The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 saw Galadriel tempted by Sauron's offer of power, but her real journey will begin with season 2. Galadriel was always a force for good in J.R.R. Tolkien's works, but there were hints that she would have been a terrible force if her morality had shifted. The Lord of the Rings series saw her tempted by the power of the One Ring, and Rings of Power has latched onto this as the foundation for her prequel character arc. Therefore, it seems that Galadriel's temptation for power and domination is only getting started.
In Tolkien's The Silmarillion, Galadriel's backstory details how she constantly desired to rule in Middle-earth. She was graceful, powerful, and moral and uniquely qualified for it. Galadriel knew she could do great good in the world, and Middle-earth provided her ample opportunity to do so. Of course, the Lord of the Rings has always implied that its most powerful champions could have easily become Middle-earth's fiercest villains. Sauron and Saruman were meant to be good, and characters like Galadriel and Gandalf feared that they could go the same way and were always tempted by it.
Galadriel's Rings Of Power Arc Hints She Will Continue To Be Tempted
The Rings of Power has continued the Lord of the Rings trend of seeing its character tempted by power and evil. Throughout season 1, Elrond was tempted to break his oath to Prince Durin IV to save his people (though it would have caused a devastating riff between the Elves and Dwarves). In the case of Galadriel, she has heavily tempted throughout the beginning of Rings of Power's story. Her desire to return to Valinor caused her to second-guess her vow to continue her brother Finrod's quest. Then, after learning that Halbrand was Sauron, she was tempted to accept his offer of power and domination.
Galadriel differs greatly from her LOTR counterpart, but her desire to rule fits the character's canon. The Rings of Power seems to have chosen this detail to be central in her character arc—as shown by the slowly revealed memory of Finrod telling her that it is sometimes necessary to touch the darkness. So far, as of season 1, Galadriel hasn't come too close to giving in to darkness entirely. However, her hesitance at Halbrand's offer and her confusion over how much of the darkness she can safely touch before she has gone too far indicate that her fight against resisting temptation is only beginning.
Why Galadriel Is Susceptible To Sauron’s Offer Of Power & Rule
Galdriel's conversation with Finrod about the lure of darkness is an invention of Rings of Power and never happened in J.R.R. Tolkien's works. However, there is evidence in canon to support the character arc developed by the Prime Video series. The most obvious is Galadriel's temptation by the One Ring when Frodo came to Lothlórien in The Lord of the Rings. She was offered the Ring's power outright, and though she knew it was evil and could not be used for good, she was tempted to accept it and rule Middle-earth as a terrible and beautiful queen.
Long before this happened in The Lord of the Rings, however, Galadriel was described as having a deep interest in the desire to rule. It was why she came to Middle-earth and refused to return to Valinor even after the ban on the Ñoldor was lifted. This desire wasn't rooted in evil, and she was a truly spectacular leader. Still, a significant theme of Tolkien's works is that it is challenging to rule over others without stepping over the slippery edge of domination. It's likely that The Rings of Power season 2 will continue to explore this and see Galadriel come even closer to the villain she was always a step away from becoming.