#it keeps both TROP and LOTR canon

[justacynicalromantic]

“What are you doing?” he begged again. She looked over at him, between messy strands of golden hair. A hard smile played at her mouth, the kind he’d only ever seen her give to him a very long time ago. When she had trusted him. “Sometimes to find the light,” she said, her words filled with the echo of bitter laughter, “we must first touch the darkness.” He threw his head back. “You reckless, senseless elf. There is no light where I am going. The only thing you’ll find in the Void is pain, and emptiness like you’ve never known.”

==/==/==

"The Lord of the Rings, who had been so many things and had so many names he barely knew what he was anymore, gripped her hand tighter. Whatever he was, he was hers to command, if she would finally accept it.

==/==/==

“I told you. Ours was no chance meeting. Not fate, nor destiny. Ours was the work of something greater. I just did not know what, or why, at the time.” He huffed a laugh. “Leave it to you, Galadriel, to convince yourself that you were always right in the end.” “That’s only because it turned out to be true.” He chuckled and nodded. “I suppose we shall see.” He shut his eyes. The darkness had almost consumed them now. “Do you think it will hurt? To be ensnared in darkness.” She took a deep breath. “No. It is only loneliness. You and I have been lonely many times. And this will not be one of them. It will be like… sinking in the sea.” “I never meant to let you sink. You are light, Galadriel,” he said softly, honestly. “You don’t belong relegated to the Void, forgotten in the depths.” “Then make sure I am not,” was the last thing she said, before the darkness took her mouth, and she was rendered silent for the next eternity. “I will,” he whispered. And the Void took him, as well.

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[fatcatlittlebox]

I mean no offense, but I can't really see a flashback showcasing what you suggest. It would feel like a retcon a la soap. TROP does not strike me as that kind of show. As a show with a pre five-year-plan, we would have already seen Halbrand and Galadriel be intimate in season 1. I'm not denying that there will most likely be something big happening at the end of the season with Haladriel. I just don't see it being this scenario.

I’m truly not approaching this as a haladriel shipper in a tinfoil hat. It wouldn’t be a retcon because this show has already shown they like to employ this kind of storytelling device like in S1, ala Keyser Soze in the Usual Suspects: Where there’s a big revelation and the audience has to rewatch and reevaluate what they saw or think they saw and find the clues leading up to it.

First, Galadriel is acting specifically heartbroken. The tears, the denial. That’s not just the betrayal of a close friend. She loved him, romantically. That’s a short bridge to intimacy. Also, I think another clue is that Galadriel was so bent on no one finding out that Halbrand was Sauron. It was pulling teeth. Like, the shame of calling him friend should not have outweighed warning her people. Second, she seems fixated on the idea of facing him and killing him alone. She does not want anyone finding out the depth of their relationship, especially not Elrond.

A few things that the show has pointedly not touched upon (or barely) for canon Galadriel is Celeborn and Celebrian. These are 2 characters that absolutely need to make an appearance for the ROP to become integrated into LOTR’s timeline. I don’t think TROP Gal forgot (elves’ memory doesn’t dim right?). I believe the writers are keeping them in their back pocket for dramatic effect.

Furthermore, the writers aren’t just asking the viewers to rethink what we know about these characters. The show is putting the characters through their paces of having them reevaluate what they know and think about themselves and the very concept of good and evil, vices and virtues. Elrond’s journey in S2 is essentially parallel to Gal’s from S1. Both have/had a very stark, black and white idea of what good and evil are. Gal is different now because of what she has experienced with Sauron. Their bond has fundamentally changed her. What or who would be Elrond’s inflection point? Rob interestingly said this in a Collider interview

He says “anything.” Not just the rings. I think this alludes to a person or people. Whether that’s just Gal herself being tainted by Sauron’s influence or someone “created” as a product of that bond. So we know that Adar has made good on his promise that he caused a “woman” whom Halbrand loves pain — Galadriel. The other part of his prediction not yet fulfilled is “the child.” And I still think that’s Celebrian.