Did ‘The Rings of Power’ just retcon ‘Lord of the Rings’ or are they being tricksy?

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power episode seven

For the last few weeks, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power fans have been asking where Galadriel’s husband is. In Tolkien’s works, she’s been married to the elf Celeborn for centuries by the time we meet her in episode one, but after numerous episodes we’ve seen neither hide nor hair of him. Episode seven – ‘The Eye’ – finally addressed this, and let’s just say Amazon better be pulling our legs on this one.

There’s plenty of evidence in Tolkien’s writings on what Galadriel and Celeborn got up to during The Second Age, though Amazon has taken a different angle and shown Galadriel fighting her battle without a husband in sight. Amazon’s explanation for this is that Galadriel believes her husband died after he went missing in the War of Wrath, in which she also lost her brother.

Speaking to Theo in the latest episode, she fondly remembered her husband and the life they shared before the war tore them apart, “Celeborn was his name. We met in a glade of flowers. I was dancing and he saw me there… the war seemed so very far away then.” She went on to discuss how Celeborn went off to war, joking about how his armor didn’t fit before sadly stating, “I never saw him again after that.”

This is a huge departure from Tolkien’s work, so what is Amazon up to? It’s likely they’re setting up for a dramatic reunion further down the line, tricking audiences into thinking Galadriel might end up with another character (plenty have predictably shipped her and Halbrand) when her husband makes a miraculous return. Whatever the case fans are having a great time creating memes out of the character and telling everyone to relax, Celeborn is fine… probably.

Some want to give Galadriel a helping hand and have made some handy missing posters.

Some are imagining what the conversation regarding this period of their time might look like further down the line.

For this fan has no doubt in their mind that Celeborn is alive somewhere out there.

Many are telling the fandom to chill.

Some chose a well-fitting meme, originating from the children’s animation Brother Bear, to explain how Celeborn might be feeling at this point.

With some finding actual footage of Celeborn at the end of the War of Wrath.

This fan is almost certain that the showrunners are just having some fun with us.

With so many seasons still to go and a persnickety fan base to keep happy, it’s unlikely that Celeborn will stay missing for long. Let’s just hope that the pay-off from their reunion is enough to let their deviation from the source material slide.