The Rings of Power Finally Hints at Where Celeborn's Been This Whole Damn Time

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 7 showed us the horrific aftermath of Episode 6, when a volcano erupted and covered the Southlands in ash and ruin. With Episode 6 being the most explosive episode in the season so far, Episode 7 balances all the action and drama with many meaningful moments between characters, while also dropping huge clues and connections to the canon Tolkien mythology we already know and love. We get a jaw-dropping cameo of the Balrog of Morgoth and the Stranger’s very wizard-like powers, but the biggest canon link came from Galadriel herself.

In a sober discussion with the teenager Theo, Galadriel revealed that she’d lost two people close to her to the forces of Sauron. The first was her brother Finrod, which was revealed in the first episode. He died a particularly tragic death by Elven standards. Her second loss… was her husband, Celeborn, or so she thinks. 

To Theo, she reveals, “Celeborn was his name. We met in a glade of flowers. I was dancing and he saw me there. The war seemed so very far away then. When he went to it, I chided him. His armor didn’t fit properly, I called him a silver clam. I never saw him again after that.” 

Galadriel never claims he’s dead, but in the millennia that have passed since Celeborn went to war and never came back, it’s safe to say she assumes he’s dead or lost to her forever. Based on Galadriel’s telling line, we know that the Galadriel we meet in season one of The Rings of Power is a warrior born from grief and loss. And still far from the great, powerful, and (mostly) peaceful Galadriel we know from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

With all of Galadriel’s talks about “touching the darkness,” it’s becoming more evident that this entire series might just follow her redemption arc. Many fans have pointed out that the Galadriel in The Rings of Power is very different from the one they’re familiar with, and we might finally know the reason why. 

Most likely, Celeborn's been imprisoned all these years by the forces of Sauron. Because there's simply no way The Rings of Power producers will leave Celeborn dead. We expect to see his resurrection—or perhaps release—in the next seasons, and how this will affect Galadriel will no doubt change the course of the story. 

Catch the next episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power only on Amazon Prime Video on Fridays, 12 noon, Philippine time.