This might be one of the worst takes in the history of the world. I stupidly, foolishly, and incomprehensibly said that Galadriel would wind up being the best character in Rings of Power, which has backfired on me spectacularly.
I have to face the music at some point, and I guess now is the best time to confront it.
Okay, let me just get this out of the way in the beginning: before the show was released, I said that Galadriel would wind up being the best character to come out of the Rings of Power. Yes, it’s okay to laugh, mock, and ridicule me all you like as I more than deserve it for making such a STUPID prediction.
Truthfully, I don’t even know what I was thinking when I wrote that accursed article as not only was Galadriel’s character arc nothing like I thought the showrunners and writers were hinting at in the trailers, but she actually ended up being the literal WORST character in the history of entertainment.
Alright, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it’s definitely true to say that she was the worst character on the show by a mile.
Despite being one of the most noble, honorable, caring, sympathetic, and trustworthy characters in the original Lord of the Rings novels and movies, the Rings of Power showrunners and writers decided it would be a good idea to turn her into an obnoxious, narcissistic, combative, crass, ruthless, and downright evil (she threatened to commit genocide at one point) “warrior” that only cares for death and revenge.
Not only is that a gross mischaracterization of the backstory that J.R.R. Tolkien envisioned for the Lady of Lothlorien, but it also is just a dreadful portrayal of a member of Tolkien’s Elves.
Aside from a very few rare exceptions (ex: Feanor, Feanor’s sons, and Celegorm), the Elves of Middle-Earth are generally a peaceful, rational, and altruistic society that believes in diplomacy and peace over warfare and bloodlust when dealing with races of the “Free Peoples” (i.e.: Men, Dwarves, Hobbits, etc.).
Did you see any of that in Galadriel? Obviously not.
She literally insulted, confronted, threated, or did a combination of all three to EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER she met, ranging from her Elves commandos/soldiers, High-King Gil-galad, Elendil, Queen Tar-Miriel, Ar-Pharazon, the Southlanders, the Numenoreans, Celebrimbor, Tar-Palantir, Elrond, etc., even though her own life was a stake when she met some of these people for the first time.
I mean, I don’t know how she got away with insulting the Numenoreans court, the chancellor, and the Queen of Numenor herself all in the space of one conversation and was able to keep her head, despite the fact that many of the Numenoreans wanted her to be executed. Well, actually, I do know, and it’s called PLOT ARMOR.
Anyways, I think the main reason why I believed that Galadriel would have the best character arc on the show is due to the fact that her arc from the Second Age (where Rings of Power takes place) to the late Third Age (where the Lord of the Rings takes place) is brilliantly crafted by Tolkien.
She goes from a proud, haughty Noldor elf that rebelled against the Valar’s wishes and journeyed to Middle Earth (as did most of her people) to the most sympathetic, kind, caring, and peaceful elf in all of existence by the late Third Age. Tolkien’s Galadriel was never a destructive, doom-driven, bloodthirsty killer that only cared about seeking vengeance against Sauron and his minions, even when she was at her most powerful and prideful state.
So, it’s rather fitting that the only person she was both completely respectful and kind in the whole show was the Dark Lord himself.
(Amazon/Prime Video-Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power-Official Trailer)
It’s honestly baffling that the showrunners would have Galadriel be so stupid and naive to believe Sauron’s lore-breaking guise as Halbrand, while also having her only be nice, sympathetic, and an actual believable person to the one guy who she wanted to murder the most.
Did they really think it was a great arc for her character to push away all of her “friends” in favor of believing Sauron, who ended up betraying her anyways? She’s literally burnt all of her bridges in this show and would be an outcast in Elven society if this had a modicum of reality to it.
I’m praying to all the Valar, Eru Iluvatar, and even Morgoth that Amazon corrects their horrific Galadriel mistake by hiring some competent, respectable writers to redeem the Elven princess and the show itself.
Yet, seeing how showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne are still in charge after the show’s humiliating defeat to HBO’s House of the Dragon in both critical and general acclaim, I’m not holding out too much hope that things will get any better.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Amazon/Prime Video) (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Official Trailer | Prime Video – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Amazon/Prime Video) (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Official Trailer | Prime Video – YouTube)
