During the course of his 80 years of life, J.R.R Tokien built one of the most in-depth and incredible fantasy realms of his time, and one that has lasted all the way through to modern times. Although there are certainways the LOTR trilogy has aged badly, the world itself is still one of the most impeccably created fictional places in history, including a creation myth, an in-depth analysis of its peoples.
Their languages and cultures throughout the ages, an entire host of mythical beings and creatures, as well as one of the most thoroughly evil villains ever known. The history of this phenomenal and incredibly detailed crafting has barely scratched the surface in any of the adaptations, movie trilogies and recentRings of Powerseries alike, and there are many significant events that happened across the First and Second Ages that are yet to be explored, or that have only briefly been touched upon.
Some of the most significant of these involve the disputes that happened between the Ainur and the Noldor elves, in which Galadriel was heavily involved. There are severalValar references in theRings of Powerseries, because these mighty powerful beings had significant roles in forging Middle Earth and its people, and for the most part these beings were benevolent and guiding.
RELATED:Rings of Power: Who Are The Faithful?
Unfortunately, Morgoth was among them, and he wanted to destroy everything beautiful that Eru Illuvatar had created. As a part of this mission, he created several wars, which ultimately ended in the death of many many people, including Galadriel’s brothers. This set her down a very different path from the journey that the elves had originally believed their lives would take, and turned her into the angry, headstrong elf shown in theRings of Powerseries.
One of the biggest criticisms of the show (besides the pacing being very much aslow-burn of the first season) was that the young version of Galadriel didn’t feel true to Tolkien’s original vision for the character, and that she didn’t match up to the far wiser, more ethereal version shown in the Peter Jackson movies, who was heralded as having all of the celestial grace and power of an immortal elf, and the ruler of Lorien.
However, it would actually be easy to argue that theRings of PowerGaladriel is a more accurate representation of Tolkien’s character than the movies, because she certainly did go through this period of anger at the world, rebellion against the powers that be, and challenges in finding her feet in a world full of greater beings who believed they knew better.
TheHistory of Middle Earthdenotes how the War of Wrath changed many things, and talks about how ‘Thereafter Galadriel had no peace within. For in that testing time amid the strife of the Noldor she was drawn this way and that. She was proud, strong, and self-willed, as were all the descendants of Finwe save Finarfin, and like her brother Finrod, of all her kin the nearest to her heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage.’
There are several different versions and iterations of her journeys across the next thousand years, as explored by theUnfinished Tales, because Tolkien was a man who constantly refined and edited his work, but it is clear from the quotes above that Galadriel did indeed go through a time of great darkness in her heart and mind, which issymbolized by Finrod’s daggerin the Amazon series. They got her relationship with her brother spot on, and movingly portrayed the aftermath of his death and the vengeful orbit that it spun her life into.
The idea of ‘dominions that might be her own’ was portrayed through her quest for Middle Earth, both to help the Southlanders, but also in a desire to pave a future for herself where she isn’t suppressed and looked down upon by others such as Gil-Galad. The series suggested that the high king hadulterior motives in sending the elves back to the Undying Lands, and portrayed Galadriel as a strong-willed elf who refused to conform when she jumped ship, because she still had a restless desire to do something in the world bigger than the effects of her own small life.
These are the traits that Halbrand saw within her, and chose to manipulate and use to his advantage. There was a moment in the show during which it looked likeGaladriel and Halbrand could have found love in different circumstances, and it’s because they are both fueled by a burning desire to want to lead, to want to shape a world that fits their image of what it should look like. And in some ways, they both achieve this, Sauron in the barrenness of Mordor, and Galadriel in the building of the beautiful elven realm of Lorien, where she is finally able to ‘order as she would without tutelage.’
The Galadriel of the movies is a beautiful and wistful version of a character who took thousands and thousands of years to reach the wisdom and self-assuredness depicted, whereas theRings of PowerGaladriel is more accurate to who she was for the thousands of years leading up to that point, whilst she was still on her journey to finding that sanctuary within herself.
