#rop text;

[leotanaka]

i love that rings of power had celebrimbor call sauron "shadow of morgoth", tell him that the one ring will be his destruction and that he will be a prisoner of the rings forever before giving him the title of "lord of the rings" and that every single one of those moments, despite what was occurring in those scenes, was presented as a victory for celebrimbor and a defeat for sauron.

[lesbiansforboromir]

So, apparently,

And I am already seeing takes like... THIS

And all I have to say is if there is one thing in the whole entire world of media we do not need, it is yet another of Peter Jackson's takes on middle earth. Did you all just forget The Hobbit. Do you want another 10 minute scene of dwarves running through the glen pursued by the slowest wargs known to man or elf. WHERE has all the energy gone for the hatred of 'the LotR cinematic universe', WHERE is that meme with 'tom bombadil 2: the revenge' or whatever. I am going insane.

[valar-did-me-wrong]

also see @theivorybilledwoodpecker post to understand what they are bickering about and experience the full spectrum of emotions I felt while making this ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Part: 86/?

[jadehaven]

just realized it’s tuesday, which means it’s actually

Textpost Tuesday™

so here’s another one :D

[mistandshcdow]

i’m so ready for season 2, currently doing a rewatch with my mom and i forgot how good it is!

[crownedwithstars]

Galadriel in the Rings of Power, Part 1: Warrior of the Plot Hole

Galadriel is perhaps one of the most difficult characters in the legendarium, and I mean difficult in a sense that there are variations as to how her story goes. Tolkien kept developing her tale until the end of his life and his last ideas about her very much contradict his initial thoughts. So what really is canon about Galadriel and what's not? Why do I think her portrayal in ROP is so bad? I would argue there are certain fixed points about her story that cannot really be altered, especially not in the way the show has done, because they actively contradict and/or create problems for how things go down in The Lord of the Rings. 

Ever since the first season aired, Galadriel being shown as a warrior has been a controversial topic. I personally think it is a very bad decision, may create plot holes for her later story, and turns her into a completely different character. IMHO it's also misogynistic, as I will argue in this post. However, I shall try to make my arguments deeper than the usual complaint about girlbossification.

I will post my arguments in a few different posts, because that should make the whole much more readable. I will use the tags #anti rop and #anti rings of power for the benefit of those who may want to filter my posts.

I try to confer my thoughts in the most objective and respectful manner possible, and ask the same of those who may wish to challenge my views. If you like Amazon Rings of Power, I have no issue with that; I only take issue with how a character I've loved for over a decade is portrayed in this show.

1. Galadriel as a warrior, as shown in ROP, has little or no basis in canon and it may even create plot holes for The Lord of the Rings.

Galadriel's early history is commonly taken as a defence of the show's portrayal. She is called Nerwen, Man-maiden, and she is tall, strong and athletic. Her intellect is also on par with the loremasters of her people (which interestingly is rarely if ever mentioned by the show or its fans). It is implied - and arguments made in defence of ROP's portrayal stress this too -- that Galadriel in her youth is not like the other women of Noldor and doesn't do feminine things, such as weaving (keep this in mind, it will be important later). The show and the fans stress the line about Galadriel wearing her hair as a crown when she partook in athletic pursuits to such a degree that it's a little bit odd - as if this proved something more than the fact that she is a sportswoman in her youth.

In other words, her being physically strong and athletic does not immediately equal martial inclination, especially when Galadriel's youth, and the time these mentions allude to, is specifically a period of peace in Valinor. So where does this idea come from? Is it because of societal norms that equal physical strength with masculinity, and (toxic) masculinity is connected with aggression and violence? This may be in our society, but why is that norm applicable to an immortal, ethereal race and their society that would have to be in many ways different? I also seem to recall that for the Elves, the difference in strength and physical ability is much lesser between the sexes than for mortals (but please correct me if I'm remembering wrong). Either way, it seems to me like the basis of Galadriel being a warrior hinges on the belief that physical activity and strength equal readiness to aggression and violence. And this is done in a show based on stories by a writer who often lets his male characters be tender with one another and showing their feelings openly: the exact opposite of toxic masculinity. 

There are other examples in the legendarium that being athletic doesn't equal martial skill/inclination. Take the character of Aredhel. She is a huntress in Valinor, which probably means that she has skill with bows and spears. Aredhel is an athlete and she is certainly brave, but she is not depicted as a warrior -- and if she were, you would think it would be alluded to during her wanderings in Beleriand. However, she takes guards with her and Maeglin presents himself as her protector when they make for Gondolin, which implies that Aredhel is not a fighter despite being an athlete in her youth. 

