Rings of Power showrunners on big reveal for The Stranger

By Lewis Knight

Published: Friday, 14 October 2022 at 12:00 am

One of the most enduring mysteries of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been the character known only as The Stranger.

The mysterious figure, played by actor Daniel Weyman, crash-landed to Middle-earth in a red-streaked meteor at the conclusion of the first episode of the Amazon Prime Video series.

Since then, The Stranger has befriended Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and other Harfoots, but soon displayed remarkable abilities.

The penultimate episode confirmed that he was being pursued by a trio of mysterious characters, led by The Dweller (Bridie Sisson).

So, what happened in the finale once these figures – and Nori – caught up with The Stranger?

What species is The Stranger in The Rings of Power?

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Daniel Weyman as The Stranger in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Ben Rothstein/Prime Video

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 8 confirms that The Stranger is one of the Istari.

The character is identified as such by the sorceress The Dweller who comes from the eastern land of Rhûn.

Later, the word Istari is explained to mean “wise one” or “wizard”.

In the works of J R R Tolkien, the Istari are formerly some of the Maiar of Valinor, angelic beings who took human form and were sent to Middle-earth by the godlike beings known as the Valar.

Five are introduced in the source material –  two blue wizards named Alatar and Pallando, plus Saruman the White, Gandalf the Grey and Radagast the Brown.

Is The Stranger actually Gandalf?

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Daniel Weyman as The Stranger in The Rings of Power.
Amazon Studios

Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press outlets, showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay discussed the revelations surrounding the character and why he was not named as a specific character – Gandalf – beyond that.

McKay noted: “We were talking about Sauron earlier and how the whole season, he’s struggling with his own good and evil, and we know that in Tolkien, wizards can break bad, right? You know, Saruman chooses evil, which means that in theory, other wizards can be tempted.

“Even Gandalf has a moment where he’s like, ‘I kind of want the ring, but just don’t even show it to me.’”

Payne then added: “There are also blue wizards who go to the east and eventually have magic cults form around them. So, you know, there’s a lot of possibilities there.”

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Ian McKellen as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
New Line Productions, Inc.

McKay then continued: “I think we want to keep the possibilities open. We’re sort of hinting a little bit, but his whole journey next season is going to explore that further. We don’t think of it as playing a game or withholding something so much as this guy is on a journey of self-discovery, and if we were to just slap a name on him at some point, it might feel a bit like, ‘There we go!’

“All he’s learned is ‘I’m a wizard and I got to find out what that means’. And that journey has value emotionally and in our minds outside of a canon name. For him, all he knows is he’s here on a mission and he’s gonna have to go on a great journey to find out exactly what it is and what he’s supposed to do. I think we’re looking at it as a long-term project, and you want strands to take a while to tie back in and you want to have breadth.”

So, the chance he is Gandalf remains…

Read more on The Rings of Power:

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 is on Amazon Prime Video– you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial.

If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV Guide or visit our dedicated Fantasy hub.

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