This article was originally posted on SFFGazette.com.
This past Friday's penultimate episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power finally delivered an answer to a question fans have been asking since the show premiered: where in Middle-earth is Celeborn?
In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, it's revealed that Galadriel and Celeborn met during the First Age in the elven realm of Doriath. They are still together, ruling over Lothlórien during the events of the LOTR trilogy.
Since The Rings of Power takes place in the second age, Celeborn's absence seemed like a pretty significant alteration to the established lore, but we learned that the character does exist in this show during "The Eye." Or at least, he did!
While hiding from the Orcs on their journey across the scorched Southlands (soon to be known as Mordor), Theo asks Galadriel if she's ever lost someone. The Elven general tells the lad about her brother Finrod, but also reveals that she lost her husband when he went to war and was never heard from again.
Galadriel believes he's dead, but we can't see this series deviating that much from canon, so we'd say there's a good chance Celeborn will return at some point during the second season.
Of course, this raises another question: if he is alive, where has he been all these years? Be sure to share your theories in the comments section.
Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power stars Morfydd Clark, Benjamin Walker, Charles Edwards, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Tyroe Muhafidin, Maxim Baldry, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Leon Wadham, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.