What about mentions of Galadriel fighting, then? Again, I acknowledge there are different versions of her story. I myself only remember a mention of her fighting at Alqualonde (please let me know if there are other mentions). Some take this as a proof that Galadriel is a warrior, but I would argue that it is not, when you look at the context. At Alqualonde, Fëanor and his supporters attack the Teleri - Galadriel's kin by her mother Eärwen. What does a brave and physically strong person do in a situation where their family and relatives are being attacked? She probably takes up arms to defend them, whether she is martially active or not. Saving a family member's life does not hinge on being a professional fighter. Tolkien also says elsewhere that Elven women did not usually take part in fighting, but they could at need wield arms. Galadriel's kin being slaughtered would be such a need. In other words, this one mention of Galadriel fighting is not evidence of her being an active warrior. Moreover, the show's portrayal seems to hinge - to my knowledge - on these few lines, when the textual evidence of Galadriel being a courtier, politician and a leader is overwhelming. The evidence of her being martially occupied except at utmost need is extremely thin, and so making her a warrior is poor writing and makes you wonder why this change was deemed so necessary by the show's creators.  

How does the show portray Galadriel's background before the show? Firstly she is apparently a lonely child who doesn't get along with other children, but gets bullied (for whatever reason) and she lashes out at them violently. The show doesn't establish any particular hobbies or interests, except for a vague pastime of playing with small toy boats (which implies some kind of creativity, but the object itself is nothing that a human child could not make) and fighting with her peers. Apparently, she also adores her brother, who is soon after revealed to die at the hands of Sauron. 

Now we come to the First Age. ROP's take on Galadriel appears to be that she is a warrior in the trenches of Beleriand, and her motive is some kind of vengeance against Morgoth for the darkening of Valinor - a generic aim that other Noldor shared, but whether Galadriel has some personal stake is not clear. She doesn't stand out with dreams or hopes or ambitions specific to her. War is apparently the only thing that ever mattered to Galadriel and she is not shown as having any other preoccupations or interests than fighting and hunting for Sauron. Whatever motives she had in canon about ruling a kingdom of her own are absent. And by the show's logic, she would have to be a warrior through this age, because in the start of the first season of ROP she is the commander of the northern armies, and I cannot imagine that role being given to her if she wasn't an experienced fighter by the end of the First Age. And if her initial motive was to fight against Morgoth, then one would expect that she was a member of one of her brothers' companies. Namely Finrod, because he (and avenging him) is her obsession in the show. However, ROP's take on Finrod's role has to be quite different from canon, because Nargothrond was not in the frontlines of Beleriand during his lifetime. If Galadriel in the First Age is specifically concerned with fighting Morgoth, then surely she would not have spent it in a hidden kingdom?

Galadriel is not mentioned as a commander of war like her brothers in the Silmarillion, and neither is she anywhere else to my knowledge. She is not mentioned as taking part in any of the numerous battles of the First Age, in fact she leaves Beleriand before the final showdown. Rather, she is in Doriath with Melian, and at some point betrothed to Celeborn. I would argue that this period is crucial for Galadriel as a character and for who she later becomes.

Doriath ruled by Melian is the blueprint for Lothlórien under Galadriel's leadership. Doriath is the hidden kingdom, the fairest dwelling of the Elves east of the sea, fencing out outsiders and standing up against the Dark Lord. It is ruled by a powerful sorceress whose influence reaches far. The queen of that realm, along with her maidens, is a skilled weaver who fills the halls of Menegroth with wondrous cloths. She is also the giver of lembas to weary travellers, and has the gift of foresight. It is notable that according to The Nature of Middle-earth, Galadriel is one of the key persons in bringing the art of making lembas and the corn required to make back to Middle-earth, and it seems likely that her long stay in the safety of Doriath allowed the new corn and the art of making it into waybread to take root. This would take time and effort that Galadriel the warrior would not have.

In other words, Doriath is where Galadriel learns and combines the skills that she later uses to help the Fellowship, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that if Frodo and Sam did not have Galadriel's cloaks and lembas, they would not have endured all the way to Orodruin. 

If Galadriel spent the First Age fighting Morgoth's hordes, or even as a march warden of Doriath (unlikely, if she was fuelled by vengeance), she did not have time to learn the skills she needs in The Lord of the Rings to help with the quest to destroy the Ring, nor could she have had a role in establishing lembas in Middle-earth. In Doriath she would have learned the Sindarin and Silvan technologies of stealth and survival on a dangerous continent and absorbed enough influence that she too would one day rule a very similar realm. Her model of rulership is so like Melian's that it's hard to believe she would or could have exercised it without spending a long time in Doriath. She also could not have established the new corn or the making of it into lembas if she was constantly away on the battlefield.

