Relationships in Rings of Power

As we may have realized, the relationships in shows are what keep me personally interested. Relationships are core to character development as well as story movement. Relationships are integral to storytelling and are the most important part of media. So here is the analysis of the non-parental relationships in Rings of Power.

We are going to start with arguably the most fun and emotional relationship to watch unfold, Durin and Elrond. Watching these two men interact was truly the greatest joy of the show. They don’t shy away from being emotional and passionate, loving or kind towards each other and it was so beautiful to watch. Their first major interaction was when Elrond is leaving when he first comes to the mountain for help, and Durin just releases all of this pent up anger, and hurt. He isn’t afraid to call Elrond out on the fact that he has pretty much been ignored for the last two decades, and even more then that he isn’t afraid to express how much that hurt him. Because it all comes from a place of missing his friend. Durin had gone through all these life milestones and he had to do that without his best friend. Elrond genuinely feels bad, because as an elf he genuinely doesn’t realize how much time has passed. The fact that Durin goes to his father for Elrond, knowing what kind of tension that would cause, speaks a lot to their love for each other. The fact that when the King says no Durin ignores him to save his friend strengthens that fact even more. Theri interactions are charged with love and playfulness and the fact that Tolkein doesn’t shy away from writing affectionate male relationships is one of my favorite parts of his writing and I am so glad that the adaptations chose to keep that.

Elrond is a part of a few important relationships, the next being Galadriel. We didn’t get to see this relationship a lot, but the way it was written was incredible. With very little screen time the writers were able to convey history and trust between these two. This is going to prove to be a very important relationship going forward, especially since the first rings are now forged.

Now this next one is arguably the most important relationship we have seen and are going to see, Galadriel and Halbrand. Now that we have gotten the reveal that Halbrand is Sauron the set up of their relationship becomes 10X more intense. This was a back and forth kind of friendship for much of the season, they saved each other and they really functioned as two sides to the same coin, seeing and relating deeper to each other then anyone else they interacted with. We start to see a darkness in Galadriel that, now for obvious reasons, Halbrand understands and soothes. This is also going to be a very important relationship going forward as Galadriel is the main character of this series and Hlabrand/Sauron is the driving force behind this story and Lord of the Rings, seeing these two stories connect is going to be really really cool to watch.

Another very sweet relationship to watch is Gandalf and Nori. Yes you could also call him “the stranger” or “the traveler” but he’s Gandalf so I really don’t feel like being long winded about it. This relationship was integral to awakening Gandalf’s mind. We wouldn’t know who he was, and neither would he, without Nori’s loyalty and friendship. Now they are going on a journey together and I truly can not wait to see this develop, because the circular writing of him setting off with a hobbit and then always circling back to hobbits whenever he has a journey to embark on is literally the cutest thing.

All of the relationships in Rings of Power were so well set up and though most of them could have been developed more and given more screen time, I do love that they were all set up in a way that will make development and growth very easy in the seasons to come.