The Burden of Those Who Lead
Let us clear the air for Gil-galad.
With all of the lies surrounding mithril, what reasoning drove Gil-galad to make such decisions in the first season? —He never overlooked the threat that mithril posed. In fact, he perceived it before anyone else. His decisions do not contradict the books’ description of his character at all; his vigilance is just extremely subtle.
He is by far the most prescient of the Elves. He can anticipate the impending rise of Evil before anyone else. So, when we find him at the beginning of the series in this period of relative peace, for him we know that it’s deeply unsettling, and that he’s setting about the long chess game of how to protect Middle-earth from Evil. The stillness of an Elf is easy to underestimate, but Gil-galad… He’s just vibrating on another level, and he’s tapped into the health and well-being of Middle-earth in a way that no other Elf is.
Galadriel and Gil-galad both perceived the spread of the shadow, but Gil-galad played the long game, rather than charging at every obstacle in his path like a colt in full gallop.
Elrond: “Then, the shadow she sought. You believe it does exist.”
Gil-galad: “Set your mind at peace about it. What you did was right, for Galadriel and for Middle-earth” (1×01).
Gil-galad was on high-alert, aiming to seize every opportunity to be one step ahead of the Enemy. So, what exactly was his plan? His intentions behind the interrogation of Elrond (1×05) are questionable on the surface (at least, according to Elrond). However, there is a reason he did not tell Elrond everything up front, and instead ordered him to think for himself.
Gil-galad knew that Elrond sought to lead. He also knew that the burden of those who do lead is to see what is right when friendship and duty are mingled. Elrond would have to be tested, and his foreshadowing statement after the first test that we witnessed (convincing Galadriel to leave Middle-earth) hinted that he would possibly fail a time or two.
“It is hard to see what is right when friendship and duty are mingled” (Elrond, 1×01).
Still, he was exceedingly observant. He was able to catch Disa in her lies and discover Durin’s whereabouts (1×04), he quickly noticed that Durin’s table story was fabricated (1×05), and even found out, by sheer investigation in episode 8, that Halbrand was not who Galadriel said he was.* All of this was relatively easy for him, given that friendship was the only factor. Duty was not yet an issue.
Unfortunately, when his friendship with Durin mingled with the duty of saving his people, he believed for a moment that Gil-galad wanted mithril from greed. This was provoked by Durin’s accusation,* which served as a filter for Gil-galad’s honest inquiry.* Elrond trusted the suspicions of a friend over the wisdom of the High King.
* Elrond still does not know that Halbrand is Sauron. He only knows that he is not trustworthy.
* “You want it for yourselves!” (Durin, 1×04).
* “To what do you credit this new invigoration?” (Gil-galad, 1×05).
And so began the test.
Gil-galad: “Your loyalty to the Dwarf is admirable.”
Elrond: “Loyalty to a friend ought to be expected, regardless of his race.”
Gil-galad: “Does that justify lying to your king?”
(Friendship has officially been mingled with duty.)
Elrond: “I wonder, High King, if it is in fact you who has been lying to me. I went to Khazad-dûm with the proposal of friendship, but in truth, you sought something far more tangible. Didn’t you?”
Elrond was unaware of the perilous ground on which he tread. His accusation had the potential to drive a wedge between Dwarves and Elves, and within the Elven race itself, which would most definitely be a welcome divide for Sauron. That is what he wants. (Remember the result of “Amlach’s” speech.)
If we look from another angle, and cut out Elrond’s dialogue, Gil-galad appears more like a father counseling his son by guiding him to a certain conclusion.
“Your loyalty to the Dwarf is admirable. Does it justify lying to your king? Are you familiar with the song of The Roots of Hithaeglir? Recount it for me, please.”
Elrond protested, calling the song “an obscure legend,” but Gil-galad did not correct him; rather, he more firmly ordered Elrond to recount it, giving Elrond an opportunity to think for himself. Thinking or recounting out loud can make it easier for one to recognize the reality of a situation. But when Elrond recited the tale, saying, “within which some claim was hidden the last of the lost Silmarils,” he paused as if he had an epiphany:
To him, it seemed Gil-galad coveted the light of a Silmaril, as King Thingol coveted an actual Silmaril, which spelled his doom. This was the incorrect realization.
Concluding the recount, Gil-galad quite literally quoted the end of the song, and the deduction to which he attempted to bring Elrond was plain as day.
Elrond: “…forging of their conflict a power.”
Gil-galad: “A power ‘as pure and light as good, as strong and unyielding as evil.’ They say it seeped down the roots into the mountain depths, where for centuries now, it has waited.”
Gil-galad emphasized the word power because if not referring to that of the Valar, power is a very dangerous concept. He knew that. Elrond knew that. Everyone should know that.
He said “as pure and light as good,” as if to mimic those who believe the tale to be true and profitable, but once again emphasized “as strong and unyielding as evil,” which is obviously a trait of which to be wary.
Gil-galad was also aware that seeking possession of a Silmaril was once perilous. Finrod privately told Beren that “the Silmarils are cursed with an oath of hatred, and he that even names them in desire moves a great power from slumber.”
Of Beren and Lúthien
Would this not extend to something that supposedly contained the light of a Silmaril? Think from Gil-galad’s perspective. The Oath of Fëanor is void, possibly eliminating the danger of coveting a Silmaril; but he had already sensed that something had been moved.
