The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star explains meaning behind Galadriel’s sacrifice

The first episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are finally available on Amazon Prime Video, and already there are major talking points for fans to pore over.

In The Independent’s review of the first episode, reviewer Kevin E G Perry calls it “a spectacle-filled return to a lovingly rendered Middle-earth that promises to deliver an awfully big adventure”.

One character’s snap decision towards the end of episode one sets up a significant part of this adventure.

(Beware: the rest of this article contains spoilers for the first episode of The Rings of Power.)

In the closing moments of episode one, Galadriel (played by Morfydd Clark) says no to the promise of eternal life and chooses to continue her efforts in combatting the impending evil in Middle-earth.

The elf believed that – despite things seeming normal now – the state of fragile peace was about to change, so led a quest to find the Dark Lord Sauron to stop the chaos in its track.

Though the search is fruitless, Galadriel and the elf warriors are rewarded for their attempts with the opportunity to board a ship going from Middle-earth to her birthplace of Valinor, a safe place where elves can live in eternal bliss.

But just as she and her soldiers are about to reach their destination, Galadriel jumps into the sea and swims away as the ship disappears into a blinding white light.

Morfydd Clark in The Rings of Power (Amazon)

According to Clark, who portrays the character, Valinor wouldn’t have felt like paradise to Galadriel because she’d always be wondering what might’ve happened if she’d stayed and fought.

“She feels that’s a duty of hers,” Clark told USA Today. “Galadriel is immensely powerful, so when she sets her mind to something, big things will happen. Some of them she expects and is ready for, and some no one in the whole of Middle-earth is prepared for.”

The series co-creators, JD Payne and Patrick McKay, also explained that Galadriel’s feelings about leaving Middle-earth was one of the earliest ideas they had for the Lord of the Rings prequel series.

Story continues

“She’s been through so much,” Payne said. “She has a difficult conversation with Elrond (Robert Aramayo) where she says, ‘If I go to Valinor right now, it would be heaven. But it might not be heaven for me because I’m taking so much pain inside me, and I also don’t really know if I’ve finished the mission that I’m in Middle-earth to do.’ “

Therefore, her choice to jump from the boat was “a very selfless thing and a huge sacrifice, but also very necessary”.

The Rings of Power is available on Amazon Prime Video now.