The Rings Of Power's Love Triangle Officially Becomes A Square In Season 3

Circles aren't the only shapes coming into fashion when The Ring of Power season 3 begins, as one character's arrival turns Galadriel's unraveling love triangle into a square. As any The Lord of the Rings fan can attest, romance was not high on J.R.R. Tolkien's list of priorities when he penned the literary classic. Aragorn and Arwen aside, the threat of Sauron offers little time for love, and the closest The Lord of the Rings comes to a love triangle is the gentle suggestion that Éowyn would quite fancy being queen herself.

That's not to say Middle-earth isn't a land of passion and devotion, as Tolkien's wider lore weaves a series of fantasy power couples into the history of Arda. Beren and Lúthien would be the most iconic, their love defying death and darkness to achieve impossible things. Eärendil and Elwing (parents of Elrond) represents another pair of soul mates, as does the fateful union between the maia Melian and the elf Thingol.

The Rings of Power places itself firmly in this more romantic era of Tolkien's world, embracing Middle-earth's knack for a good love story. Across Prime Video's first two seasons, viewers have seen Arondir and Bronwyn overcome the distrust between elves and men, Durin IV and Disa show everyone what a happy marriage looks like, and Elendil desperately try not to flirt with Míriel.

The Rings Of Power's Love Triangle Arrived In Season 2

By far the most prominent, and, indeed, controversial, romance angle in The Rings of Power so far has been Galadriel and Sauron. The attraction developed before Galadriel became aware of who "Halbrand" really was, but even after the truth came to light, Galadriel couldn't quite shake the feelings she'd developed. For his part, Sauron was mostly just trying to feed his own ego, leaving an open invitation for Galadriel to rule Middle-earth by his side.

As if falling for the scourge of Middle-earth wasn't problematic enough for Galadriel, The Rings of Power threw a second curveball in season 2, as Elrond kissed her tenderly while both were captured by Adar.

Both Morfydd Clark (Galadriel actor) and The Rings of Power's showrunners clarified that the kiss was platonic in nature. Even so, one could make a fairly strong argument that the scene itself suggested otherwise. Looking at the direction and music, combined with previous in-show hints that Elrond harbored emotions he wasn't sharing openly, and it takes a great deal of squinting before you can see Elrond kissing Galadriel as anything other than a show of yearning affection for a friend he wishes was something more.

Elrond's defiant stance against Galadriel using a Ring of Power only complicates matters. On one hand, later events in The Lord of the Rings prove Elrond is absolutely right to be wary, but his criticism also feels deeply personal, like he's envious that Galadriel and Sauron are bonded by the Rings. Thus, The Rings of Power's love triangle took shape.

Jamie Campbell Bower Plays Celeborn In The Rings Of Power Season 3

If you've got a crush on the Dark Lord of Middle-earth and your best friend has just planted a surprise kiss on you, the last thing you probably need is a husband returning from the dead.

In The Rings of Power season 3, Galadriel's husband returns from the dead.

Celeborn will be familiar to fans of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies as the blond elf in Lothlórien who stands next to Galadriel and says very little. He's not significantly more active in Tolkien's original books, but it still felt like a big omission when The Rings of Power season 1 declared Celeborn had been missing, presumed dead, since the War of Wrath against Morgoth.

Celeborn's presence in The Lord of the Rings meant he was always likely to pop up on Prime, and he has certainly picked the most inconvenient moment to do so.

What Celeborn's Return Means For Galadriel's Stories With Sauron & Elrond

Back in The Rings of Power season 2, Galadriel was feeling a pang of guilt over her dalliance with Sauron, mostly because she failed to spot the threat, but perhaps also because she started to care for said threat. There's a potential for that guilt to heighten once Galadriel realizes her husband was alive all along. Will she be open about what transpired with "Halbrand?" Will Celeborn's presence quash any lingering emotions Galadriel has for the Dark Lord? Might Sauron take a special interest in bringing Celeborn down, not just because he's a prominent elven figure, but because he's Galadriel's husband?

Celeborn has some questions to answer as well. In Tolkien's lore, over 1000 years pass between Morgoth's defeat and Sauron forging the One Ring, and while The Rings of Power's timeline isn't as expansive, it's still safe to say that many summers have flown by since Celeborn's disappearance. He'll need to conjure up a good reason for not coming home straight away, and if it turns out that Celeborn distanced himself from Galadriel by choice, that will undoubtedly push the couple further apart.

In terms of Galadriel and Elrond, the comments from The Rings of Power's cast and crew in response to season 2's kiss suggest a romance angle between the pair will not be pursued in any meaningful way. Having said that, viewers will be eagerly awaiting Elrond's reaction when Celeborn comes back from the dead. Will he be genuinely delighted to see an old acquaintance alive and well? Or will there be a flicker of sadness as Elrond watches his already-very-slim chance of a future with Galadriel disappear completely?

We're not sure if this constitutes a love square or two separate love triangles, but unless Celeborn starts twirling his hair and blushing around Sauron, we'll go with the former.

Celeborn's Return Is Good News For Canon Loyalists

The Rings of Power has shared a rocky relationship with Tolkien canon over its past two seasons and, predictably, those deviations have ruffled some feathers. Celeborn's comeback shouldn't be taken as a sign that The Rings of Power will shift toward being an absolutely authentic adaptation in season 3, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Prime Video's series works best when it embellishes established canon rather than rewriting it. The relationship between Galadriel and Celeborn is exactly the type of story Amazon's Second Age series should be exploring, because the marriage itself is rooted in Tolkien's work, but only thinly sketched. The Rings of Power season 3 has an opportunity to color between the lines of that love story without brazenly contradicting what's already known about it.