Disclaimer:
1. I own no rights to the characters and the worldbuilding of the story. They belong to Tolkien.
2. This is my own interpretation of the Second Age of Middle Earth but how I would have done the Rings of Power. Many of the plots and subplots are my own although they merge with the plotlines mentioned in the Silmarillion, LOTR Appendices, and the Unfinished Tales.
3. Tolkien kept adding and modifying the history of Middle Earth pre-LOTR. I have taken inspiration and elements from those versions which, according to me, fit best.
4. This piece, chronology-wise, is NOT lore-accurate. However, where other factors are concerned, I've taken as much care possible to stick to Tolkienian lore mentioned in the published books.
5. The timeline in this series is compressed in a similar manner as the Rings of Power TV Show. The crafting of the Rings of Power and the Fall of Numenor etc are only a few years apart. Also, that in my story, Elendil and Isildur are alive when the rings are forged. However, there is the only difference. Apart from my created subplots, the main story threads are as lore-accurate as could be possible.
6. This series is more than just about the forging of the rings of power. We will be dealing with many events in Middle Earth, though they will culminate in the forging of the rings of power. I've taken creative liberty with the plots of the Second Age and added my own elements, which might or might not be mentioned in canon, popular or otherwise. I say this because I have seen how much hate Rings of Power has been receiving for modifying the lore.
7. Parts of this series will refer to my other works as well. There's a section in this episode which refers to the events in my story 'Of the Departure of Galadriel', which recounts the tale of Galadriel leaving Valinor for Middle Earth and is a Years of the Trees or First Age story. This series might have elements that could tie-in with my other story 'Into the Golden Wood', which is a Third Age story. However, I've not decided yet about that.
8. This is indeed part of a series called The Rings of Power.
Seagulls circled the skies above her, drawing Galadriel's eyes further and further into the West.
Not long ago, in the elven span of years at least, she had refused the pardon of the Valar, intending to stay in Middle Earth, eager to rule a dominion of her own. Strangely enough, when the new age had dawned, she had voted for Gilgalad to assume the High Kingship of the Noldor who remained. Celeborn had wondered then at the change in her heart, but she had sensed a bad aura around the title. Almost as though Morgoth, the Great Evil, had lain a curse upon it. Those who wore the crown met a brave but gruesome death. Besides, she had neither the desire nor the patience to rule over those who had followed Fingolfin or Feanor. She wished to bring order and knowledge to those who had not been to Aman and ruled small kingdoms in the east of now drowned Beleriand, far from the wars of the Noldor.
Here, the elves had enjoyed relative peace. All these years, the evil remnants of Morgoth refused to trouble them, and those that did met a brutal end. The elves began to prosper under the rule of Gilgalad, letting her free to prance around Middle Earth and explore the wide lands, making friends of the different peoples of Middle Earth. Whether it was elf, man or dwarf, it didn't matter. She learned much of their cultures and traditions, and partook in them.
Only recently had she returned to Lindon, and she had ridden straight here to Mithlond, which the people of nearby Bree called The Grey Havens. After years of strutting across the vast wide lands, she had felt in her heart a yearning for the Sea and a longing to see once more the far white shores of a green country she once used to call home. Standing thus, her eyes rooted to the West, she wondered if her choice back then was right. Had she fallen to the darkness that had once grasped Feanor?
Her wisdom told her, "Yes, indeed you have fallen!"
How she wished it would say no!
To her either side was her husband, Celeborn, and Celebrian, their daughter. The former was once a loyal subject of Thingol who had then come to Aman and met her. The moment she had laid eyes on him, she had felt destiny calling. And they had been together since, in good and in bad. Together, they had come to Doriath, and he once again became subject to its lord while she studied under Melian as Yavanna had desired. Together they had weathered the storm that otherwise wrapped Beleriand. Morgoth diminished many a Noldor nation, and she simply watched as kingdoms of elves and men were brought low. Into the Girdle of Melian, though, none of the servants of the Enemy would wander.
But, ultimately, as the Valar had warned her, Doriath fell to the greed that had seeped within. She had foreseen it. Along with Melian, she had sought to counsel Thingol to set any other test other than to seek the Silmaril. Doriath might have persevered hadn't it been for Thingol's mad desire to prevent the union of Beren and Luthien. The elven king hadn't expected the child of Man to succeed, but Beren came to him with the Silmaril in his hand and demanded Luthien in marriage.
Perhaps, though, Beren's heist in Angband had borne fruits that resulted in Morgoth's defeat.
She hadn't waited to see the fall of Morgoth. Along with Celeborn and a few other elves of Doriath, she had wandered into the eastern lands of Middle Earth ere Gondolin fell to Morgoth as well. And it was then that she saw vast swathes of land to rule in the east of Beleriand. There were hardly any Noldor here. Most of the elves living in the east were the Silvan and the Sindar along with a few of the Avari.
Some years later, she had rejected the pardon of the Valar and deigned to stay in Middle Earth even as Beleriand sunk into the sea west of her and the rest of the Noldor came pouring in with Gilgalad as their leader. In that moment, Galadriel supported Gilgalad in his bid to be the High King of the Noldor, recognizing in the crown a dark curse set by the Enemy himself. She would never take the title.
It irked her, but she knew that the Noldor would never follow her. They deemed her unworthy, and perhaps even a coward to have sat out the battle with their enemy. Of course, they wouldn't dare tell it to her face and would listen to her counsel. But respect they had not for her as much as they had for Gilgalad.
