Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power introduced fans to Galadriel's older brother, Finrod, as portrayed by Will Fletcher. In the first episode, "A Shadow of the Past," Galadriel describes her brother's tragic fate. He was one of the Elves who declared vengeance against the Dark Lord Morgoth for destroying the Two Trees of Valinor. He sailed to Middle-earth, where he fought against the forces of evil in the Wars of Beleriand. The Elves eventually defeated Morgoth, but that was far from the end of their suffering.

Galadriel narrated, "Orcs had spread to every corner of Middle-earth, multiplying ever greater under the command of [Morgoth's] most devoted servant... Sauron. My brother vowed to seek him out and destroy him, but Sauron found him first." Sauron killed and mutilated Finrod, marking his body with a mysterious sigil. A heartbroken Galadriel took up her brother's knife and swore to continue his mission. In J. R. R. Tolkien's novels, Sauron was indeed responsible for Finrod's demise, but the timing and reason for his death differed substantially.

Finrod Left His Loved Ones Behind in Valinor

In Tolkien's lore, Finrod and his siblings were part of the royal family of the Noldor clan of Elves. According to the section "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië" from The Silmarillion, "Finarfin was the fairest, and the wisest of heart" among Finwë's sons, and Finrod took after his father. He was not the Elves' mightiest warrior or finest smith, but he was one of the most compassionate and selfless characters in Tolkien's entire legendarium. When Morgoth destroyed the Two Trees, he also killed Finwë and stole the Silmarils, which enraged Fëanor. He declared himself the new King of the Noldor and roused his clan to sail to Middle-earth and take revenge against Morgoth. Galadriel was eager to join him, and though Finarfin and Finrod thought it was unwise, they did so as well to keep their family together. However, not even their familial bonds were unbreakable.

The Noldor lacked both the time and skill required to construct ships capable of sailing to Middle-earth, so Fëanor asked Olwë, the King of the Teleri, for aid. When he refused, Fëanor commanded the Noldor to take the Teleri's ships by force. Thus began the First Kinslaying, an atrocious act that would haunt the Noldor for the rest of their days. Finarfin and his children played no part in the Kinslaying, and they were horrified when they learned of Fëanor's actions. Finarfin cut all ties with his brother and remained in Valinor, but his children carried on. They wanted to remain with their people to protect them both from Morgoth and from Fëanor, who had proven himself an unjust ruler. In doing so, Finrod left behind not just his father but also his beloved Amarië. He would go on to spend over 400 years in Middle-earth, but his heart never moved on from Amarië.

Finrod Forged an Alliance With Aragorn's Ancestors

• Finrod was descended from all three of the Elven clans; his grandmother was a Vanyar and his mother was a Teleri.
• Most Noldor had dark hair, but Finarfin and his children inherited golden hair from Indis.
• Finrod was born the same year as his cousin Turgon, with whom he had a strong friendship.

Once in Middle-earth, Finrod built a watchtower on the river island of Tol Sirion to defend against Morgoth's forces from the north. He called it Minas Tirith, and it served as the namesake of the Gondorian city from The Lord of the Rings. Sauron would later conquer this island and rename it Tol-in-Gaurhoth, or Isle of Werewolves. That was not Finrod's only construction project in Middle-earth. One night, while camping along the river, Finrod received a message in his dreams from Ulmo, one of the Valar. As described in the section "Of the Return of the Noldor" from The Silmarillion, Ulmo urged Finrod "to prepare for a day of evil, and to establish a retreat, lest Morgoth should burst from Angband and overthrow the armies of the North." Therefore, at King Elu Thingol's suggestion, Finrod traveled to the Caverns of Narog to construct a stronghold. With help from the Petty Dwarves and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains -- the former of whom betrayed and tried to kill him -- Finrod established the underground city of Nargothrond. For this, he earned the epithet Felagund, meaning "Cave-hewer."

