The Rings Of Power: Does That Shocking Kiss Happen In The Lord Of The Rings Books?

Lo! This article contains some major spoilers for both "The Rings of Power" and Tolkien's source material. Read at your own peril.

"The Rings of Power" season 2, episode 7, is officially live, and with it comes some shocking new developments in the world of Elves. No, we're not referencing the fact that Annatar (Charlie Vickers) is actively undermining Celebrimbor in Eregion or that he's forging Rings of Power to enslave Middle-earth. We're not even talking about the fact that Adar (Sam Hazeldine) is besieging Celebrimbor's city or that Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Gil-galad's (Benjamin Walker) Elven relief force is on the ropes after trying to break the siege.

This is about the one item on the episode 7 menu that will have all of the Middle-earth tabloids ablaze for months to come. Elrond and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) have officially locked lips. You heard it here first, folks. (Or maybe you watched it and then looked this up to confirm.) Either way, it's official. The Elven heroes have finally fallen for each other. Their smoldering tension has inevitably burst forth into an epic peck in the midst of a dingy Orc camp. If they survive the battle, surely they'll become one of the greatest Elven/Half-elven power couples in all of Middle-earth. This is all just as Tolkien envisioned it, right?

Wrong. Just to clear up one thing right out of the gate: Elrond and Galadriel never kiss in the books, and they don't have a single shred of romantic tension. To date, this is one of the most baffling developments in one of the most convoluted areas of showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay's Second Age story: the romantic lives of Elrond and Galadriel (and I mean that as two separate items, not one). Let's investigate.

Early in her life, Galadriel lives in Valinor (the Blessed Realm) across the sea in the West of Middle-earth. While there, she's a single, empowered, and attractive princess who eventually heads over to Middle-earth with her people, the Noldorin Elves, to fight Sauron's original master, the Dark Lord Morgoth. Once there, she quickly bumps into an Elven prince named Celeborn. "The Silmarillion" explains that they meet in an Elven kingdom called Doriath, and their love becomes so strong that Galadriel ditches her brother when he leaves, opting to stay behind with Celeborn.

From there, the two get hitched and create one of the great power couples of Tolkien's world. They play a major role in resisting Sauron in both the Second and Third ages that follow, including Celeborn helping defend Eregion.

We all know how awesome Galadriel is, but Celeborn is equally impressive in his own way (even if he doesn't have quite her celebrity status — or her Ring of Power). In "The Fellowship of the Ring" book, when the group by the same name arrives in Lothlórien, Galadriel introduces her husband thusly, "The Lord of the Galadhrim is accounted the wisest of the Elves of Middle-earth, and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings. He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted [...] and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat." For the record, Galadriel and Celeborn are an item for ages — starting with the First Age. That means they're together before Elrond is even born.

What about Elrond? When he pops up in "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" stories, he's old, wise, and busily dispensing wisdom and counsel. We know he has his daughter Arwen, but how did she show up? Believe it or not, Galadriel is part of the answer, but not because she hooks up with Elrond.

See, Galadriel and Celeborn have a daughter named Celebrían. Elrond meets Celebrían shortly after the Elven/Sauron tussle over Eregion, which is playing out in the fading moments of "The Rings of Power" season 2. In the book "Unfinished Tales," it says that when Galadriel meets up with Celeborn and Elrond in the newly minted fortress of Rivendell, "it was then that Elrond first saw Celebrían, and loved her, though he said nothing of it."

Elrond keeps his romantic intoxication to himself, Elven style, for over a thousand years. It isn't until early in the Third Age that he and Celebrían get married and have twin sons and a daughter (yes, that's Arwen). Celebrían is eventually captured, tortured, and poisoned by Orcs. She survives but has to leave Middle-earth to seek healing in the Blessed Realm, leaving poor Elrond alone until he, too, follows at the end of "The Lord of the Rings."

Knowing the backstory of both Elrond and Galadriel love lives makes their kissing scene in episode 7 that much more awkward because, well, Elrond is on track to become Galadriel's son-in-law at some point here. Of course, when you live for thousands of years at a time, it's easy to blur the lines between generations, but still. Was that one necessary?

Really, the biggest issue here is the absence of Celeborn and Celebrían. According to Tolkien's lore, Celeborn should be on the scene, helping resist Sauron, and Celebrían, while still a relatively young Elf, should be hanging around somewhere in Middle-earth. The show has inexplicably (thus far) left both characters out of the mix. Based on the little we were told in season 1, Celeborn is MIA, and his daughter still hasn't been mentioned. Instead, Galadriel and Elrond are developing a relationship that is deep enough to warrant a smooch.

To be fair, the kiss was part of a ruse to get Galadriel the tool she needed to pick the lock Adar had her chained to. It also showed a newfound boldness in the young Elrond as he develops confidence and finds his place in the world — but, well, Galadriel's love interest isn't that place. Not canonically speaking. And it would mess with the entire "The Lord of the Rings" story if the show went that way. Likely it won't. We already saw showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay scupper Arondir and Bronwyn's non-canon romance by killing the former off to start the season. The Elrond and Galadriel tension will probably be an even smaller blip in the story — but it's an admittedly odd and awkward one, all the same. Enough emotional detours. We say give us Celeborn and Celebrían!