One could also argue that the time Galadriel spent in Doriath and her link to Melian make her a viable option as a ruler for the Elves of Lothlórien. She is not just a Noldo who was born and bred in Valinor, she is also blood-related to Kinslayers. Despite this, she is still accepted as a leader by the Silvan elves and what survivors of Doriath lived in the wood. This could only be if she had taken time to learn the ways and culture of the Elves of Middle-earth in Doriath, and did not spend the whole First Age engaged in specifically Noldorin wars. 

Obviously, ROP can't use The Silmarillion, but there are still many ways that the script could work around this if the show's creators had bothered to try. Turning Galadriel into a warrior and making it clear she spent the First Age in the trenches actively denies the chance and time she needs to learn the skills that she will eventually use to help the Fellowship and to establish herself as an individual that the Elves of Middle-earth would respect and take as their ruler. You can't have it both ways. Could she have learned these things elsewhere? Perhaps the craft, but not the art and the magic, which Elven artifacts very much are about. Again we come to the fact that Doriath is the blueprint for Lothlórien and her connection to Doriath is what makes her a viable ruler; its exclusion from Galadriel's story creates too big of a problem. Also, what this change of her story actually does is downplay the importance of feminine skills and the time it takes to learn and perfect them. This is one of the many ways the show, and Galadriel's story in it, is misogynistic.

ROP!Galadriel is also portrayed as too consumed by her quest of vengeance, making it unbelievable that she would actually be interested in learning skills that don't have to do with finding Sauron. Moreover, the mentions of Galadriel being athletic and showing masculine traits are also taken from texts that Amazon does not have rights for, so it is contradictory that this bit is used to legitimise her being a warrior, and other parts where her femininity is shown, are refused because they don't fall in the sphere of what Amazon is allowed to use. Again, you can't have it both ways. 

Lastly, the change of Galadriel's backstory during the First Age raises questions about Celeborn. If she was busy being a warrior and did not spend any meaningful periods in Doriath, then when and where did she meet her husband? How did she have time to get to know him, and grow to care about him enough to want to marry him? How long were they married before he went missing? If Galadriel is this angry outcast who has a hard time getting along with others, what endeared her to Celeborn and vice versa? Here the show has the problem that will become familiar later on: compressing too many events in too little time. Between the arrival of Noldor in Middle-earth and the end of the First Age, there are less than 600 years. Moreover, according to Elven custom they did not usually marry or have children in times of war and in canon this is the reason Galadriel and Celeborn don't marry during the First Age, even though they live in Doriath away from the frontlines; so how ROP!Galadriel, preoccupied as a warrior and apparently far away from the relative peace of Doriath, could possibly get married at this time? Seemingly, Celeborn is already out of the picture at the start of the Second Age, leaving little to no time for the couple to meet one another, fall in love, get married, live any amount of time in the married state, and Celeborn to go missing.

&&&&&&&

That's it for this time. In the next post, I will share my thoughts about ROP!Galadriel's so called war trauma, whether it works in the frame that Tolkien's legendarium provides, and what are its implications considering the timeline and her position as a military officer.

[beyonddarkness]

Thoughts on Haladriel/Saurondriel

Okay, can I be COMPLETELY honest?

I always understood the shipping of Halbrand/Sauron and Galadriel, but for the sake of analyzing, I never let myself believe that there was any element of attraction from either side. Because they have a "cosmic connection," you know?

Something changed today (even though that "cosmic connection" is still very much a thing). I came to the conclusion that, while my pain for Galadriel has now increased manifold, I am so relieved from everything Morfydd said in her recent interview, particularly that the ambiguity behind their relationship was Charlie's idea (how dare he) because now I know that Charlie is Sauron, irl. Let me explain. (Prepare for a long read—bonus content at the end):

Charlie never told a lie in press.

"Were we in a relationship of seduction or power? It's up to the viewer to decide" (Morfydd).

What Morfydd said didn't give anything away. It truly leaves everything up to interpretation even more than before, and yet any way you slice it, everything makes sense. It fits with everything that everyone has said in press (the 'cosmic connection', 'it's not romantic', etc.).

Think of it this way:

------------------------

If everything was purely platonic, and Galadriel was not attracted to Halbrand in the least, then Sauron was tempting Galadriel with power. This makes sense, since we know that Galadriel left Valinor in large part because she desired to rule over a realm of her own. Power is very enticing to her.

That also means that Galadriel would never, ever, EVER think of anyone but Celeborn, which is nice. I mean, once Elves marry, that's it. No backsies. In this case, Sauron would be playing it safe, not fooling himself into thinking that Galadriel would fall for a MAN (of all things), after she has already been married.

