Galadriel & Elrond’s Kiss in ‘The Rings of Power’: Showrunners Reveal the Truth Behind the Moment

In Tolkien’s stories, Galadriel and Elrond are close allies and share a strong bond as leaders of the Elves. Galadriel is Elrond’s mother-in-law through her daughter, Celebrían, who is married to him. Together, they work to protect Middle-earth, especially through their roles as bearers of the Elven Rings of Power.

‘The Rings of Power’ added a twist by having them kiss in the second-to-last episode, while Galadriel was imprisoned by Adar.

I thought the kiss was a trick to help Galadriel escape, but the showrunners, Patrick McKay and JD Payne, along with Morfydd Clark, explained to ScreenRant that it was meant to show respect and loyalty, not romance.

Morfydd Clark explained that she wanted the Elves’ kiss to show love and admiration in a special, platonic way that fits their unique culture. She stressed that the bond between Elrond and Galadriel is based on respect, loyalty, and a long friendship, not romance.

Morfydd Clark: Well, I kind of wanted the elves kissing on the mouth all the time from the very beginning. I kind of see it as an ultimate show of love and admiration, but in a platonic way. And I quite like that. It was kind of felt, to us as humans, quite like, “[Gasps] It’s romantic.”

I quite like the idea that the elves do move through the world quite differently, and kind of a little bit bohemian. But when I read it, I was like, “[Gasps] Ooh.” But I also think that this idea that romantic love is the greatest, most important form of love isn’t something that I necessarily kind of — it’s wonderful.

But there are also so many different types of love, and the love that Elrond and Galadriel have for each other, which is millennia long and filled with respect and loyalty and admiration, is something that I think is so beautiful.

Patrick McKay explained that the kiss wasn’t romantic, but a way for Elrond to show love, regret, and apology, as he realizes he might have been wrong. He added that it doesn’t mean there will be a romance and that elves show love in their own special way.

Patrick McKay: To our minds, the kiss is not romantic in nature. But also, he loves her, and he’s very scared she’s going to die, and he needs to create a distraction to slip her a way of breaking out of her locks. And this is an expression of his love and regret, and apology for starting to realize that he was maybe wrong about some of the things she was arguing earlier in the season.

I don’t know, it grew organically out of the material, and felt like where it wanted to go. But certainly, it does not auger a romance between these two friends in the future. And elves are different, you know. Elves express their love in different ways.

Payne joked that elves are a bit more European, suggesting this is something common in Europe.

JD Payne: They’re a little more European.

Patrick McKay: Yes, yes, a little more European. [Chuckles]

Source

Whatever the reason for the kiss, it was an odd moment and another example critics used to highlight the show’s inaccuracies and breaks from the original lore.

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