‘The Rings Of Power’ Has A Galadriel Problem

In the third episode of Amazon’s Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, Galadriel finally smiles.

It’s a radically expressive change for a character who, unfortunately, has virtually no emotional range. Galadriel wear—almost exclusively—various shades of scowl; perhaps the occasional glower or puzzlement—but mostly she just frowns and glares at people, either in gritty determination or impatience and frustration.

I think many of the criticisms leveled at this version of Galadriel have missed the mark. She is not a ‘Mary Sue’ as some have claimed. She’s far too unlikable to be a Mary Sue, for one thing. And her character is much too old and experienced to fit into that category.

If you’re not clear on what a Mary Sue is, I discuss the concept in the video below:

I also don’t care that she’s portrayed as a warrior and has skill with a sword. Sure, we don’t see that in The Lord Of The Rings, but by then she’s close to 10,000 years old give or take. She’s fought against Morgoth and Sauron. It stands to reason she’s picked up some skills with a blade and probably a bunch of other weapons. She’s a Level 200 High Elf. She’s multi-classed to the gills.

Unfortunately, in The Rings Of Power it appears Galadriel has not picked up any people skills despite being several thousand years old at this point. She shows up in Númenor—rescued by Elendil and brought safely to the island nation—with her heckles up, combatively abrasive for no apparent reason. She’s an elder of an immortal race, born in Valinor, one of the few beings left who lived through the First Age and saw the Two Trees.

And yet she acts like a petulant teenager—so much so that Elendil actually tells her she reminds him of his children. I’m not sure how old Elendil is supposed to be—his people live for hundreds of years—but he’s not close to as old and experienced as Galadriel. But somehow The Rings Of Power wants us to believe that this ancient elven being is as diplomatic as one of Durin’s rocks?

After three episodes, I also have to sadly admit that I think the casting choice here was a mistake. I like most of the cast at this point, but Galadriel is a weak link, and while I’m sure Morfydd Clark is a fine actor, she just isn’t convincing as Galadriel. Sure, much of this is the writing, and maybe if her character was written better I wouldn’t notice as much, but she just doesn’t seem like Galadriel to me at all—even a younger, brasher version.

With Galadriel setup as the show’s primary protagonist and five seasons planned, I admit I’m starting to worry. There’s much to love about Rings Of Power and the third episode had plenty that I enjoyed, but I’m really concerned that Galadriel will sink the ship if major changes aren’t made to her character—and it might simply be too late for that. Which is a shame. Once again, a massively expensive, beautifully shot TV show is slipping because despite all that money, the writing quality just isn’t there.

Again, I’m still enjoying The Rings Of Power, and the massive campaign against it is silly and largely manufactured by people who made up their minds long before it ever came out. Lamentations that it is somehow overly-woke or agenda driven are clearly contrived and enormously nonsensical. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t legitimate problems with the show and Galadriel, unfortunately, is chief among them. Hopefully somehow she gets better as the story moves along.

I made a video about this also. Please watch, like and subscribe! Thanks!

What do you think about Galadriel and The Rings Of Power? Am I overreacting here? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.