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Sep 22, 2020 at 20:02 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Jun 16, 2020 at 9:31 history edited CommunityBot
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Feb 8, 2020 at 15:42 comment added PLL For what it’s worth, I find the book’s version more convincing and true to character. She’s an ancient, wise, powerful leader; you don’t get to that position by making emotional decisions in the moment. She’s wrestled with her conscience a long time, and knows what she wants to do. There is surely still some temptation in the moment, especially given the ring’s own influence — but she’s not making a snap decision, she’s gathering her strength to go through with a decision she’s made before, and at the same time, showing a scared Frodo why neither of them can take the easy way out here.
Feb 8, 2020 at 15:36 comment added PLL @Graham: I asked about just that point here and got a lot of interesting discussion and relevant quotes. The tl;dr of the answers is: she was certainly genuinely tempted at some stage, and had wrestled with her conscience on this long beforehand; but it’s ambiguous whether she’d already overcome the temptation and her speech was just impressing the point on Frodo, or whether the moment with Frodo could genuinely have gone either way.
Feb 8, 2020 at 3:50 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 8, 2020 at 3:12 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 8, 2020 at 3:06 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 23:00 comment added Shamshiel This is a great, clear breakdown.
Feb 7, 2020 at 19:34 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 19:22 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 18:50 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 18:43 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 18:33 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 18:25 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 18:19 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 18:14 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 18:07 comment added Paul Draper @Graham, genuine amusement wouldn't accompany that kind of performance: "And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!" Which I suppose is your point. Fortunately, I have imagined that scene similar to the movie (though movie effects make her face ugly not beautiful IMHO).
Feb 7, 2020 at 18:02 comment added Graham I read that as being genuine amusement. Of course she's playing with Frodo, but not maliciously. For me it doesn't feel like there ever was any real risk behind it. And in the book the light and power come from her ring, Nenya, so it seems to me more like Frodo realising just how powerful she really is, in the same way as the moments where Gandalf ramps up his power. For Galadriel it's a choice between essentially suicide (taking the Grey Ships) or losing her soul, and she's put on the spot with that unexpected choice. Blanchett's version feels more true to me.
Feb 7, 2020 at 17:59 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 17:54 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 17:46 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 17:42 comment added Paul Draper @Graham the movie was virtually identical to the book there. The laughter was at Frodo's folly and her great gain. "Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. 'Wise the Lady Galadriel may be,' she said, 'yet here she has met her match in courtesy'...from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then...the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken...'I pass the test,' she said."
Feb 7, 2020 at 17:33 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 11:23 comment added Graham Galadriel's scene in the film is one of my favourite parts of the films. Not the "dark queen" effects - those are fun, but ultimately a bit cheesy. But Cate Blanchett's delivery of "I pass the test. I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel." is priceless. Tolkien's version is that she laughs, like this was never in doubt - and that's why we all know Tolkien couldn't write characters. The power of Blanchett's performance is that she clearly was tested, and she hadn't known beforehand that she'd be strong enough.
Feb 7, 2020 at 9:30 history edited Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0
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Feb 7, 2020 at 9:24 history answered Paul Draper CC BY-SA 4.0