------------------------

On the other hand, BOY is Sauron able to seduce.

Now, when we think of seduction, some of us automatically think:

But Galadriel most likely would not be enticed by an extremely forward approach. She would slap that guy so silly.

So here's why Sauron is terrifying: Halbrand is so nice.

His approach would be: Become friends first, to make it difficult to resist joining him in the end. He made himself attractive in a way that, if successful, would make her attached to him for much longer than if he was strictly flirtatious (a few thousand years should do it). He never said anything forward until their friendship developed to a certain point (1x06).

And as long as I've been denying that either side was attracted to the other, the one thing I have never been able to get out of my head is the fact that in episode 7, Galadriel called to Halbrand before anyone else. Later, she mentioned Celeborn to Theo (for the first time in presumably centuries, after she assumed Halbrand had died). Then, when she saw Halbrand again, she called him her friend, and he for some reason had to say:

"Nor will you."

Then he made that STUPID SMIRK, and poor Galadriel looked SO TORN. We just barely learned that her husband was in the picture, so he was fresh on her mind. And then we had this thrown on us, to indicate that something about this friendship was not right.

(Oh, the discomfort and second-hand embarrassment I felt for Halbrand, before I knew that he was Sauron.)

Since Galadriel hasn't seen her husband in centuries (even though she loves him a lot—I mean A LOT), she was very vulnerable to seduction, because... she was alone. Halbrand saved her life, rivaled her intelligence, didn't beg for her attention on account of her beauty, connected with her on a level that probably hasn't happened in a while, became her really good friend, made her feel free fighting at his side, etc. If that doesn't spark someone's interest, I don't know what does. (His looks are a major bonus.)

------------------------

Now, here is what's really unfortunate, and causes me pain beyond measure: Sauron wouldn't have fallen in love. But Galadriel would have, and he knew that.

No one (JD, Patrick, Charlie, and Morfydd) ever lied in any interview. Have you ever noticed that whenever they spoke of the lack of romance, they were always talking specifically about Sauron's perspective? :')

Here are some examples:

Charlie: "I mean, look. I don't see it as a... strictly—I don't know. I haven't run this past you guys [Patrick: 'Run it by!']—as a King and Queen thing. I love the reflection bit. But it's not like... I think ultimately, if she had said yes, he's very much the King, and she's like his sidekick, in terms of ruling." Patrick: "And it's not like a marriage—[Morfydd: 'How...]—proposal...—[...dare you.'] [...] Charlie: "You guys sent me something really early on. It's WH Auden, talking about good and evil in Tolkien, and the difference when it gets to evil. It's affection—I'm paraphrasing here—but affection goes out the window. And you see this relationship, and you see affection, but in the end, it's only for personal gain. [...] The whole season, you see them working together, and they have this sort of—we like to call it a 'cosmic connection'. Not romantic. [laughs] Although, I got in a lot of trouble for saying it wasn't romantic yesterday, because of the 'shipping'; the people shipping. [Interviewer: 'How dare you.'] [laughs] Yeah, exactly. And I think it's very clear on the raft that he's just using her for his own personal gain, rather than any sort of love and affection to her." (Empire Spoiler Special)

Charlie: "I think they have a 'cosmic connection', but I don't think it's necessarily, in his mind, a King and a Queen... like husband and wife kind of situation. I think it's more, 'I can use you to get what I want, and effect my designs faster.' Because ultimately, I think he would have ended up ruling by himself, whether she joined him or not. And when she says no on the raft, it angers him, but it's not the end of the world for him." (Deadline Inside the Ring)

So, if Sauron was trying to effectively seduce Galadriel into falling in love with him, it was always going to be one-sided. He would have never felt any real love towards her, but his goal would be to get Galadriel to feel something like that towards him. For personal gain.

And if Galadriel did feel something, how much more ashamed and violated would she feel in the end, knowing that he did it on purpose?

:'))))

------------------------

Here is the ultimate question:

Did Sauron tempt Galadriel with power, or seduction (or both)?

Here's the thing -> Charlie

Morfydd said in her interview that "Halbrand's hold on Galadriel was less connoted in the storylines," meaning it was more straight forward, and not much was implied. But she did not say which direction the scripts leaned, meaning Charlie said one of two things:

"Let's make it seem less romantic."

"Let's make it seem more romantic."

Either way, he's actually so mean, I can't put it into words.

