Highlights
- Galadriel's portrayal in The Rings of Power is a departure from her serene and wise persona in the Lord of the Rings movies.
- The younger Galadriel in The Rings of Power is angry, hungry for vengeance, and willing to use weapons against her enemies.
- The differences between the two versions of Galadriel highlight her growth and development as a character over time.
Galadriel undergoes some major changes when she returns to the screen in The Rings of Power, but what exactly makes her stand out from her counterpart in the Lord of the Rings movies? Galadriel is over 8,000 years old and easily one of the oldest characters in the franchise. When fans meet her in the movies, she’s the serene Lady of Lórien played by the gorgeous Cate Blanchett. Her soft voice narrates the story to give viewers context for what will unfold before them. It also guides the Fellowship into the mysterious woods of Lothlórien, offering a brief sanctuary from their arduous journey.
Galadriel in The Rings of Power is not the same Elf. Played by a furrow-browed Morfydd Clark, she’s younger, angry, and hungry for vengeance against those that have wronged her. While this gave her more to do on screen than most woman characters in the movies, it confused fans to see her as far from serene as Eowyn in The Two Towers was from being ladylike. They weren’t used to seeing her with a weapon in hand and ready to use it against her enemies. It was among many differences between the two versions of the same beloved character.
Galadriel in Lord of the Rings
For many fans, the Lord of the Rings movies were their first foray into J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantastical imagination. It was also the first time they met Galadriel (Blanchett) and she was the embodiment of grace. They didn’t realize that the wisdom she’d gained in her many years of living shaped her into someone who understood the bigger picture in life, in addition to her own powerful insights. They just knew that when the Fellowship needed help, she gave it. Galadriel reminded them of their purpose, enthralled them with her effervescent beauty, and left them feeling lighter than they’d felt since leaving Rivendell many days before. However, one scene in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring showed a completely different side of Galadriel.
When Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) offers her the Ring, she switches into a dark persona with frantic energy and manic eyes. Galadriel cries out in a booming voice, “Instead of a Dark Lord, you would have a queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!”. Then she returns to her normal self to refuse his misguided offer and announces that she’s ready to pass to Valinor, sort of like a permanent retirement for Elves when they leave Middle Earth. While the scene left many viewers shocked, they quickly forgot that this sinister part of Galadriel existed when she returned to the screen for Rings of Power.
Ironically, though, the Lord of the Rings movies aren’t the only other series to touch on complex aspects of Galadriel. The History of Middle-Earth is another series that discusses how embittered she became after the War of Warth ravaged her home and took her family. The series quite firmly states that “[thereafter] Galadriel had no peace within.” It even describes her as “proud, strong, and self-willed”. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this version of Galadriel comes to life in Rings of Power. Fans unfamiliar with the books don’t know it took a long time for her to become a version of herself capable of resisting the Ring’s temptation.
The History of Middle-Earth gives her space to be imperfect in her anger, hurt, and crusade for justice in a world where she feels like so many are against her. The Rings of Power picks up the baton by allowing Galadriel to make mistakes and learn from them, growing into a wiser and more experienced version of herself along the way. So, it’s safe to assume that the Galadriel in the first season of Rings of Power won’t be the only version viewers receive. She’s on her way to becoming someone powerful and able to use her foresight to help others. She just needs time to actually be a fully-realized character instead of just a beautiful concept.
Galadriel in The Rings of Power
When viewers meet Galadriel (Clark) in The Rings of Power, her own team turns against her. They’ve been traveling in increasingly harsh environments in pursuit of proof that will support her claim of Sauron’s inevitable return. At first, she challenges them to remain at her side despite being miles away from their loved ones on a mission they’ve slowly lost faith in. Then she yields and agrees to go back home. This is a perfect example of how far Galadriel is from the vision of perfection she creates in The Lord of the Rings. She’s still grieving the loss of her long-lost brother Finrod (Will Fletcher) along with the rest of her family and her home.
Her inability to move on makes her feel stagnant when everyone around her is starting anew. While he can feel Middle Earth on the verge of repeating past atrocities, she can’t seem to make anyone believe her. Not even her close friend Elrond (Robert Aramayo) believes she’s doing anything besides stirring up trouble. It leaves her frustrated and running headfirst into disaster trying to prove she’s right. In the end, Galadriel gets what she wanted - just not in the way she expected and it leaves her anything but triumphant. In fact, she only realizes when it’s too late how much she foreshadowed her own mistakes.
The strong-willed version of Galadriel in The Rings of Power didn’t impress everyone. Some thought she was out of character, and others thought she was getting the girlboss treatment. Luckily, many others appreciated that she wasn’t a one-note woman character. There were parts of Galadriel that solely belonged to her, like her anger and resentment toward the trajectory of her life. Yet, the narrative constantly pushed her to change her methods and perspective. When she meets Queen-regent Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) in Númenor, for example, she has to be checked on the way she speaks while trying to convince Míriel’s people to take up arms.
Galadriel doesn’t learn her lesson and the narrative shames her for it. She’s not allowed to act recklessly without being called out by her peers. Then when things play the way she predicted, it’s a bittersweet victory. Any differences between the two versions of Galadriel are the result of her character’s natural development over time. She shouldn’t be the same person in The Rings of Power and The Lord of the Rings. Her growth is the point. Just because some people don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not a pivotal part of her story. Only time will tell where Galadriel is headed for season 2 or how she becomes the soft but formidable Lady of Lórien.