pottersdune

[pottersdune]

I have to say, one thing that amuses me the most regarding Galadriel and Sauron, is that Sauron is a Seducer, you know?

When he realized that Galadriel was not only his enemy, but also probably the person who wanted to kill him the most in all Middle-Earth, I'm sure he took it as a personal challenge to seduce her. Deceiving his enemy about who he was, sure, it sounded fun, but getting her in his bed too? Oh, he would laugh when she'd learn the truth...

Of course this dumbass didn't expect to catch feelings for this fiery brat. It must have been a shock to him. Hoisted by his own petard, it blew up right in his face. And he was the one mocking others for being in love, right?

Karma is b*tch.

[pottersdune]

(requested by @violetaeons)

[pottersdune]

Kind of feeling crazy that Charlie and Morfydd are confirming everything Haladriels have been saying for two years now. In the latest interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEIti9Iyq6Y&ab_channel=MusesOfMedia ), Morfydd confirmed that the most important moment for Galadriel in season 2 was admitting to Celebrimbor (and herself) that she wanted “something” that Sauron offered her.

And the only moment Galadriel had a flicker of smile on her face in 1x08 was right before she called Sauron her king. She wanted him, like she wanted power and the two of those things will be inextricably intertwined for the rest of her days.

Also, shoutout Charlie Vickers for going full Sauron in these interviews, saying “finally” with the biggest grin on his face lmao.

[pottersdune]

This is an entirely unbaked idea that really only follows the lore as we have seen it in the show and in general for how shows and story structure tend to work...

But with season 3 Haladriel what I would do is definitely have more mind palace shenanigans but have them be more visceral than dream like.

Galadriel on her journey to become The Lady of Light? To get to where she can completely block out Sauron?

I would have this season where she gets as close to the darkness as she will, Galadriel's dark arc. With the stab of Morgoth's crown, I can't imagine there isn't gonna be some fun bound or mind palace shenanigans.

In Act 3 of a supposed 5 act story, this would be were the descent reaches it's depth in the overall story (and I am of the belief that the story is mostly Sauron x Galadriel, people can disagree but idc). Galadriel has been on a steady decline and this is where she'll truly hit rock bottom.

It starts out in Galadriel's mind as a way to discern where Sauron is and his plans but also that secret part of her that uses it as an excuse on why she can't stay away because we know she has to fight to deny him and with the Morgoth STD I think could chisle away are her willpower and make her more susceptible at deceiving herself ala a parallel with Sauron. (Having her fight with her pull to Sauron end in season 2 is so BORING.) And well, Sauron is Sauron and he can't help but play with his bby lady of light. Maybe he teaches her things about how to deal with the bound thing with Morgoths crown or the mind palace itself.

Anyways, lines are crossed, motivations are blurred and Galadriel actually begins to fall to the darkness but still not quite but she is being seduced (give me my fucking kiss and all the they are fucking metaphors Amazon/Tolkien estate).

This would have their most toxic, messy, dramatic interactions as lines are blurry as FUCK and boundaries are crossed.

But Galadriel being her boss ass self comes back, maybe on her own, maybe through Elrond and then from there we would go into act 4 with the momentum of the Saurondriel story where Galadriel can and IS actively resisting Sauron with what he taught her and coming into her own as the Lady of Light where he is defeated in act 5.

Like I said, half baked, all over the place, not fully fleshed out but yah. Would def need some polish and work but that's about how I would do it. Have Galadriel reach a low point but finishes the season firmly on top in the Saurondriel ship and leaves Sauron shaken like season 2 Galadriel as he begins HIS descent and maybe that leads to him fucking up in Numenor or something.

“identify what it is that your opponent most fears.” not to exploit it, but as “a means of mastering it, so that you can master them.”

[pottersdune]

SAURONDRIEL + hands

(based on this post by @darklinaforever)

[pottersdune]

Litost. Galadriel/Sauron | Halbrand. Explicit. 273.3k | 3.1k chapter [47/61] Chapter 47: Foundations of the Earth

During Ar-Pharazôn’s rule of Númenor when Sauron holds the position of the High Priest of Melkor, Galadriel is captured in the middle of a war, imprisoned, and handed over to him as a sacrifice to be made in the Temple of the High Priest, but Sauron has other plans. From Akallabêth to the founding of Gondor, unlikely allies are forged.

“They still have a card to play. Will they not play it, my lord?”

“No,” Sauron revealed, feeling a little more like Halbrand again, though he hated it so—every time that part of himself reared its head within him, he hated it. He wanted to kill it, and let the man within him die. “Do you think they will bend?” he then asked, his own curiosity getting the better of him.

“If they have any sense of survival, they would.”

“No,” he repeated softly, knowing all too well the truth hidden below the surface. “Elves never bend. They only break. They shatter themselves against every obstacle—like old stone caught under the weight of the world for far too long. They fight against all of the elements within it—and time itself as it lurks just around the corner for them as it does for any other living being. They care not for what any of it means. They care only for themselves, so they will never bend.” He could see it now in his mind’s eye, how clearly all of this would end. “They see themselves as masters of all. They must see me now for what I am,” Halbrand said, “and what I am—is vengeful.”

