So I have been thinking a lot more about the Arwen/Galadriel/Celeborn frame and trying to work out a coherent arc for those characters throughout Season 2. It will need some work, but I think there are some good things in there. The host are right. We can't just drop the crux of the matter on the viewers in episode 1, so it needs to be a drip feed of relevant information and revelations each episode about the events around Celebrian and how Arwen is thinking as she slowly weighs the issues in her mind. I have drawn on information from Appendix B The Tale of the Years because in a place where nothing happens you sometimes need to rely on outside events to find something that happened. So those events I have grabbed are the entry for 2944 "Gollum leaves the Mountains and begins his search for the 'thief' of the Ring" which happens two years after Bilbo returns to he Shire, and the entry for 2510, the same year that Celebrian departs over the sea, "Eorl the Young wins the victory of the Field of Celebrant". Unfinished tales tells how when they rode down the vale of the Anduin and came close to Dol Guldur, they were assisted by a gleaming mist flowing from LothLorien which drove back the glooms from Dol Guldur a sign that the powers in the forest actively assisted their passage which I think we can make a significant event for Galadriel as she has chosen Middle Earth over the risk of her daughter leaving for Valinor. I also think we can parallel the search for Celebrian by Eladan and Elrohir with the search for Elwe and the fading of Celebrian after her rescue with the fading of Miriel. There are a few places where there are gaps or I have made HUGE leaps that may not work. I think we also have to draw some conclusions from the events in the frame or the main story and get across the message that there are no right or wrong answers, there are only decisions and we have to live with them.
This also assumes that Celebrian went back to Lothlorien after she was rescued.
Let's get some discussion going on this otherwise I fear the frame will just get mishmashed about with no clear direction.
· Ep1 The waking of the elves at Cuivienen, their lives, the threat of the Dark Hunter
· Arwen and Celeborn. Opening of episode the attack on Celebrian/dream by Arwen. Arwen recollects the time of loss. Celeborn recollects that the shadow has always been with us from the first days at Cuivienen.
· Ep 2 The elvish ambassadors go to Valinor. The Valar debate, the invitation by Orome, the time in Valinor, the centuries pass in Cuivienen.
· Arwen and Galadriel. Galadriel dispels Arwen’s musings on the shadow as she describes the light and hope of life with the Valar and as we make our own future.
· Ep 3 The great debate among the elder, to go or to stay. Divisions arise among the kindreds. The avari stay. Introduction of individuals among the elder. Stirring words from Finwe.
· Decisions can make your destiny. The fate of the world was decided at this time and it shapes your future, so decide carefully.
· Ep 4 The journey of the Vanyar and Noldor to Valinor. The Teleri continue their journey slowly as they linger in Middle Earth. The Nandor stay in the Anduin valley and Greenwood the Great. Elwe goes missing at end of episode falling for Melian.
· Celeborn muses over the beauty of Middle Earth and the desire to stay. Home is where your heart is and you can make your home wherever you wish.
· Ep 5 The Sindar looking for Elwe. Cirdan and Olwe get to the coast. Their friendship with Osse. The choices of Olwe and Cirdan. Elwe is found and the Sindar decide to stay. Elwe has found what he was looking for in Melian.
· Eladan and Elrohir visit and recount their search for Celebrian and their finding of her. Relief of her being reunited with family.
· Ep 6 The final voyage of the Teleri, the making of the swanships and the establishment of Alqualonde. Vanyar move to Taniquetil. The air of Valinor is too intense so the elves settle close to the coast. In effect the last chance to go to Valinor.
· Eladan and Elrohir inform Arwen that her mentor is leaving for the Blessed realm
· Ep 7 Noontide of Valinor. Personal stories of Finwe and his two marriages, the fading of Miriel, the birth of Feanor, the second marriage.
· Release from angst as Arwen with Galadriel remember happy days after Celebrian had been rescued, but her happiness is marred as the poison/scars and memories from her time in captivity resurface and she starts to fade just like Miriel.
· Ep 8 Melkor’s release.
· Rumours of Gollum in the Vale of Anduin, stealing babies etc. Arwen goes to investigate with some of the Galadhrim.
· Ep 9 The making of the Silmarils, Feanor’s pride, Galadriel’s refusal to give hair to Feanor.
· Arwen and Galadriel. Her vow to never give her hair away to anyone.
· Ep 10 The kinstrife, Feanor’s quarrel and banishment to Formenos.
· Celeborn and Galadriel quarrel.
· Ep 11 Rumours in Valinor. The Valar finally track the strife back to Melkor’s lies spread throughout the Noldor. Feanor slams the door in Melkor’s face.
· Celeborn recounts how Celebrian became paranoid in her final days in Lothlorien, believing that family were lying to her and keeping her captive, losing her grip on reality. No healing can be found in Middle Earth.
· Ep 12 The hunt for Melkor, Melkor flees and ends up in Ungoliant’s lair.
· Galadriel recounts how in the face of her daughter declining she actively aided Eorl the Young and the ancestors of the Rohirrim on their ride to the Field of Celebrant.
· Ep 13 The darkening of Valinor. The death of the trees through to the death of Finwë, thieves quarrel, Melkor’s rescue by Balrogs.
· Galadriel and Celeborn recount the leaving of Celebrian for the West (Middle Earth became too dark for her), Arwen ponders her fate when her time comes. Will it be the same as her mentor or does she have a different fate?
I think rather than coming to a definite conclusion about Arwen's fate we just have to say that she has considered it and thought about the consequences of going as opposed to staying as her final decision is made in the context of Aragorn many years later. In addition I feel that Galariel at this time should cast her lot with Middle Earth and feels that the ban of the Valar still applies to her, one of the last remaining Noldor and has come to terms with the fact that she will be in exile for her entire life.