‘The Rings of Power’ explained: Who is Galadriel’s brother?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power episode 1, “Shadow of the Past”

The pilot episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power begins with a young Galadriel playing with some other Elven children in the Undying Lands. She is soon visited by her brother Finrod Felagund, who talks to her about the subtleties of light and shadow.

Morfydd Clark’s older Lady of Galadhrim then continues her monologue and the narrative shifts to show the destruction of the Two Trees, the theft of the Silmarils and Fëanor’s oath to chase Morgoth to Middle-earth. In the war that follows, the Noldorin elves wage war against the Black Foe, a conflict that spans centuries.

According to The Rings of Power, when the war against Morgoth ended and the Enemy was cast out from the world, his second-in-command, Sauron the Deceiver, continued to roam Middle-earth and grow in strength. That’s when Finrod vowed to seek him out, though it ultimately cost him his life. Galadriel took up her brother’s mission, hunting Sauron across the world for years innumerable.

As fans might tell you, Amazon’s series has taken deviated slightly regarding Finrod Felagund as depicted in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, but who was the Noldorin prince and how did he really die?

Finrod was the son of Eärwen and Finarfin, and sibling to Galadriel, Angrod, and Aegnor. When Fëanor took his host to Middle-earth to retake the Silmarils from Morgoth, Finrod followed Fingolfin’s company, and thus saved the doom that befell Fëanor’s people. He neither took part in the kin-slaying of Elves, nor did he push towards Angband in his pride.

During the seemingly endless war against Morgoth, Finrod became a king, founding the underground realm of Nargothrond, and even built the original Minas Tirith in Middle-earth, which was then a watchtower looking over the Pass of Sirion.

When Morgoth began his counterattack against the Elves and destroyed many of them, Finrod stood his ground with his kin but was quickly overwhelmed by the swarm of the Black Foe’s orcs. The Men of Barahir came to Finrod’s aid, and thus saved him from being killed in battle. That’s when Finrod gifted Barahir his ring, which came to be known as the Ring of Barahir, and was passed down in the line of Numenor all the way to Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.

Years later, Barahir’s son Beren asked Finrod for his help in the quest to reclaim the Silmarils, a mission set to him by King Thingol, Luthien’s father, who had wanted the Silmarils as the bride token for his daughter’s hand.

And so it was that Finrod, Beren, and Luthien infiltrated the Fortress of Angband to the north and came to the very foot of Morgoth’s throne. There, Luthien used her powers to sing the court to sleep, and together with Beren, they managed to wrest one of the Silmarils out of Morgoth’s crown.

They even managed to flee Angband but were pursued by Sauron the fallen Maia. The dark lieutenant eventually caught up with them, but not being able to discern their true purposes, he set a wolf to feast on them. When Beren’s turn came, Finrod broke out of his chains in fury and wrestled with the giant wolf, saving Beren’s life but succumbing to his wounds.

As you can see above, while The Rings of Power doesn’t detail how Finrod died exactly — other than saying Sauron killed him — the producers still hinted at the manner of his death, depicting his body as being clearly scarred by claw wounds.

The only discrepancy here seems to be the conflicting timeline. The quest for the Silmaril took place before the Hosts of Valinor descended upon Middle-earth to defeat Morgoth in the War of Wrath, whereas in the show, Galadriel hints that Finrod died after Morgoth was defeated and her brother sought out his second-in-command.

This isn’t a lore-breaking deviation by any means, as The Rings of Power has now used Finrod and Sauron’s acquaintance and their legendary duel for an incentive that fuels Galadriel’s obsession with the return of the shadow.

In the weeks to come, we might learn more about Galadriel’s family, and why The Rings of Power calls her Daughter of the Golden House, as the show continues its first run.