'Rings of Power': Warrior Galadriel Messes Up LoTR Canon
Don't get us wrong, we're all in for an empowering message – but there's a "but".
In 'The Rings of Power ', iconic elven queen Galadriel is portrayed as a lot less whimsical and ethereal being as we were used to in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Instead, the Amazon prequel introduces us to a fierce warrior in full armor and with a mission to hunt down and defeat Sauron.
However, that is not exactly right if we're talking about the canonic view of the elven world established by John R.R. Tolkien.
A fan explained in a lengthy Twitter thread just why portraying Galadriel as a warrior solely does not exactly do justice to the Tolkien canon. It's not that Galadriel is a woman and thus can't be a capable and skilled warrior; it's that in the Tolkien world, elves are quite versatile – they rarely take up certain roles or vocations and stick to them as their only ones.
"It's that among the Elves, there was far less distinction in role of any kind between women and men," the fan explains, "and between different roles for the same person — someone who was a scribe or loremaster could pursue a role as distinct from that as a warrior."
While elves could pursue any role they desired, they were unlikely to stick with it at all times, which is why portraying Galadriel "always as a warrior" is quite an exaggeration.
However, there is a possibility that 'The Rings of Power' will have more for Galadriel than just being a warrior; after all, there are six more episodes to follow, and that's just season 1.
Meanwhile there's a discussion on social media regarding how lore-accurate warrior Galadriel in 'The Rings of Power' actually is, and lots of fans are pretty disappointed with some inaccuracies TRoP creators allowed.
"In the second age she ruled under Gil Galad with her husband Celeborn. In no way she ever was involved with swords nor she ever led an expedition to fond Sauron and avenge Finrod's death." – @JayadevBhanja1
'The Rings of Power' is currently streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes arriving every Friday.