Galadriel is one of the best Lord of the Rings characters in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, and the version we saw of her in Rings of Power season 1 was distinctly different from that seen in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. In Rings of Power, in which she’s played by actor Morfydd Clark, Galadriel is much younger, and with that youthfulness comes a raw, unrefined anger, and power.
Some Lord of the Rings fans were taken aback by the portrayal as it was so starkly different from what they’d seen before (though, as we point out in our article about Galadriel in Rings of Power, grounded in Tolkien’s writing). However, with the Rings of Power season 2 release date likely to come at some point in 2024, audiences can expect the presence of Galadriel to start feeling a bit more familiar.
Speaking on The Wrap’s UnWrapped podcast, Clark has given some insight into how Galadriel will change going forward.
“She was having a kind of mental crisis [in season 1] and [was] therefore quite involved with herself,” said Clark. “And now she’s kind of thinking about the world and finding joy in things a bit more, despite the darkness. So that’s been really fun to play with. But also, again, doing lots of fun stunts and stuff, which has just been the joy of my life.”
Clark’s comments on how Galadriel’s personality will change – suggesting that we’ll be seeing less anger – come as somewhat of a surprise, as many fans were predicting that the betrayal of Halbrand would cause the Elf to spiral even further into self-doubt and unhappiness. Perhaps this suggests a time skip, then.
Either way, it seems clear that Galadriel is going to be drawing her sword once again to fight her enemies, as Clark mentions continuing to do more of her own stunts.
For more on Lord of the Rings, check out our guide to the new Lord of the Rings movies and find out more about the War of the Rohirrim release date to learn about the upcoming anime movie. Or, get familiar with our picks for the best fantasy series and the best TV series of all time.