Here's why both possibilities work perfectly: Every time Charlie or anyone else has talked about the lack of romance in interviews, they're always speaking from Sauron's perspective; Galadriel's feelings are wide open for interpretation. Whether Sauron tempted her with power or seduction, he never loved her. He knows how to seduce, and he does it well, but it doesn't mean he feels it. That's why I'm terrified of him, and I'm also afraid of Charlie.

Ever since that interview with Morfydd, I've realized that Charlie has a lot more to do with the character than he's letting on. He knows enough about Sauron to propose an idea that fits into the lore. The fact that the scripts were "less connoted," and he managed to convince everyone to make the relationship more ambiguous is just... GAH. How dare he!

Is it power or seduction?? Both work so well, it could very well be both at the same time! (Charlie and his ambiguities. *sigh*)

But again, it's a matter of what Sauron is tempting Galadriel with; not what he feels, himself.

------------------------

So, why am I relieved? Because Chapter 6. :)

------------------------

Bonus: Translation of the Haunting Music

It is time.

With all of this in mind, I would like to take a shot in the dark. Remember that ultra creepy/seductive part of the music in The Broken Line? A couple of months ago, I was driven crazy by the fact that right in the middle of a musical phrase, the vocals transitioned from Black Speech to Quenya, when Sauron's doing this:

I wanted to know the translation, so I used Paul Strack's lexicon. I managed to pick out most of the words in the music, but since I'm not fluent in Elvish grammar, I don't dare try to translate it. I will just give you the translation for each word, and let you decide what it means for yourself. It'll be fun. :)

Here's the music:

Here are the words (red is confirmed, purple is what I made out, and the [?] is the last word that I cannot figure out, for the life of me. So if someone could enlighten me, I would greatly appreciate it):

ash gul ishi ghash [ash] gul insangarë antani márië i cilmë [?]

Here are the translations:

Black Speech:

ash: "one" gul: "phantom" ishi: "in" ghash: "fire"

Quenya:

insangarë: "temptation" anta-: "to give, present; to add to" ni: "me, I" márië: "well, happily; goodness, good estate, being well, happiness" i: "the" cilmë: "choice, choosing"

In episode 6, Adar said in Quenya, "What I seek. Give it to me." His sentence ended with "antani". So... if "antani" comes after the subject of a sentence... "insangarë antani"? O_O

Someone please help Galadriel. I can hardly stand it. Where's Celeborn?

[tsuki-no-kaeshi]

You'd think being a fan of a series whose author died before you were born and whose most well-regarded films came out well over 20 years ago would allow you to avoid The Discourse but it seems that is not the case

[mirkwood]

Reminder for my mutuals I track userhara tag me in ur tolkien stuff

[leotanaka]

re: sauron crying after he killed celebrimbor.

charlie revealed in an interview with nerdist that sauron crying in that moment wasn't actually scripted. it was something that just happened while they were filming and they decided to leave it in.

[lesbiansforboromir]

Literally all I've ever wanted out of tolkien adaptations is a moment where characters discuss their metaphysical existence within the given paradigms that the world itself offers and RoP made an orc and an elf argue about it onscreen and the elf came out looking like a bloodthirsty slaughterer, happy to ignore all evidence to the contrary in order to hold onto the idea that she is inherently pure of heart and soul and orcs are all better off dead because the alternative is to realise the only cosmic difference between an orc and an elf is one was tricked by evil and the other was not... And now Galadriel cannot even claim that. !!! !!! I'm supposed to not be insane about that?? I'll be dead in my grave before that happens.

[nemiriel]

9 and 13 for the rings of power ask game? 👀💍

I am so sorry for not answering this sooner! 😳🙈  I usually use Tumblr on my phone, and for some reason, messages don't always show up in my inbox when I'm on my phone... I'm on my laptop tonight, and just saw this ask! Thank you so much, I love these! 💖

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the Rings of Power ask game.

9. What is your favorite scene?

Ooh, this is a tough one! It's hard to choose just one, there are so many good ones. Finrod with little Galadriel in Valinor is definitely up there, I loved the caring, kind and protective older brother-younger sister dynamic. I could go on and on about a lot of scenes, lol. But since I can only pick one, I'm going with Sauron's reveal. I love everything about it. The scenery, Halbrand starting off cheerful and enthusiastic about the working on the rings, the sudden tension, Halbrand's little smirk, Galadriel's realization and attack, Sauron's display of strength, his offer for Galadriel to join him... All of it. ^_^ Definitely one of the top scenes of Season 1.

13. What is your favorite location from the show?

There are so many gorgerous locations, though from a Lord of the Rings production I would expect nothing less. ;) My favorite, I think, is Númenor. It is a really beautiful place, with the enormous carvings and impressive architecture. I love how it looks a bit Mediterranean but with a Tolkien twist, as well as looking reminiscent of Gondor but as an island. The surrounding sea is lovely, and I like the Númenorean ships & strong naval presence. I would definitely spend a lot of time in their Hall of Lore.

