Galadriel And Halbrand's Final Conversation On The Rings Of Power Means More Than You Think
Contains spoilers for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Season 1, Episode 8
Well, that's it. The secret is out, and the Lord of Mordor has arrived to take his place as the biggest troublemaker in Middle-earth. Oh, Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), we had such high hopes for you — some of us, at least. For others, Halbrand has seemed suspicious since the start of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," and fears were realized in the season finale, setting up a dark future for all those involved and hinting at a potential one for Lady Galadriel (Morfydd Clark).
Like Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and the Wizard who may or may not be Gandalf (Daniel Weyman), key figures are immensely affected by Hal ... Sauron's plans for the future of Middle-earth. Above them all is Galadriel, the first person on his list he hopes to bring to the dark side through some tempting words. What's interesting about his pitch to the Elven-queen to be is that it contains words she will say when a brave Hobbit offers her the One Ring before setting off to destroy it for good.
Sauron's talk with Galadriel makes for chilling foreshadowing
To plead his case, Sauron sends Galadriel on a head trip of deception and a repeat of past events. After a twisted reunion with her dead brother, she finds herself at sea with "Halbrand" on the raft she first met him on. From here, Sauron tells her what the world could be like at his side: "I would make you a queen, fair as the sea and the Sun, stronger than the foundations of the Earth."
It turns out that these words, though hard for our hero to hear, will ring in her Elven ears for thousands of years to come, and she repeats some of them to Frodo on their first encounter in "The Fellowship of the Ring." After he offers her the ring, Galadriel transforms into a terrifying iteration of herself, proclaiming, "In place of a Dark Lord, you would have a queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn, treacherous as the sea, stronger than the foundations of the Earth! All shall love me and despair." This establishes that her temptation to fall into shadow with the Lord of Mordor lasts an incredibly long time, even for an Elf's life span. Expect it only to get harder when "The Rings of Power" returns next season and the age of Sauron begins.