It’s almost like [Gil-galad] can smell it in the air. And not only that. He’s got this connection with the life force of Middle-earth, almost as if he can feel the tentacles of evil slithering beneath the crust of Middle-earth. And he knows it’s there. And so, it begs the question, what am I going to do about it?
If there was even the slightest risk of moving a great power from slumber, Gil-galad would not name anything remotely related to the Silmarils in desire. He did not awaken anything, but (again) from his perspective… what if the Dwarves did?
“Lord Durin, I should like to commend you. Khazad-dûm has been called the quietest of Dwarven Kingdoms, but in recent months, your furnaces are said to be burning as bright as the eyes of Aulë himself, your mines delving ever deeper. To what do you credit this new invigoration?” (Gil-galad, 1×05).
At this stage of the long chess game, he wanted little more than to know if the Dwarves found the mithril. He was not greedy; he did not demand access; he simply wanted to know if it had been found. Why?
“I ask again, and for the last time. Did the Dwarves find the ore, or not?” (Gil-galad, 1×05).
Something poisoned the Great Tree, and it seemed that the Elves were dying as a result, or that it was a manifestation of their decline. He perceived the same shadow which Galadriel sought, or a great power being moved from slumber; and if he could know with certainty that mithril had been found, part of the evil that spread would be exposed.
“There is no Elf in Middle-earth who wanted a solution more than I. But if this was to be our salvation, [looks at Elrond] I’m afraid we needed it sooner!” (Gil-galad, 1×08).
Or, Elrond should have answered his question sooner.
Elrond overlooked the peril of believing the mithril tale, even after recognizing its obscurity. On the other hand, Gil-galad (whose stillness should not be construed as ignorance, sloth, or lack of intelligence) was aware of the risks. He did not say that the “tentacles of evil” had patiently waited for someone to find and take them. His statement was a caution, the same as Galadriel’s.
“Evil does not sleep, Elrond. It waits. And in the moment of our complacency, it blinds us” (Galadriel, 1×01).
“A power […] as strong and unyielding as evil. They say it seeped down the roots into the mountain depths, where for centuries now, it has waited” (Gil-galad, 1×05).
Elrond missed the point that Gil-galad and Galadriel tried to convey, because in the moment of our complacency, evil blinds us.
Elrond: “Durin was right.”
Gil-galad: “So, you admit the Dwarves did find it. The ore containing the light of the lost Silmaril.”
Elrond: “I admit only this: I promised Durin never to reveal his people’s secrets” (1×05).
Elrond did not admit to anything. Durin claimed that the Elves wanted mithril for themselves, and to Elrond, the way Gil-galad spoke of it sounded like “Durin was right.” But it is hard to see what is right when friendship and duty are mingled. Need we believe what Sauron would want us to believe?
Sauron, supposedly disguised as Amlach, successfully drove a wedge between Elves and Men, using this very topic. “Greedy for wealth they have delved in the earth for its secrets and have stirred to wrath the things that dwell beneath it, as they have ever done and ever shall.”
As a result of those lies, many Men “resolved to depart far from the lands of the Eldar,” despite the real Amlach returning and denying being present and speaking “such words as they reported.” The divide from that conflict wrought utter failure when, many years later, Maedhros attempted to gather as many Elves and Men as possible to overthrow Morgoth, and the descendants of those Men betrayed their allies in the Fifth Battle.
Now, one might ask, “If Gil-galad knew that the song of The Roots of Hithaeglir came from a suspicious source, why would he believe that the mithril contained the light of a lost Silmaril?”
Gil-galad may believe whatever he wishes. Mithril containing the light of a Silmaril would not necessarily be a good thing; so if Gil-galad did believe it, he would still consider the desire for it to be perilous, lest a great power be moved from slumber. Additionally, he was not the one who told Elrond that mithril was the Elves’ only salvation. He only said their light was fading, asked if the Dwarves found the mithril, then left Elrond with this warning:
“If the Elves abandon Middle-earth now, the armies of darkness will march over the face of the earth. It will be the end, not just of our peoples, but all peoples. If the hope of preventing that is not reason enough to make you reconsider your oath, I suggest you find another” (1×05).
Since Gil-galad did not suggest it, whose idea was it to use mithril to save the Elves? —Celebrimbor’s.
Celebrimbor “desired in his heart to rival the skill and fame of Fëanor,” his grandfather. He “was not corrupted in heart or faith, but had accepted Sauron as what he posed to be” (Unfinished Tales). He was the one who said:
“Elrond, I have tested [mithril] under every duress. Nothing diminishes its light. We believe if we can secure vast quantities of it, quickly, enough to saturate every last Elf in the light of the Valar once more, then yes. Yes, it very well could be [our only salvation]” (1×05).
Celebrimbor was never evil, but he was infamously deceived. He firmly believed that mithril was their salvation, but Gil-galad was skeptical: “If this was to be our salvation, I’m afraid we needed it sooner,” he said. When Celebrimbor snapped, credited Halbrand for prompting a solution, and spoke not his own words, Gil-galad finally identified the source of the problem:
Celebrimbor: “But I almost had it sooner! It was only in speaking with the Southlander that I realized—”
Gil-galad: “The lowman? This idea was his?” (1×08).
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