Eregion is a close second, though. The area in Ost-in-Edhil where Sauron is revealed to Galadriel is particularly lovely. And I have to give an honorable mention to Khazad-dûm; it looks nothing like what you would expect to find in a cave, while simultaneously looking like what you wish you could find inside a cave whilst exploring. If that makes sense. ;)

[jadehaven]

whoops nearly forgot about

Textpost Tuesday™

here ya go lol

[thefandomexpert]

the urge to reblog every piece of phobs fanart is rising strongly within me

[crownedwithstars]

Galadriel in the Rings of Power: Conclusion

This post is the continuation of my analysis of Galadriel as she is portrayed in the Amazon series The Rings of Power - and why I think it is so very bad. Part 1 focused on the the portrayal of her being a warrior, and the many problems it creates for her character and possibly even for LOTR, whereas part 2 argued that what is supposed to be war trauma is actually just an awful personality. Part 3 focuses on the ways ROP undermines Galadriel's story as a woman, wife, and mother, and part 4 argues that the character we see in ROP does not have the mental capacity or abilities that she should have.

Part 1 x Part 2 x Part 3 x Part 4

This is the final part of the analysis, concluding what was argued in the earlier posts and pointing out some additional observations that aren't strictly about Galadriel.

As before, the tags #anti rop and #anti rings of power will be used for the benefit of those who may want to filter my posts.

8. In conclusion and some additional observations

Galadriel of the Rings of Power is a terrible person and she does not have a single likeable thing about her. The characterisation that has been given to her has nothing to do with the character Tolkien created, erases parts of her story that are specifically about a woman's experiences of motherhood and fellowship between women, and may actively create plot holes for The Lord of the Rings. Galadriel's connections to the Elves of Middle-earth, and her affinity with Doriath that would make her a viable option as a ruler of Sindar and Silvan Elves, are entirely absent. The show creators try to justify their decision by obsessively referring to the few lines about her "Amazon disposition" and "athletic pursuits", although these don't really prove anything beyond the fact that she used to love sports, and ignoring the overwhelming textual evidence of Galadriel's role as a politician, leader, wife and mother. The way a character's story is told and the qualities chosen to represent them also reveal what are the values of the artist/creator: that Galadriel's feminine traits, her learning from another woman and adapting that specific model to her own rulership, the evidence of her being a wife and a mother and powerful all at the same time, are downplayed so that she can adhere to masculine ideals is incredibly telling, and sadly quite misogynistic.

If this character of a wandering warrior was so necessary for the show, this role should have been given to Celebrían, Galadriel's daughter. She is almost a blank canvas with few known details, and would be more believable as a young and temperamental warrior who means well but sometimes blunders it. Her motives and her failures could be explained by a fierce desire to live up to her famous and powerful parents and to rise out of their shadow. Celebrían would be an entirely new character to the audience, but still entirely canonical, and with a very close connection to the well-known and beloved character of Galadriel. For a more intelligent plot than what ROP has come up with, the relationship of Galadriel and Celebrían would provide much content, enabling female representation (the lack of which Tolkien is often reproached for), and even creating an opportunity to discuss the themes of death, immortality and mortality which are so important for Tolkien. Celebrían's love for Elrond would be a great chance to discuss the nature of Half-Elves (often unclear even to the fans of Tolkien), and the dangers that lie in her loving him from the Elvish point of view, as any offspring by him may choose a mortal life (thus allowing references to Arwen and Aragorn). When you really start to think about what the inclusion of Celebrían could have brought to the table, you can't help but sigh at the terrible waste Amazon committed by going the incredibly simplistic route of making Galadriel a very middling action hero. If the show dared to show Galadriel as she is, an ancient Elf already wise and experienced at this point of the history of Middle-earth, then ROP could have established the longevity of Elves and how they witness the ages of the world passing by. This I think would have been more interesting for the viewers of a fantasy show rather than  make Galadriel some "young version" of the one we see in LOTR.

Some of the problems with Galadriel, I will admit, are exaggerated by the show's larger problems, which are in some ways linked: the compression of timeline and the poor handling of the Elven characters.

As we know, the events of the Second Age take place over three thousand years, and there are about 1500 years between the making of the Rings of Power and the Fall of Númenor. However, these things overlap in the show, apparently because the audience would not be committed to a show that changes most of its cast every season?

