Kas

When he realized that Galadriel was not only his enemy, but also probably the person who wanted to kill him the most in all Middle-Earth, I'm sure he took it as a personal challenge to seduce her. Deceiving his enemy about who he was, sure, it sounded fun, but getting her in his bed too? Oh, he would laugh when she'd learn the truth...

Of course this dumbass didn't expect to catch feelings for this fiery brat. It must have been a shock to him. Hoisted by his own petard, it blew up right in his face. And he was the one mocking others for being in love, right?

Karma is b*tch.

But with season 3 Haladriel what I would do is definitely have more mind palace shenanigans but have them be more visceral than dream like.

Galadriel on her journey to become The Lady of Light? To get to where she can completely block out Sauron?

I would have this season where she gets as close to the darkness as she will, Galadriel's dark arc. With the stab of Morgoth's crown, I can't imagine there isn't gonna be some fun bound or mind palace shenanigans.

In Act 3 of a supposed 5 act story, this would be were the descent reaches it's depth in the overall story (and I am of the belief that the story is mostly Sauron x Galadriel, people can disagree but idc). Galadriel has been on a steady decline and this is where she'll truly hit rock bottom.

It starts out in Galadriel's mind as a way to discern where Sauron is and his plans but also that secret part of her that uses it as an excuse on why she can't stay away because we know she has to fight to deny him and with the Morgoth STD I think could chisle away are her willpower and make her more susceptible at deceiving herself ala a parallel with Sauron. (Having her fight with her pull to Sauron end in season 2 is so BORING.) And well, Sauron is Sauron and he can't help but play with his bby lady of light. Maybe he teaches her things about how to deal with the bound thing with Morgoths crown or the mind palace itself.

Anyways, lines are crossed, motivations are blurred and Galadriel actually begins to fall to the darkness but still not quite but she is being seduced (give me my fucking kiss and all the they are fucking metaphors Amazon/Tolkien estate).

This would have their most toxic, messy, dramatic interactions as lines are blurry as FUCK and boundaries are crossed.

But Galadriel being her boss ass self comes back, maybe on her own, maybe through Elrond and then from there we would go into act 4 with the momentum of the Saurondriel story where Galadriel can and IS actively resisting Sauron with what he taught her and coming into her own as the Lady of Light where he is defeated in act 5.

Like I said, half baked, all over the place, not fully fleshed out but yah. Would def need some polish and work but that's about how I would do it. Have Galadriel reach a low point but finishes the season firmly on top in the Saurondriel ship and leaves Sauron shaken like season 2 Galadriel as he begins HIS descent and maybe that leads to him fucking up in Numenor or something.

“identify what it is that your opponent most fears.” not to exploit it, but as “a means of mastering it, so that you can master them.”

SAURONDRIEL + hands

During Ar-Pharazôn’s rule of Númenor when Sauron holds the position of the High Priest of Melkor, Galadriel is captured in the middle of a war, imprisoned, and handed over to him as a sacrifice to be made in the Temple of the High Priest, but Sauron has other plans. From Akallabêth to the founding of Gondor, unlikely allies are forged.

“They still have a card to play. Will they not play it, my lord?”

“No,” Sauron revealed, feeling a little more like Halbrand again, though he hated it so—every time that part of himself reared its head within him, he hated it. He wanted to kill it, and let the man within him die. “Do you think they will bend?” he then asked, his own curiosity getting the better of him.

“If they have any sense of survival, they would.”

“No,” he repeated softly, knowing all too well the truth hidden below the surface. “Elves never bend. They only break. They shatter themselves against every obstacle—like old stone caught under the weight of the world for far too long. They fight against all of the elements within it—and time itself as it lurks just around the corner for them as it does for any other living being. They care not for what any of it means. They care only for themselves, so they will never bend.” He could see it now in his mind’s eye, how clearly all of this would end. “They see themselves as masters of all. They must see me now for what I am,” Halbrand said, “and what I am—is vengeful.”

galadriel's pride can be seen as her individualism and her belief in her own exceptionalism. she has a god complex after all.

and her journey can be about her learning how important a community is, how it can uplift her and let her shine and lead if she does right by others.

the way they go about it is that galadriel sacrifices herself as the way of resisting sauron so the elves take her back in their community.

but galadriel's issue has never been that she doesn't not sufficiently resist sauron or is not ready to die in order to defeat him.

her issue in s1 is that she doesn't let anyone in and no one really tries to stand at her side. she is alienated and it is not just her at fault - the people around her fail her and turn their backs on her when she is hurt. they treat her trauma like a burden.

sauron is the only one who tries to understand her and patiently encourages her to open up, thus she lets him in, and he tries to heal her (in his own way)!

but no one, NO ONE, bears the responsibility for alienating galadriel in s2... they just sideline her and doubt her. elrond's "tough love" is fun to watch and all, but man, he could have been a bit softer and more empathetic. gil-galad's joke about her finally being quiet after she wakes up from her suicide jump is... well.

therefore, the season fails to deliver what i suppose it intended to. it feels like a proud female warrior is getting slut-shamed and humbled by the bunch of men who are wrong to have ever doubted her to begin with... ultimately proving sauron right about all others looking on her in doubt.

in the end, it indeed is sauron alone who sees galadriel's greatness and has never doubted her light to overpower her darkness that mirrors his own. i believe that is one of the reasons why he admires her and literally wants to bind her to power.

he does lose it after she tells him that the door is shut and binds her to his darkness in desperation, but the insinuation that the elves take away her sword yet sauron gives her a weapon far more powerful is almost delicious tbh.

"It is not my wish to harm you."

Bind yourself to me!

That isn’t the expression you give to a mortal enemy who you want dead. It’s the expression you give someone who you deeply love or have loved in the past.

And his face! He’s genuinely panicked and in shock and nobody can convince me that his face afterwards wasn’t one of extreme worry. He had to find her, and look for her and see that she was ok and alive. Glug ended up dead because he interrupted that process.

His super vision wasn’t trying to zero in on where Nenya was in the forest, he was laser focused on where Galadriel was.

Charlie and Morfydd can say whatever they want in interviews, but their acting choices tell me loud and clear everything we need to know about Galadriel and Sauron’s obsession for each other.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Rings of Power