As far as iconic imagery fromThe Lord of the Ringsgoes, Galadriel and Celeborn as the figureheads of Lothlorien is one of the big ones. The two ancient immortals rule the Elven kingdom together, and though Galadriel may be the more well-known name to some, Celeborn is still an important part of Middle-earth’s lore and history for those who are big Tolkien fans. With Amazon’s recent venture into the world of Tolkien withThe Rings of Power, they decided to make a younger Galadriel one of the main players in the story. Fans assumed that this meant that there would also be an exploration of Celeborn and his backstory (or at the very least, how it connects to Galadriel’s), but so far, the Elf is nowhere to be seen.
This is suspicious mainly becausethe series is past its halfway point, so no mention of this character who is integral to Galadriel’s story is very strange. There haven’t even been any hints that he is within Galadriel’s orbit, and it doesn’t seem as though the show is super concerned with revealing his whereabouts at this point. For a lot of die-hard Tolkien fans, it’s a very strange move to omit such a big character from the story. Here’s why Celeborn is important, some speculations on why he isn’t present inThe Rings of Power, and whether or not he’ll show up any time soon.
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Celeborn and Galadriel
In Tolkien lore, Celeborn and Galadriel met in the First Age when Galadriel came to the Elven realm of Doriath, where Celeborn was a prince. Galadriel wasone of the Ñoldorand came to Middle-earth hoping to be able to rule a land of her own. She and Celeborn fell in love and got married, staying in Beleriand for quite a while before escaping during the sack of Doriath, which was a conflict between the Elves and Dwarves involving a Silmaril. After the end of the First Age when Morgoth was defeated, many of the Ñoldor chose to travel to the Undying Lands, but Galadriel stayed with Celeborn in Middle-earth.
In the early part of the Second Age, they moved to Eriador with a company of other Elves, and their daughter Celebrían was born. Around SA 700, they continued to move East because Galadriel sensed an evil presence that she felt the need to oppose. Galadriel and Celeborn dwelt in Eregion for a time, where they also had contact with the Elves in Lothlórien across the Misty Mountains. Sauron attacked Eregion in SA 1697 when he found out that Celebrimbor was hiding the three Elven Rings of Power that he had made. Celeborn led anattack against Sauron’s forces, along with Elrond, who had brought his own reinforcements from Lindon. However, Sauron’s forces were too great and he overtook Eregion.
What happened to Celeborn and Galadriel immediately after this is unclear, but it is thought that they went to live in Lothlórien for a time, though they were not yet its leaders. They also might have lived in Rivendell for a while. In any case,their daughter Celebrían married Elrondat the beginning of the Third Age, and she, of course, eventually gave birth to twin sons Elladan and Elrohir as well as a daughter - Arwen. Lothlórien was left without a leader in the Third Age, so Celeborn and Galadriel returned there to become its Lord and Lady, which is where they come into the story ofThe Lord of the Rings.
Celeborn inThe Rings of Power
Since Amazon’sThe Rings of Powertakes place during the Second Age, it’s incredibly strange that Celeborn hasn’t even been mentioned yet. If the show wanted to follow the canon timeline of events, Celeborn and Galadriel should already be married, and even had Celebrían at this point. There is a chance that though he hasn’t been mentioned, Galadriel and Celeborn have met, though this is a very, very slim chance. After all, it doesn’t make sense for her toconsider going to the Undying Landswithout him as she does in the early episodes.
The implication here is that Galadriel and Celeborn have yet to meet, which is a strange choice for the show to make, as it really messes with the continuity of Tolkien’s lore. It’s possible that they wanted to portray Galadriel and Celeborn’s love story on screen rather than just having them as an already established couple when the show starts, but that particular storyline didn’t fit with the rest of the plots that they already had planned forthis first season. With that being said, it’s unlikely that Celeborn is going to show up in the last few episodes of the first season. The show is too late into the storyline to introduce his and Galadriel’s story, though perhaps he’ll pop up in a sort of cameo role in one of the last episodes.
At this point, it seems far more likely that Celeborn and Galadriel’s romance will be introduced in a later season ofThe Rings of Power, perhaps once this version of Galadriel is more established as a character. It’s unlikely that they would omit that storyline from the series entirely, so fans will just have to wait and see how they decide to tell this love story between the two Elves. Season 2 could take a much more romantic approach if they put that storyline front and center, and now that they’ve set Galadriel up as a headstrong warrior, it could be fun to see this softer side of her as well.
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