Is Celeborn dead in ‘The Rings of Power?’

Celeborn‘s conspicuous absence from The Rings of Power has already managed to raise quite a few eyebrows in the Tolkien fandom, but today’s penultimate episode finally revealed that the character indeed exists in the timeline. There’s a catch, though; he might be oh-so-very dead.

In the books, Galadriel is married to Celeborn by the time Morgoth the Black Foe is defeated and the Second Age of Middle-earth begins. The two found a fief under Gil-galad’s kingdom of Lindon, and there live virtually unperturbed through much of the chaos that engulfs the world thanks to Sauron.

The Rings of Power has obviously done away with canon in that regard, instead bringing Galadriel to the forefront of this new conflict but ostentatiously lacking a husband that should be by her side through thick and thin. So, what is the deal with Celeborn in Amazon’s new adaptation?

Celeborn might not be dead despite what Galadriel thinks

Galadriel reveals that her husband Celeborn went to fight in the war of the Elves against Mordor, never to return. But unlike her brother Finrod, whose body was recovered and Galadriel seen mourning over it, it seems that the Lady of Galadhrim doesn’t have substantial evidence besides Celeborn’s disappearance to pronounce him dead.

Now, The Rings of Power could be breaking away from lore and even undermining Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy to some extent, but the more likely scenario is that Celeborn is alive somewhere.

It could be that Sauron, whoever he turns out to be, even retains him as a hostage. It would certainly give Galadriel something to do besides groaning about the ever-extending shadow of evil across Middle-earth. And who knows? Maybe the husband and wife will be reunited soon.

If the big twist in the season one finale is Celeborn being alive, then we’ll have the answer to our question as early as Friday next week, but something tells us that Amazon is planning to hold onto that revelation for a little while yet.