This is not as good a solution as it seems on paper and it creates problems for the plausibility of characters' actions and the events of the story. I suspect this will become more and more glaring with the Númenor thread, because the show's creators have already shown themselves not to be very good writers. But with the story of Galadriel, the implication now between the first and second seasons is that during a very small amount of time, she will experience a 180 degree change in her personality and become the wise, powerful, dignified Elven queen that we see in The Lord of the Rings. (Apparently she is also supposed to be able to live with - and be forgiven! - the fact that she is indirectly responsible for all the death and horror Sauron will inflict on Middle-earth.)

The show starts with Galadriel obsessively hunting for Sauron - a quest she has been pursuing for the whole of the Second Age. Apparently, she has spent an entire Age, over three thousand years, in this perpetual state of anger, aggression and restlessness. Not only does it make her look an incompetent fool and a complete maniac, but creates a contradiction: she can spend thousands of years in a rage about her brother and whatnot, but then suddenly, in a span of a few years, gives up the personal vendetta and becomes an entirely different person? It also raises serious questions about why would Gil-galad keep such a volatile individual as a high-ranking officer for centuries. Apparently even with the very violent history of the First Age, Elves don't have tools for dealing with war trauma even after centuries have passed, and nobody thought of trying to help this very unstable woman recover and get on with her life. If the show began closer to the start of the Second Age (and nearer to the events that supposedly left ROP!Galadriel so traumatised), and we saw her working through her issues over the course of many years, this characterisation would not be so infuriating - or make her and her superiors look so bad. Moreover, with the passage of time her need for vengeance would start to run cooler and she would let her guard down around the disguised Sauron, making her look less stupid for falling for his deceptions - although it still is seriously out of character for Galadriel to be so easily fooled. It is true that we should have more stories about angry women who make mistakes and are no saintly figures, and these stories should be treated with as much compassion as any male revenge fantasy. However, it is questionable to do this like ROP has done, erasing Galadriel's original story and her agency, removing the meaningful female relationships she has, downplaying her feminine attributes so that she fits a more masculine ideal, and making her motives all about men.

This ties with the show's handling of Elven characters. In ROP, Elves are essentially enhanced humans, who can do cool stunts and don't die of old age. Outwardly, they are not even noticeably different from humans, except by their ears. The Elven characters are not ageless or beautiful and the actor of Arondir is maybe the only one who looks the part. That the Elves (particularly those who saw the light of the Trees) lack the Otherness that would set them apart as a different race makes the world of ROP!Middle-earth lose much of its depth, wonder and magic. The worldbuilding of the script seems to lack any consideration of what the psychology of these immortal characters would be, and how they are different from Men. At the end of the Second Age, Elven societies of Middle-earth are already old, they have seen much loss and sorrow, and so the tone of their mentality should be reflecting more of this. Tolkien makes it very clear that with age, the wisdom and sadness of the Elves grows greater. That the Elves are just enhanced humans, not distinctly different from Men by their physical or psychological qualities also poses problems over the Fall of Númenor and the hubris that leads to it - although at this point, I have lost any hope I might have had that this show's creators possess the ability to effectively discuss such a complex theme.

This compression of time and poor handling of the Elves will cause troubles for the character of Galadriel, or so I guess. Earlier I already pointed out the change that she will apparently go through during the events of the show. If the aim of the story is to show how Galadriel became the wise, otherworldly sorceress and queen that we see in LOTR, then this change will happen in an extremely short time, and it ignores the fact that Galadriel always was these things, though perhaps to a lesser degree. This is simply poor writing and unbelievable, and it rather gives the impression that the creative team has not given much thought to worldbuilding - and that they really believe that for Galadriel to be relatable to the audience is to make her suit the idea of a "strong woman with a sword". This is a trend you see a lot in popular media, but if you are adapting a timeless story like Tolkien's legendarium, then you should not be too eager to add in your own agenda or trends that don't suit the original story or are actively detrimental to it. Same goes for how the Númenóreans' prejudices against Elves seems like some attempt to discuss contemporary US politics and much less a discussion of human hubris and the Fall of Man. As I have argued in my posts, ROP!Galadriel is not an improvement: the way Tolkien wrote her is infinitely more complex, compelling and powerful.