Keep Reading

[pottersdune]

#if I had a nickel for every time a noble she-elf held her scruffy love interest at knife-point, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001) dir. Peter Jackson THE RINGS OF POWER : ALLOYED (2022) dir. Wayne Yip

[pottersdune]

the thing is, there can be a character development journey about galadriel outgrowing her pride without it feeling sexist.

galadriel's pride can be seen as her individualism and her belief in her own exceptionalism. she has a god complex after all.

and her journey can be about her learning how important a community is, how it can uplift her and let her shine and lead if she does right by others.

the way they go about it is that galadriel sacrifices herself as the way of resisting sauron so the elves take her back in their community.

but galadriel's issue has never been that she doesn't not sufficiently resist sauron or is not ready to die in order to defeat him.

her issue in s1 is that she doesn't let anyone in and no one really tries to stand at her side. she is alienated and it is not just her at fault - the people around her fail her and turn their backs on her when she is hurt. they treat her trauma like a burden.

sauron is the only one who tries to understand her and patiently encourages her to open up, thus she lets him in, and he tries to heal her (in his own way)!

but no one, NO ONE, bears the responsibility for alienating galadriel in s2... they just sideline her and doubt her. elrond's "tough love" is fun to watch and all, but man, he could have been a bit softer and more empathetic. gil-galad's joke about her finally being quiet after she wakes up from her suicide jump is... well.

therefore, the season fails to deliver what i suppose it intended to. it feels like a proud female warrior is getting slut-shamed and humbled by the bunch of men who are wrong to have ever doubted her to begin with... ultimately proving sauron right about all others looking on her in doubt.

in the end, it indeed is sauron alone who sees galadriel's greatness and has never doubted her light to overpower her darkness that mirrors his own. i believe that is one of the reasons why he admires her and literally wants to bind her to power.

he does lose it after she tells him that the door is shut and binds her to his darkness in desperation, but the insinuation that the elves take away her sword yet sauron gives her a weapon far more powerful is almost delicious tbh.

it could be a redeeming opportunity to dismiss the sexist development of s2 as a red-herring and further explore galadriel's struggle with her darkness, having her outgrow it in a more interesting and meaningful way.

[pottersdune]

Charlie wearing Nenya! The EW team knew what they were doing with this photoshoot. He’s also wearing Nenya on his wedding ring finger! Haladriel/Saurondriel will never die as long as the subtext of marriage/twin flames/perfect mirrors pervades throughout their dynamic.

“Darkness takes root” was on the cover. Sauron will always remain in Galadriel’s psyche, through her connection to Nenya which she eternally wears, as well as physically through her blood bond through Morgoth’s crown.

Credit to @gwmaximoff on Twitter for the original photo!

I want Morfydd wearing the One Ring during season 3 promotions just to complete the set!

[pottersdune]

haladriel moments: 25/∞

[pottersdune]

Mairon/Artanis Fanart for "Pick a star, and follow it home" by CloudlySkies124

[pottersdune]

GALADRIEL The Rings of Power S02E08 "Shadow and Flame"

[pottersdune]

My Roman Empire for Haladriel will always be that Galadriel could have tried to turn Sauron to good the same way that he made attempt after attempt to turn her to darkness.

Imagine if she just once tried to reason with him, negotiate with him or provide conditions for his compliance. I believe he would have made a lot of concessions just to keep her with him. To be clear, I don’t think she should have done this or is in any way responsible for what he turned out to be, it’s just an interesting concept to explore.

She asks him one question on the raft: rule or save? Which he answers incorrectly. And from then on, she’s done with him. Not because they don’t have a connection or even because of Finrod. It’s because she fell so deeply and the betrayal hurts her so profoundly. She also feels like it was all an illusion and Sauron felt no connection (which we the audience know is false).

Galadriel is well and truly heartbroken throughout season 2. In every conversation she has - with Gil-Galad, Elrond, Adar, Celebrimbor, she is completely depressed. Elrond says Sauron is still in her heart, Galadriel admits that her world has lost all color without him. It is in every acting choice Morfydd makes over both seasons.

With this in mind, the best storytelling device and most heart wrenching thing the show could possibly do is have a full circle and honest conversation between Galadriel and Sauron. Galadriel needs to be honest about everything she felt for him. He needs to be honest about what he felt for her. And the gut punch will be that they had that conversation too late.

It can be after the fall of Numenor or in the last episode of the series where it’s clear that nothing can come of it because at that point he’s truly irredeemable. In order to have a satisfying relationship arc to the central relationship the entire show is based on, this is necessary. We didn’t get it in the season 2 finale and got a bunch of nonsense Marvel-esque lines from Galadriel.

To the showrunners, put the lore bros and neo cons and tradwives aside and focus on the story you have told. Admit that the entire angle of this adaption is about Sauron and Galadriel and their push and pull dynamic (which lasts for 3000 years). Trying to satisfy the loudest and angriest voices on the internet is going to satisfy no one.

Empty action sequences with binary representations of good and evil doesn’t make for a compelling story. The best story telling for a TV show format is character driven and relationship driven. Honor that. Capitalize on the insane chemistry of these actors. Otherwise, your entire story has lost meaning, cohesion and heart.

[pottersdune]

What a masterful job OP 👏 👏

"It is not my wish to harm you."

requested by @neyafromfrance95

[pottersdune]

He was really training her to be his queen 😭

Elrond knows.🐴

[pottersdune]

Oh my god. Crying because I’m noticing her face as she is falling. She thinks she is dying here btw. And her last expression to Sauron is not anger, or frustration or hate. It is pure grief and sadness and yearning and heartbreak.

That isn’t the expression you give to a mortal enemy who you want dead. It’s the expression you give someone who you deeply love or have loved in the past.

And his face! He’s genuinely panicked and in shock and nobody can convince me that his face afterwards wasn’t one of extreme worry. He had to find her, and look for her and see that she was ok and alive. Glug ended up dead because he interrupted that process.

His super vision wasn’t trying to zero in on where Nenya was in the forest, he was laser focused on where Galadriel was.

Charlie and Morfydd can say whatever they want in interviews, but their acting choices tell me loud and clear everything we need to know about Galadriel and Sauron’s obsession for each other.

Bind yourself to me!

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Galadriel and Sauron S02E08: Shadow and Flame

[pottersdune]

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Rings of Power

Season 1, episode 5: Partings