Robert Aramayo as Elrond

Credit: Amazon
The Rings Of Power has been controversial since its very first episode among the Lord Of The Rings fandom. But few moments in the show’s two-season run have been as controversial as the kiss in Season 2, Episode 7.

Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) was captured earlier in the season by Adar (Sam Hazeldine) and his orcs. He uses her as a bargaining chip with the elves before the most recent episode’s big battle. When Elrond (Robert Aramayo) refuses to negotiate with the enemy, he requests that he be allowed to bid his friend farewell.

Instead of simply saying goodbye, Elrond leans in and kisses Galadriel on the lips. It’s not just a small kiss, either. It’s quite passionate. After, Galadriel gives him a look that shows just how shocked and surprised she is.

Elrond and Galadriel

Credit: Amazon
This was clearly a ruse on Elrond’s part. He passes Galadriel a lock-pick while Adar, the orcs—and audiences everywhere—looked on in surprise (or horror, depending on your mileage).

This is a big deal because in Tolkien’s actual lore, Elrond is Galadriel’s son-in-law. He’s married to Galadriel’s daughter, Celebrían, though in the show it appears Galadriel doesn’t have a daughter—and her husband, Celeborn is nowhere to be found. It’s also not particularly Tolkienesque, and felt to many like a weird “ship” on the part of the show’s creators.

It turns out, even Aramayo himself was against the kiss. In an interview with Nerdist, Aramayo said he was “honestly against it for a long time.” Here’s the full exchange:

Aramayo: Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Although I think that that act in this world is slightly different in the way it’s perceived. I think when you see a kiss walking down the street, you instantly make certain conclusions about what’s going on. But in the elven world, I think that’s slightly different. And Miv (Morfydd Clark) spoke a lot about that, about how she looked at it differently and stuff. I was honestly against it for quite a while. But I think it’s good when you get those moments because then you talk about it and you sort of flesh out the world a little bit, when you have those conversations.

This is an interesting response, partly because it seems clear that Aramayo didn’t like the idea but had no say in the matter, and that it seems designed not so much to tell the story in the best way possible, but to spark conversation online. At least it’s clear that this was not intended to be romantic or a “ship” and Aramayo goes on to say that rather than read into it too much, “what I’ll run with is Elrond was trying to slip her the keys to get free.”

The actor seems quite knowledgeable about Tolkien in his responses, which is refreshing given how badly the show itself seems to misinterpret his work. He discusses how he’d really love to have Celebrían introduced because of Tolkien’s epic love stories. He mentions Beren and Lúthien as well as Thingol and Melian. But there has been no discussion of introducing her character behind the scenes yet.

In an interview with Dexerto, Aramayo said he was “shocked” when he read the scene. “It shocked me, yeah, when I first read it. I was not expecting it at all,” he said. “But at the same time, I think it’s a smart move from Elrond because it’s the last thing you would expect him to do in that tent, you know?”

I viewed the scene the same way as Aramayo. While I was ready to riot when it first happened, I realized quickly that it was a ruse. And while I think it was still a very, very bad choice on the showrunners and writers part, I’m going to let it slide. There are bigger problems with this series, and plenty of them.

You can read my review of Episode 7 here. Other than the messy, nonsensical battle and the weird kiss, I still think this was one of the best episodes of the series, largely thanks to Annatar (Charlie Vickers) and Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). Of course, that’s not saying much. I genuinely wish this show had remained more faithful to Tolkien’s work. I think most of the cast is really strong, including Aramayo’s portrayal of Elrond, but the scripts are not.