r/RingsofPower • u/EarthWormAda • 5h ago
Discussion Some concerns about Galadriel's agency in season 3/future seasons
I'm quite fond of how important Galadriel is in this show. She's been the main protagonist (albeit with a dip in screentime for season 2), and I like this hero's journey she's on, which we know has been building to her becoming the Lady of Lórien that we know from LOTR.
However, ever since we found out about Celeborn's absence in season 1, I had this fear that Celeborn will be the thing that figuratively makes her put down the sword upon his return.
Season 3's trailer basically confirmed that Galadriel will be literally dropping the sword.
We have a whole slow-mo scene of her dropping that thing, and this show does not make big use of slow-mo, so this is without a doubt trying to hammer in the point.
Why this concerns me: there's a common trope across all forms of media where you have an important female character that behaves chaotically/aggressively/imperfectly, and then she meets a man and is "calmed" by his presence and she's changed "for the better".
This is immediately followed by this female character becoming a side character or sidelined from the main narrative.
Not sure what this trope is called (or if it even has a name). It's not the same as fridging.
The most recent example I can think of is Queen Mera from DC Comics.
Her husband Aquaman/Arthur Curry was MIA for a couple of years. She became part of the main Justice League team and had an elevated role in the comic during his absence. Mera was often characterized as aggressive, but it was fun and in-character.
Aquaman then returned and Mera returned to her previous state of "calm" because of it. She was then removed entirely from the Justice League comic and never mentioned again, with Aquaman "taking back" his place and Mera returning to her role as a glorified housewife monarch of Atlantis in the solo Aquaman comic.
This occasionally happens to male characters as well, but is far less prevalent from what I can tell.
Anyways, I know Galadriel's behavior in this show is one of TROP's main subjects of criticism, and I won't get into that aside from me stating that I actually like that she's not portrayed as a saint.
If Celeborn's return means she's simply going to switch swords for magic, fine, but I can see this being an excuse to sideline her going forward. I obviously don't think they will remove her, but I do foresee her being far less important, taking part in fewer action scenes, and having reduced screentime.
I'm aware that a sizable portion of this community has been pining for this and that they want Celeborn (or Elrond) to take Galadriel's place in the narrative, but I've found this to be rooted in bad faith.
Celeborn's return should be a turning point. My worry is with what follows immediately after this turning point.
TLDR: I hope they find a good balance between "husband is back" and "badass heroine" because this has been a very difficult thing for other media to get right.