Her brows had raised when she recognized the irony in it. The followers of Fingolfin did not come to respect her, but strangely enough, the followers of Feanor, those who remained, treated her with the same respect as they had done the great smith himself and his sons. Over time, she had been welcomed in their country of Eregion and sought her counsel to raise Ost-in-Edhil to glory.
Regardless, she did have the ears of those who mattered. Gilgalad and Elrond often listened to her and acknowledged her wisdom. Cirdan often regarded her as an equal and would many a time discuss the fate of Middle Earth.
After the crowning of Gilgalad, peace followed, although the elves still hunted Sauron, the Great Enemy's most trusted servant. But, so far, he had not been found or seen in any lands west of the Anduin.
Three hundred years after the fall of Beleriand, Celebrian had been born to her and Celeborn. Seeing her standing at her side now, beautiful beyond measure, she felt proud of her daughter.
"Why do you look to the West, Mother?" Celebrian asked. "Do you think it's time for us to seek the lands of everwhite and depart from Middle Earth?"
Galadriel sighed. "Nay, daughter, that time has not come yet. For my pride and ambition am I not granted leave from Middle Earth still. The Ban's not lifted off me. I can feel it in my heart. Even if I were to take westward road, it would not bear me to the lands of swift sunrise. That road remains closed to me unless the Valar endeavor to test me if I am ready."
Celebrian frowned. "And when shall that test be, Mother?"
"I know not, but I will, I suppose, when the test really comes. But, for now, I must be content just watching the seas roar and hear the gulls cry in the skies above."
"Even if you were allowed, my dear Galadriel, would you take the westward road still?" Celeborn questioned, his eyes penetrating deep within her.
"My opinion of Valinor restricting my gifts hasn't changed, my husband," she answered, putting much thought into it. "I still yearn to rule a land of my own, and that hasn't happened yet. For the first few centuries, I desisted on taking up a crown, heeding the counsel of the Valar, but after, I perhaps could have asserted my rule on those would follow me. I supported Gilgalad for reasons you know best... that position is cursed, my husband, and sooner or later, anyone in that position is doomed to fall."
"Do you think the High King is doomed to fall, Mother?" Celebrian asked, her frowns deepening. "Do you not wish him well?"
"That would be an accusation I won't have cast on me, daughter, not by you, not by anyone," she said. "I simply sensed a dark aura around the position, and history supports my point of view, daughter. I wish Gilgalad well, and he has done good by the Noldor. He hasn't fallen yet, but who can tell when the Shadow will decide to show itself yet again?"
"Morgoth has fallen, Mother," Celebrian maintained as if in a well-recited stance. "He shall never break into our world while the Valar rule upon Taniquetil. And, Sauron is most likely dead. There'll be no more Shadow in these lands, Mother."
Galadriel smiled. "If I felt my task in Middle Earth had been done, I would say so, but Celebrian, my daughter, grow not so complacent to think that the evil Morgoth wrought in these lands for eons would vanish with his defeat. Morgoth has been weakened severely, yes, but most of his power tainted the entirety of this world. His energy courses through the veins of this world, ensuring that no part of it would be free of his intent and purpose. And ever this world would birth new evil. Daughter, there's still something in Middle Earth that works its will in the shadows. It hides from us, making us blind to its coming."
"I don't agree, Mother," Celebrian said. "Look around you... the world's at peace. By spreading unfounded rumors like this, you shouldn't disturb the peace."
"This isn't the way to talk to your mother, Celebrian," Celeborn reprimanded her in a stern voice. "I'd have you apologize now."
Galadriel raised her hands. "She has done no sin, husband, and there's nothing hurtful in her words to warrant an apology. She speaks what she believes, and although ignorant of the way this world functions, her intentions are without doubt."
Seeing Celebrian infuriated by her defense of her, she continued, "Daughter, I bid you to be less complacent and be more aware of your surroundings. Have you not heard of the reports the scouts bring from the east? Much unrest there, it seems. Some speak of a new shadow."
"A new shadow?" Celebrian scoffed in disbelief. "Must be one of the Easterlings or those strange Southrons stepping up, aiming to be a successor of Morgoth. I've heard they're uncultured barbaric people."
"They're more than what you know of them, daughter," she responded to her daughter's biased view of the men in the east. "After centuries of Morgoth twisting and influencing their minds, they've grown accustomed to violence and chaos. They've little fascination for order and culture, and yet their knowledge cannot be discounted. Their culture, although strange to us from the West, is still rich. But they have always used it in a way that has helped our enemies. Even now when Morgoth has gone from these lands. His influence still remains. Whatever he wrought in Middle Earth, its evil still taints these lands, especially the ones in the east. You see, when a being exerts its power into making things intended for destruction, it pours some of its power into the intended object. Morgoth poured his power into this world, and hence this entire world is a ring of his own making."
"So what do we do now?" Celebrian asked. "We aren't going West, and according to you, the lands of Middle Earth are not at peace yet."
"We'll find a way to bring peace to these lands, daughter," she said, "but now we should head to Lindon. After all, how can we miss Elrond's ceremony?"
Celebrian smiled. "Oh, we can't miss that!" she remarked. "Elrond would be furious if we do so. He clearly insisted last night that we had to come to his ceremonial appointment even if nobody else comes. If someone were to ask me, I would say he was being overly dramatic."
Galadriel laughed. "Of course, I wouldn't want the half-elf be angry with anybody. He would brood if we didn't go... and he already broods enough."
Her daughter nodded. "That be right too!"
Galadriel smiled and turned her back to the sea, heading up the clear marble steps that led to the elven forts beyond. She started to miss the sea yet again, but she steeled her heart against it. Elrond's ceremony beckoned her, and it was still a good ride away to Lindon.