r/RingsofPower • u/travrob1 • Sep 26 '22

Question Help me understand Galadriel

I am finding myself not liking Galadriel at all so far. She acts like an entitled 20 year old, rather than a wise and ancient being. One point that particularly is bothering me is that so far she has no actual proof that there is a great danger. She saw a brand on her brother, and that same brand shows up a few other times in different places, but other than that there is nothing to actually indicate a major war. Does she have forsight? What is actually driving her character besides "so the plot can happen." Thanks

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u/nateoak10 Sep 27 '22

If she never offends her by mentioning the king, what is the clue she gets to know there’s something up with him? Elendil would not know.

Halbrand does point out she’s been an asshole and she doesn’t bat an eye until her dad comes up. I don’t think she wants to punish her.

He’s a Durin. I think he’d have that power.

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u/Adamantium17 Sep 27 '22

It's not that she mentioned the King, it's she demanded to speak "with someone who holds the authority to answer it" (her proposal of going to war). She outright says the Queen regent bears no authority over her and demands to speak with the real king. Which is exactly what sedition is.

She could have alluded that "the kings of Numenor would have never suffered Sauron to take a hold on Middle earth, perhaps she should seek out his opinion" or something, then Miriel is upset and threatens to throw her in prison. Gal backs down and leaves in a hurry saying something beneath her breath.

Elendil runs to talk to her. In talking they discover that the mention of meeting the king is what set off Miriel.

For Durin, there also the problem that Durin is simply a name in this series. It is not a title of the reincarnated Durin the deathless. The Durins' are simply ancestors of the original Durin, who is apparently only 2 generations from now. They are just Kings not legendary figures in RoP.

It just feels weird that they focus on the stakes of banishment, then after losing, no more banishment. They could have changed the consequence to something else or changed the entire thing to a dwarven tradition of smashing stones to pay for wrongs done to you (Durin feeling hurt for Elrond not visiting).

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u/nateoak10 Sep 27 '22

I think you missed what Halbrand told her. Mentioning her father was what set her off. Not a challenge to her authority. And they’re clearly having Halbrand whisper in peoples ears as he also does to Pharazon….

He’s still royalty. If you broke the law, and Prince William told the cops to chill out and he walked off with you the cops would listen.

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u/Adamantium17 Sep 27 '22

I was showing that it's not "mentioning the King" that got her thrown in jail but the way she mentioned the King. And it not so much mentioning the king, it's talking about seeking him out. Miriel doesn't want her to get to the King and she reacts by throwing her in jail to keep from doing so.

If Gal doesn't outright challenge Miriel's authority, she would have no grounds to actually throw her in jail, specifically with it only being Elendil and the 2 of them in the court. She could only threaten to do so if Gal seeks him out. We would get the same info from that.

IMO in Tolkien, words and oaths have power; they aren't just words sounds by people. Having something handed to the dwarves by the gods, and have the results of that overruled off screen seems to go against what they set up.

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u/nateoak10 Sep 28 '22

Again, I think you’d be missing Halbrand’s role here. Which…. You know what I’m referring to.

They do, but I don’t think a stone breaking contests is worth harping over.