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In The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies, the White Council attacks Dol Guldur.

During this attack, each of the Council makes various attacks, with Galadriel making some of the most powerful. But unlike the others, this greatly weakened her, she was lying on the ground for most of the battle, and afterwards, she could barely walk.

Why was she alone affected this way?

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  • Not sure, but using the Ring of Power may have weakened her. Philippa Boyens has confirmed that the Three's paper in Dol Guldur would be more prominent in the Extended Edition of The Battle of the Five Armies; maybe they give a better answer there.
    – Alfredo Hernández
    Dec 22, 2014 at 6:55
  • Elrond was presumably also using his Ring of Power.
    – Mike Scott
    Dec 22, 2014 at 7:38
  • The movies been out 4 days. Spoilers, love... spoilers.
    – Omegacron
    Dec 22, 2014 at 16:56
  • Put the main part in spoiler tags. I couldn't take it anymore.
    – Omegacron
    Dec 24, 2014 at 16:27
  • Obviously, Sauron was expecting her. Somehow he had setup a spell or something that was draining her of her strength. She only started to fade when he began talking. Still, she found enough will to revive Gandalf and eventually stand up and overcome Sauron even in her weakened state.
    – user41439
    Feb 4, 2015 at 6:12

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There's no reasonable answer can be given to this just yet, at least so far as the movie canon is concerned.

There is however a parallel in the books, following Gandalf's first encounter with the Balrog in the Chamber of Mazarbul:

I am afraid Balin is buried deep, and maybe something else is buried there too. I cannot say. But at least the passage behind us was completely blocked. Ah! I have never felt so spent, but it is passing.

Gandalf refers this this again when the company finally see the Balrog:

'A Balrog,' muttered Gandalf. 'Now I understand.' He faltered and leaned heavily on his staff. 'What an evil fortune! And I am already weary.'

It's evident therefore that (in the books) use of power is tiring, and since (in the movies) Galadriel uses the most power against the strongest foe, it follows that (assuming the script-writers had this in mind) she would be the most drained.

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  • That might also indicate that Balrogs possess some sort of power-draining aura that weakens those around them. Just speculation on my part, however.
    – Omegacron
    Dec 22, 2014 at 16:58

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