Emotional bonds in Middle-earth will always run deep, and that’s especially true for The Rings of Power’s most beloved BFFs: Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo). The Elven duo go way back, and their friendship will last thousands of years, into the Lord of the Rings trilogy and beyond. But Season 2 of The Rings of Power has been steadily complicating their bond. With Sauron (Charlie Vickers) gaining influence over Middle-earth and forging his various magical rings, Galadriel and Elrond find themselves butting heads in a major way.
As the fight against Sauron heats up in earnest, however, our heroes are fortunately on their way to reconciling. It began with Galadriel’s capture at the hands of Adar (Sam Hazeldine) in Episode 4, and continues in Episode 7, with Elrond’s attempted rescue. Things don’t exactly go as planned for our protagonists this week, but Elrond does deploy a clever strategy to secure Galadriel’s freedom. However, it just might make things a bit awkward for the duo — and for canon — in the future.
Spoilers ahead for The Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 7.
Though Elrond isn’t able to rescue Galadriel from Adar’s clutches, he does provide her with the means to escape on her own. While negotiating with Adar, Elrond sneakily removes a brooch from his cloak, and by offering Galadriel a farewell kiss, he’s able to pass it to her without any Uruks the wiser. Galadriel later uses the trinket to pick the lock to her shackles, allowing her to rejoin the battle against Adar’s forces.
We could write off Elrond’s kiss as a tactical move and call it a day. After all, anyone familiar with Tolkien lore knows Galadriel and Elrond will never actually end up together — but how will this kiss inform the next thousand years of their relationship?
It’s worth noting that Galadriel and Elrond aren’t related by blood, but in a few hundred years they become family through marriage. Elrond falls in love with Galadriel’s daughter, Celebrían, which makes him Galadriel’s son-in-law. Nothing is stopping that from happening in The Rings of Power just yet — even though Galadriel’s husband, Celeborn, has been conveniently missing in action, while Celebrían is likely not yet born.
Tolkien’s Legendarium also places Celeborn at the Battle of Eregion alongside Elrond and High King Gil-galad, so his absence in Rings of Power is a tad concerning. Does the series plan to introduce the character at all, or could Episode 7 be teasing even more emotional complications for Galadriel?
For now, this kiss is fortunately just a kiss — but when stacked up against all the canon tweaks in The Rings of Power, it does feel like change is in the air.
