How To Make Boring Characters — Rings of Power

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They clearly thought her being Galadriel was all we needed to care about her, because we already care about the original Galadriel.

U cannot use diversity and inclusiveness as excuses for lazy writing. That's what irritates me the most.

This really shows how lucky we were to have Peter Jackson doing the original Trilogy. It could have so easily been mishandled and then we wouldn't have had those classic films today.

Your rewrite of Galadriel's motivations made me realize she also just falls into this modern female hero stereotype of a young woman, loner, badass. Even for someone who's been alive for thousands of years. To make her into a mother who has depth would make her multi-dimensional, which for some reason is just incomprehensible to a lot of writers today. I don't understand it.

I cared more about Haldir's death in Two Towers more than I cared about anyone in this show.

I think another low-key reason that Galadriel was so hard to get invested in is because they gave her an end-goal that the audience knows with 100% certainty she will not achieve. Her goal, however poorly explained or motivated, is to kill Sauron, but we know who eventually does that and it isn't her. She isn't even going to be present when it happens. There's no tension or uncertainty there. It's very difficult to get worked up rooting for someone when you have no doubt that they will fail.

They flucked up the Elves from the beginning by showing Guyladriel's troops being so negatively affected by the snowstorm because they are supposed to be able to deal with it quite well. Legolas was walking across the top of the snow without breaking the crust and these goofballs are dying off from it.

Your description of Elrond's apprenticeship under Celebrimbor made me feel more emotional than anything in the actual show. Not sure if I should be impressed, or even sadder.

The Harfoots was probably the WORST story arc I've ever seen on a show. It makes me actively root against them with how hypocritical they are with how they stay together except for those who get injured then you leave them to the wolves to die.

A show that I think exemplifies that viewers will come back for the characters is Supernatural. The show ran 15 seasons. Most of the seasons after Season 5 were bad. But fans kept tuning in because they were in love with Sam, Dean, and a few others they met along the way.

Fun fact: this remains the only show my family has quit out of boredom. We didn't even make it to the second episode because none of us cared about anyone.

The irony of that example you gave with Galadriel's daughter is that's actually what happens. She's kidnapped and tortured by orks. It's a big reason why Elrond, her daughter's husband, and his sons hate orks so much.

Actually the show doesn't ignore the fact that she has a husband, though it does neglect the daughter. It's said in passing in episode 7, she has a husband, she sent him away to war (same war as her brother) in ill-suited armor and she says she never saw him again. Which makes her motivation to kill sauron even more bizarre. If her husband has not been found, why is she not looking for her husband? If she thinks he's dead, why is she not hunting sauron for both her brother and her husband?

Bringing her husband Celeborn and daughter Celebrian in as characters that spur a protective motive in Galadriel would make extra sense when you know that Celebrian is captured by orcs and tortured so badly she has nothing left of herself, and the only respite she could find was going into the West. A trip from which there is no returning. If they moved that from the third age to the second age (an easy enough thing to do, given their willingness to fudge other timeline elements), that devastating loss would be an excellent motivator that would resonate with anyone. Especially parents. Could even be a hard-punching season conclusion. She works so hard to protect her family from the horrors she endured only to see the absolute worst thing happen to her daughter. But no. Let's make her a loner that has absolutely no compelling loyalty to anyone. Cool.

The even worse sin was ignoring that canonically Celebrimbors family murdered most of Elronds family for some shiny rocks

Actually, in the Silmarillion, Finrod (Galadriels brother) dies by the hand of Sauron, specifically his werewolves. Finrod died defending Beren. So, this would have given Galadriel a reason to hate Sauron.

It's funny how people expected this to be a big culture war flashpoint that we would argue over one way or another but instead everyone more or less agreed it was just bad

The fact the Lord of the rings movies are now referred to the original trilogy sent shivers down my spine

The problem I see with Galadriel's character is the big question: How do we see her become the wise, clairvoyant, indomitable Faerie queen, an "elf witch of terrible power"? I don't see Xena Warrior Elf Princess in any way becoming the insightful adamant Power we see in the books and movies. The Way of the Sword and the Way of the Wise are very seldom the same path; they require different strengths. I think an exploring of how a young elf princess becoming a mighty queen of magic would certainly involve a trauma that straps her of innocence and naivete. The books list several: her dispute with Feanor, the murder of the Two Trees, the theft of the Silmarils, the Kinslaying at Aqualondè, the Doom of the Noldor, the deadly crossing of the Helcaraxe, the War with Morgoth... Any or all of those could be explored as events that steel her spine and shape her character. Then comes the Mentor who will start her on the road to Power. Who would such a mentor be? Are they honest or manipulative? What lessons does she learn? How does she overcome her trauma and gain compassion, while still remaining true to her stated mission? That would be a story worth seeing...