Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the first two episodes of The Rings of Power and Tolkien’s Middle-earth lore.Two of the most recognizable elves in all of JRR Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings have returned in Prime Video’s new show The Rings of Power. Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), the Lady of the woods of Lothlórien, and Lord Elrond of Rivendell (Robert Aramayo) are back in this serised based on Tolkien’s original work. Despite not interacting much at all in the original film trilogy, these two characters have a rich history together. The first two episodes we’ve seen have given us a great first look at how these characters regarded each other in their younger days. Tolkien put an amazing amount of work into building the world of Middle-earth, and the appendices to his books provide a lot of history surrounding these two characters and the details behind how they’re related to each other.
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In the first ten minutes of the show, The Rings of Power gives the audience our best look yet at the land of Valinor, the homeland of the elves. Galadriel grew up peacefully on this bright and magical side of the world until the evil sorcerer Morgoth destroyed the trees that provided light to their lands, sending Valinor into darkness. Many elves chased after Morgoth, and that is how Galadriel came to live in Middle-earth, the continent to the east of Valinor across The Sundering Seas. Galadriel is one of the most important and powerful elves in Tolkien’s mythology. On her brother’s deathbed, Galadriel swore to finish what her brother started and hunt down Sauron. At the time of the events in this show, she has become the commander of the Northern Army and has earned the title of Warrior of the Wastelands after leading her soldiers for centuries hunting Sauron in the cold northern tundra.
The first episode also shows the audience the younger version of another powerful and familiar elf, Elrond. He has never been to Valinor, as he was born and raised in Middle-earth. He is far younger an eleven than Galadriel, and has not seen a large-scale war for himself since he was a young child. Since he had lived a generally sheltered life up to the point this story begins, Elrond is far more diplomatic and optimistic than he is in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We also learn that Elrond is not yet an Elf-Lord, and he’s eager to please anyone holding a higher status in elven culture that might help him advance his career. His ambition gives him a strong sense of loyalty and honor in performing his duties beyond his superiors’ expectations.
Galadriel’s drive to avenge her brother and hunt down Sauron has consumed her to the point that she’s endangering the soldiers under her command. They won’t go on with her until they return home and consult the High King, something she dreads because she knows he’ll command her to stop this crusade. As Galadriel returns to Lindon, the Capital of the High Elves, Elrond informs her that King Gil-galad plans to reward her bravery with a chance to return to Valinor. This is the absolute last thing she wants to do and Elrond knows this. Galadriel doesn’t feel she’s completed her brother’s quest to hunt down and kill Sauron, and being sent back to Valinor would mean that she never could. Elrond, however, believes that forcing her into this choice is doing what’s best for her.
Despite calling each other friends, it seems that losing her brother and hunting Sauron for centuries with no success has hardened Galadriel and created a rift in her friendship with Elrond. After she’s left on the ship, Elrond says, “It’s hard to see what is right when friendship and duty are mingled.” Elrond’s lingering doubts about the decision are a strong indication of how much Galadriel’s friendship means to him and that there’s something more devious “Behind her departure. This is some ominous foreshadowing of a hidden motive behind King Gil-galad’s decision. Her return to Middle-earth after abandoning ship will surely come as an unwelcome surprise to the King.”
In the premiere episodes, we’ve already learned so much about these characters through their friendship and their individual adventures that we didn’t know before. This series will be such a fun experiment in fleshing out stories that only existed in a chronological outline in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings. There’s so much potential with eons of Tolkien’s mythology to work from.
The lore that Tolkien provided in his appendices is incredibly detailed when it comes to the history of elves, especially with Galadriel and Elrond. By the end of the First Age, Galadriel had already met her husband, Celeborn. They lived in many places throughout the centuries, sometimes together and sometimes apart, which may explain why this character isn’t a part of The Rings of Power yet. Celebrian is the daughter of Celeborn and Galadriel who grows up to become Elrond’s wife, which redefines Galadriel’s relationship with Elrond from friends to family. This means that the version of Galadriel we’re watching in The Rings of Power will eventually become Elrond’s mother-in-law, as well as a grandmother to Arwen. Many instances were recorded, in fact, of Arwen going to live with Granny Galadriel for a few decades or so. Family lineage can get pretty weird when you all can live 6,000-plus years.
There are a few other ways in which Galadriel and Elrond are related in Tolkien’s lore. Both of them were the leaders of their realms for thousands of years. Another similarity is that each wears a Ring of Power. Galadriel’s ring Nenya, with the white stone as bright as a star, has the powers of preservation and concealment from evil, and she’s the original bearer of the ring. Elrond’s ring, Vilya with its blue sapphire, was actually originally given to King Gil-galad. Soon after Elrond became Lord of Rivendell, he inherited the ring from Gil-galad. While Elrond was already a skilled magical healer, receiving this ring of power enhanced his healing abilities dramatically.
It will be absolutely thrilling to find out if any of these factoids from Tolkien’s stories will make it into the series. Will we get to meet Galadriel’s husband and their daughter, who is also Elrond’s future wife? Will we get to see the forging of the Rings of Power soon or is the show going to wait till the last minute to reveal them? There are so many fascinating and entertaining directions this series could go, whether they stick strictly to the source material or they invent details to fill the gaps. The return to Middle-earth in this series has had a brilliant opening week. Let’s hope the rest of the episodes can keep up the pace and give the audience what we want: an untold story from an authentically depicted Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres with new episodes weekly on Prime Video.
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