The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 may have featured a kiss that shocked countless viewers, but Galadriel actor Morfydd Clark and the series showrunners have finally weighed in on the controversial moment. During season 2’s penultimate episode, Clark’s Galadriel shares a tender kiss with Robert Aramayo’s Elrond during her imprisonment in Adar’s Orc encampment. While the moment held a clear strategic purpose, and allowed Elrond to slip her the cloak pin that enables her escape, many viewers have suggested it also hints at a potential romantic connection between the two.
Speaking with ScreenRant, Clark, as well as showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne, explained that while the moment did convey affection, the kiss was a more platonic display of respect and loyalty than one inspired by romantic intentions. The showrunners would also go on to suggest that Elves express their affection for one another in different ways, even equating their sensibilities to be “a little more European.” Check out their comments below:
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: 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.
JD Payne: They’re a little more European.
Patrick McKay: Yes, yes, a little more European. [Chuckles]
What These Comments Mean For Galadriel & Elrond’s Relationship Moving Forward
A Potential Romance Would Have Been A Step Too Far
Despite being lauded for its production values and attracting largely positive critical responses over its first two seasons, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has not gone without its share of criticisms. With many audience complaints directed toward the show’s apparent reworking of Tolkien lore, season 2’s kiss between Galadriel and Elrond drew particular ire given the characters’ respective relationships in the original writings. Not only is Galadriel still wed to the missing Elf-lord Celeborn during the events of Rings of Power, but Elrond would eventually go on to marry the pair’s daughter, Celebrían.
In a show that has already been accused of taking liberties with the established source material, introducing a new love story between the show’s leading characters would likely have been a step too far for many viewers…
Had Payne and McKay elected to use this moment to lead into a potential romance between the two in Rings of Power season 3 and beyond, it would likely have led to the show’s most egregious departure from established Tolkien lore. In a show that has already been accused of taking liberties with the established source material, introducing a new love story between the show’s leading characters would likely have been a step too far for many viewers, and potentially could have spelled disaster for future seasons.
Our Take On Downplaying Rings Of Power’s Shocking Kiss
The Show’s Creative Team Should Still Have Anticipated Potential Misinterpretations
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While this latest explanation from Clark and The Rings of Power’s showrunners may go some way to allaying fears concerning the show’s future direction, the fact remains that season 2’s kiss was still an unexpected moment. With the show’s more vehement detractors seemingly waiting to see exactly how far the show will move away from Tolkien’s original writings, that scene was still a risky creative choice, regardless of its original intent.
As The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power continues to move forward, hopefully audiences will not be exposed to many more controversial moments requiring further clarification after the fact. While television creatives cannot always anticipate how viewers may react to their decisions, the potential for audiences to misread Galadriel’s and Elrond’s kiss still should have been apparent from the outset.
