In The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, season 1, Galadriel described how her people came to Middle-earth, but she left out the most confusing part. The story set the tone for Galadriel's desperation to squash the evil in Middle-earth so that she could again return to her home, Valinor. However, the details of this tale are significantly different from the one told in author J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and leaves out the parts that seem to give contradictory versions of Galadriel's canon.
In The Rings of Power, Galadriel talks of the paradise that was her home until the Dark Lord Morgoth destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor. Unwilling to let this crime go unpunished, the Elves sailed to Middle-earth, Galadriel with them, and went to war. The results were devastating, and Galadriel revealed that her people learned of death for the first time. Among the casualties was Galadriel's brother Finrod, who was killed by Sauron. It's a tale of bravery, valor, and vengeance— significantly different from Tolkien canon.
Galadriel's People Led A Rebellion That Resulted In Their Banishment From Valinor
In The Silmarillion's version of events, Galadriel's people, the Ñoldor, wished to sail to Middle-earth to retrieve the stolen Silmarils. However, the Valar forbade them from going. The Prince of the Ñoldor, Fëanor, had been the one to create the Silmarils (which are only mentioned briefly in The Rings of Power), and he convinced his people that the Valar had abandoned them and that they had no choice but to sail to Middle-earth and fight Morgoth themselves. When they did this, another group of elves called the Teleri tried to stop them, and a battle broke out.
This battle, which was entirely left out of Rings of Power, became known as the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and it so enraged the Valar that the Ñoldor were subsequently banned from returning to Valinor. This meant that once Galadriel arrived in Middle-earth, she had to stay there. After Morgoth's defeat centuries later, the Valar extended forgiveness to many of the Ñoldor, but Tolkien had contradictory things to say about whether this included Galadriel.
In some versions, Galadriel was one of the primary leaders of the rebellion and was not excused, which fits with her Rings of Power character. In parts of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, the writer states that Galadriel fought valiantly to defend the Teleri. In others, written long after The Silmarillion, he says that she wasn't even there and had only innocently sailed for Middle-earth beforehand with a desire to explore. Ultimately, it seems that even Tolkien himself wasn't exactly sure where Galadriel fit in that part of the story.
Why Rings Of Power Left Out The Kinslaying
In The Rings of Power, Galadriel's version of the story eliminates the importance of the Silmarils in the war against Morgoth. They are only mentioned in the explanation of Mithril (which still isn't quite canon). Without this crucial detail, the Kinslaying at Alqualondë would make very little sense and would also contradict the series' idea that everyone was perfect before coming to Middle-earth.
The shaky details surrounding Galadriel's involvement in the Kinslaying leaves little canon for The Rings of Power to hold onto. Since Galadriel is the central character, the writers would've been forced to decide once and for all whether the beloved elf was on the "good" or "bad" side of the conflict. By making her inability to return to Valinor a personal vow, they opted out of another potentially controversial change. Leaving the Silmarils out of the First Age is a difficult pill to swallow for many Tolkien fans— so it seems that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power can't win one way or another.