The show may be pretty to look at at some points and apparently many people even find it entertaining. But if we settle for "good enough" and "entertaining enough", then that gives leave to companies like Amazon to keep on producing mediocre films and shows that do not contain the complexity of the original, and keep turning already rich female characters into bland action figures. It's not a good thing if the best you can say about a show based on complex source material is that it "looks stunning" or it's "entertaining". The inevitable outcome is that after a few bland seasons, the show will get cancelled and everyone will be unhappy. Just look at what happened with The Witcher Whereas the first few seasons of Game of Thrones proved that if you truly commit to the world, its characters and the plot, you can bring forth something that is compelling and widely liked both by those who were book fans first and people who are introduced to the story by the show. Yes, I'm aware of the problems that even the first seasons of GOT had and I'm by no means a fan of it, and I also know that GOT had entire detailed books while Amazon had little more than a timeline; whether it's a good idea to develop a show based just on that is another question entirely, but the point is that with care and good writing you can succeed with a fantasy TV show. (Even GOT works as a warning example: when you depart from the writer's vision too much and begin to think of your own writing as improvement, you're going to fail and leave a lot of people disgruntled.) For those of us who have long loved Galadriel, this character who is feminine and flawed and powerful, the way ROP has decided to portray her is just incredibly disappointing. 

It seems fitting to end this series with Sam's description of Galadriel:

"Beautiful she is, sir! Lovely! Sometimes like a great tree in flower, sometimes like a white daffadowndilly, small and slender like. Hard as di'monds, soft as moonlight. Warm as sunlight, cold as frost in the stars. Proud and far-off as a snow-mountain, and as merry as any lass I ever saw with daisies in her hair in spring-time. … But perhaps you could call her perilous because she’s so strong in herself. You, you could dash yourself to pieces on her, like a ship on a rock, or drown yourself, like a Hobbit in a river. But neither rock nor river would be to blame."

[beyonddarkness]

In the Darkness, Bind Them

Has anyone else wondered why Power was the proper exchange for Light? This line always stood out to me as something extremely peculiar, unexpected, menacing, ominous—you name it. It seemed like there was a lot more to it than what we perceive on the surface.

"You bind me to the light, and I bind you to power" (Sauron, 1x08).

The most obvious purpose behind Sauron using Power as incentive for Galadriel was, that the idea of having a realm to rule was very appealing to her. That's the whole reason she left Valinor in the first place.

"[...] but Galadriel, the only woman of the Noldor to stand that day tall and valiant among the contending princes, was eager to be gone. No oaths she swore, but the words of Fëanor concerning Middle-earth had kindled in her heart, for she yearned to see the wide unguarded lands and to rule there a realm at her own will" (The Silmarillion: Of the Flight of the Noldor).

Sauron would have fulfilled his promise, but OH BOY did he have something up his sleeve!!!

Those of you who have visited the Blog might have already seen this picture on the homepage:

I realized (at Peak Inspiration Hour, aka 2 A.M.) that the image draws an alarming parallel between Galadriel and Lúthien. Chapter 6 is all about parallels, but I assure you that when I made the image, this particular parallel was Unthought Of.

Once upon a time, Sauron heard Lúthien singing songs of power to Beren, in the hour of Finrod's death...

"Sauron stood in the high tower, wrapped in his black thought; but he smiled hearing her voice...

...for he knew that it was the daughter of Melian. The fame of the beauty of Lúthien and the wonder of her song had long gone forth from Doriath; and he thought to make her captive and hand her over to the power of Morgoth, for his reward would be great" (The Silmarillion: Of Beren and Lúthien).

Every. Single. Clause. has a connection to that scene in the prison (1x03), down to the name Halbrand literally translating to "High Tower" in Sindarin; BUT for this post, I would like to focus on the last line: "he thought to make her captive and hand her over to the power of Morgoth, for his reward would be great."

In prison, Sauron's true intentions were concealed, but on the raft, they were finally out in the open.

He knows that Galadriel left Valinor because she wanted her own realm to rule, so he tells her, I would make you a Queen. I'll give you power. But what he fails to mention is that the "power" he speaks of, means binding her to something far more sinister.

His language is expertly disguised, to make it appear as though he would give her what she wants. In reality, his plan for her was the same for Lúthien: to make her captive, and "hand her over to the power of Morgoth." THAT is the Power he planned on binding Galadriel to—the Darkness ("...and in the Darkness, bind them").

"Light" and "Power" are perfect opposites, in that context. He speaks fondly of the Light of the One, and tells her that he wants to be bound to it. In exchange, he'd bind her to the balance (or opposite) of that Light, handing her over to the Power of Morgoth...

"...for his reward would be great."

He's not going to give her what she actually wants, no more than when he gave Gorlim what he wanted (which was to be restored to his wife; but this desire Sauron granted, by cruelly putting him to death).

He wears puppy-eyes and sincerity in Galadriel's warped mind because that is what she can see. On the outside of her mind, Sauron has no need to hide (even though she's looking right at him) because she cannot perceive his expression, being stuck in the vision. But we can see it.

Behold his true intent:

"You bind me to the light the One, and I bind you to power Morgoth."