While on a hunting trip in the year 310 of the First Age, Finrod saw a campfire in the distance. He was initially worried that it was a sign of Orcs, but as he drew closer, he heard strange songs unlike those sung by Orcs, Dwarves, or Elves. He went to investigate, and when he arrived, he became the first of the Light-elves to make contact with the race of Men. He and the Men were fascinated by each other. He taught them about Elves and Valinor as well as the threat of Morgoth. He formed an especially close bond with their leader, Balan, an ancestor of Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. Balan came to Nargothrond and became Finrod's vassal, starting a long-lasting friendship between Elves and Men. During the Wars of Beleriand, Balan's great-great-grandson, Barahir, rescued Finrod after Morgoth's forces surrounded him. Finrod thanked him by giving him a beautiful Valinorean ring known from then on as the Ring of Barahir, which Aragorn eventually inherited. He also swore to aid Barahir and his family if they were ever in need. Though Finrod's alliance with Balan's bloodline saved his life, it later claimed it.

The Rings of Power Simplified Finrod's Story

• Thingol had previously established his underground city, which was why he suggested Finrod build his stronghold in the Caverns of Narog.
• The inhabitants of Nargothrond referred to Balan as Bëor the Old; bëor was the word for "vassal" among his people.
• The Ring of Barahir resembled two green-eyed snakes, a symbol of Finarfin.

In the year 465 of the First Age, Barahir's son, Beren, went on a quest to steal a Silmaril from Morgoth. He did so to prove himself to Thingol, who did not want Beren to marry his daughter, Lúthien. Beren asked Finrod for help, and though Finrod believed they had no chance of success, he did not hesitate to uphold his oath. He and ten loyal warriors joined Beren on his venture north to Morgoth's lair. Finrod used Elven magic to disguise himself and his companions as Orcs so they could sneak past Tol-in-Gaurhoth. Unfortunately, Sauron saw through their disguises, as any real Orcs would have stopped at Tol-in-Gaurhoth to report to him. Finrod and Sauron engaged in a battle of magical song, but the Dark Lord was victorious. He captured the 12 travelers and imprisoned them in the depths of the very watchtower that Finrod had once built.

Sauron deemed that Finrod was the only person of import among them, so he set his werewolves loose on the rest. Just before one of these werewolves could kill Beren, Finrod broke free from his restraints and attacked it with his bare hands. He slew the werewolf but suffered a mortal wound in the process. In the section "Of Beren and Lúthien" from The Silmarillion, Tolkien wrote, "Thus King Finrod Felagund, fairest and most beloved of the house of Finwë, redeemed his oath; but Beren mourned beside him in despair." Finrod's sacrifice was not in vain, as Lúthien soon arrived to rescue Beren from Tol-in-Gaurhoth. Since Finrod had been consistently noble and selfless in life, the Valar quickly reincarnated him, allowing him to reunite with Finarfin and Amarië in Valinor.

Assuming Galadriel's narration from The Rings of Power described events in chronological order, Finrod's death occurred after Morgoth's defeat, placing it at least 122 years later in the timeline. The show implied that he was eager to fight Morgoth and stated that he made it his mission to kill Sauron, neither of which was the case in Tolkien's novels. The series also made no mention of Beren, the Silmarils, or werewolves, although Finrod's scars did resemble claw marks. Further, the mysterious sigil was not from Tolkien's writings. These changes were partially because The Rings of Power did not have the rights to adapt stories from The Silmarillion. In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien only devoted a single sentence from Appendix B to Finrod's death: "[Galadriel] was the sister of Finrod Felagund, Friend-of-Men, once king of Nargothrond, who gave his life to save Beren son of Barahir." The simplification of Finrod's story in The Rings of Power also gave Galadriel a straightforward reason to personally hate Sauron. Aragorn's ancestors, magic gems, and lupine monsters would have been a lot of unnecessary information to squeeze into the brief opening of the first episode. All the audience truly needed to know was that Galadriel loved her brother and that Sauron ripped him away from her.