In a recent interview ahead of Season 2, The Rings of Power showrunners play coy on whether The Stranger is really Gandalf. As I’m sure you are aware, Season 1 made it abundantly clear The Stranger is one of the five Istari. In other words, he’s a Wizard. However, whilst that much was made clear, the actual Istari in question was deliberately left vague.
Then there was the dialogue used in the Season 1 finale. The Stranger tells Nori, when in doubt, always follow your nose’. Which had most fans pretty sure this was Gandalf, given it’s a line he uses in LOTR. Though certain leaks have brought this into question. With rumors that The Stranger is on his way to Rhun to meet up with another Istari, it does make one think of the Blue Wizards.
For me, I hope they pivot from Gandalf and go down the Blue Wizard route. There really is no need for Gandalf to show up in the Second Age. Tolkien never write this in any of this drafts that I am aware. Gandalf always showed up on the same boat as Saruman and Radagast, and was given the Ring of fire by Cirdan. Olorin, as he was known in the West, was the most reluctant to go, but selected personally by Manwe because he was scared of Sauron. It just makes things so much easier if this is one of the Blue Wizards who arrived separately, and in one version of Tolkiens writings as early as the Second Age of the show.
Playing Coy
However, when speaking with Collider recently, showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay played coy on the identity of The Stranger. To begin with though they confirmed The Stranger is heading to Rhun in Season 2.
“We’re really excited about that. We’ve never seen deserts on screen in Middle-earth, and we’re really excited to go there. We think deserts are beautiful and awesome and we’re doing our own Tolkienien Lawrence of Arabia . One of the things that’s been fun about that is Rhûn is really a blank canvas. There are little hints. There’s talk about magic cults, and talk about the stars being strange, and rumors of wizards having adventures in Rhûn that may or may not have gone well.”
“We’re drawing on all of those seeds to hopefully continue to tell a story that feels worthy of the other canonical stories in here. It’s been really fun trying to imagine that world, what the people in it are like, what the architecture is like, what kind of a desert. We just spent five weeks shooting in a far-flung overseas location for spectacular vistas, and it’s really cool.”
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And just to point out again, none of these rumors ever involved Gandalf. “To the East is go not”, Gandalf: The Lord of the Rings.
However, they refuse to out me out my misery it seems. (Please don’t be Gandalf)
“We always felt from the very beginning that you need all the ingredients. We always talk about a Thanksgiving meal. You want the turkey, you want the cranberry sauce, you want the stuffing. We felt like a Lord of the Rings show without a wizard who felt the things that wizards in Lord of the Rings make you feel would just feel like it’s missing the point . Anything that can help us get there and evoke those feelings we were drawn to.”
“Despite what some folks might think, we’re really not about a game; we’re really not about a puzzle. But we also don’t wanna take for granted where characters will end up. We want to see them grow and change along the way, and we hope that in the end, you look back and it feels inevitable, but in the moment… I’m trying to say it but not say it. [Laughs]”
Perhaps they are worried about either reaction. Casual fans may say without Gandalf, ‘what’s the point’? I’d call them idiots but that’s not really fair of me. Then there are those like me who will freak out and get mad at Gandalf being inserted into the Second Age where he doesn’t belong. Is the Stranger Gandalf? I blooming well hope not.
What do you think as The Rings of Power showrunners play coy on whether The Stranger is really Gandalf? Thoughts below, are you pro-Gandalf or anti-Gandalf for The Rings of Power?
