don’t think she’s going to necessarily feel she made the right decision [not telling Elrond about Sauron]. The elves will get things wrong and there are consequences to that. This is a big one and I think Galadriel will realize she’s made a reckless and dangerous error.”

    With Charlie Vickers adding:

    “I really love that dynamic. These characters have a long history, so I’d be keen to explore that further and even build on it.”

    Halbrand and Galadriel (The Rings of Power)

    Given that the end of The Rings of Power seems to be positioning the early founding of The Last Alliance of Men and Elves, the fall of Eregion, and the founding of Rivendell and Lothlòrien I suspect it is highly likely we will see the confrontation between those character before they settle back into their pre-established friendship – and sooner or later marry into each other’s families! – along with some of the other older elves in Galadriel’s life. 

    When Clark was asked what was coming up for Galadriel in The Rings of Power season 2 she responded:

    “Spending more time with the elves, whatever state those relationships are in, and just coming back to Galadriel’s elvish-ness. We know she’s going to become reclusive and secretive, and starting to turn into the Lady of Lothlórien. I’m excited to see what makes her decide to back away from what we’ve seen her throw herself into.”

    Maybe this is me reading too much into an evasive answer to a digging press, but what I what to leave you with is my summation that the Galadriel we see by the end of the second season of The Rings of Power maybe closer to who we saw in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and – for many fans – who they were hoping to see from jump.

    In past articles I have answered the question: 

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    She/her. Canadian actress. Bi Queen. Canadian co-host of Geek History Lesson. Canadian comic book writer: Witchblade, Apollo IX, Jupiter Jet series, Science! The Elements of Dark Energy, Aurora and The Eagle. Award-losing: actor, writer, podcaster. https://linktr.ee/AshleyVRobinson

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