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One thing that The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power has promised to do in season 2 is give us the answer we’ve all been waiting for and incessantly theorizing about—The Stranger’s identity. And one of the best theories out there is that The Stranger is none other than Gandalf!
Ever since we first laid eyes on Daniel Weyman’s character in The Rings of Power after he arrived from the sky in a ball of fire, and we saw that he could do magic, it’s been difficult to shake off the feeling that The Stranger could be one of the Istari.
And once it was confirmed that Halbrand is Sauron, and we heard The Stranger say, “When it doubt, always follow your nose,” which is a Gandalf quote from The Lord of The Rings, and we perceived his kind visage and affinity with the Harfoots, fans leapt at the idea that he could be Gandalf. And yet, there are lots of reasons, chiefly the lore, that tell us it’s not time yet for our favorite grey pilgrim to appear in the story.
Let’s take a look at all the clues and possibilities that The Stranger is Gandalf, shall we?
Spoilers ahead for The Rings of Power season 2 episodes 1–3!
The timeline of the Istari arriving in Middle-earth
In The Rings of Power season 1, The Stranger arrives to Middle-earth in a meteor, and throughout the season, he is searching for the stars that he believes are his home. In season 2, with some of his memories faintly returned, he even talks to Nori about the memories and longing he feels for his home, which kind of sounds similar to what Círdan is talking about when he speaks to Elrond about Valinor.
Sure, if The Stranger is Gandalf, then the timeline of his arrival is off, because according to the lore, of the five Istari (wise men or wizards), only the two Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando, arrive in the Second Age. The other three—Saruman, Gandalf, and Radagast—come to Middle-earth in the Third Age, and they meet Círdan first, who because of his far-sightedness, gives the elven ring Narya (ring of fire) to Gandalf, as it enables the one who bears it to inspire courage and strength in others.
However, Tolkien’s writings contain rather inconsistent accounts of whether the other Istari ever went to Middle-earth before the Third Age. In fact, in the book Unfinished Tales, in the chapter “The Elessar,” it is mentioned that Olórin (Gandalf’s Maia name) brought back the green Elessar stone and gave it to Galadriel after she talked about being weary of the falling leaves and fading beauty of Middle-earth, and longed for her home, Valinor.
If this were to be in the Third Age, then Galadriel would’ve been able to use her elven ring, Nenya, and wouldn’t need the Elessar to restore beauty in her lands. This could indicate that there’s a possibility that Gandalf could’ve arrived some time in the Second Age, when the elves had to take off their rings after Sauron was able to perceive them by forging the One Ring.
Besides, a wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to!
The enemy of Sauron
In the Unfinished Tales, which has an entire section devoted to the Istari, it is mentioned that all the five Istari were Maiar, a class of angelic beings below the Valar, and similar to Sauron. So basically, they were, in many ways, somewhat Sauron’s equals. Of them, the leader was supposed to be Curumo (or Curunír). which is Saruman. However, of Olórin or Gandalf, only it was said that he is the “enemy of Sauron.” In fact, Olórin didn’t even want to face Sauron, but that’s why Manwë the Valar insisted that he go to Middle-earth.
With Sauron rising as the next Dark Lord in The Rings of Power season 2, it is poetic to have the “enemy of Sauron,” who will lead the resistance against him in the final war, also rise, right?
It’s interesting, isn’t it, that while the rest of the world, including Sauron, does not care much about hobbits, Gandalf the Grey seems to concern himself more with their affairs than with that of, say, a kingdom like Gondor? It’s only fair to wonder where this fondness for hobbits came from. Maybe Gandalf had a long-standing association with their kind, well before Bilbo Baggins.
And so, when we see how The Stranger was found and helped by Nori Brandyfoot, a Harfoot who is likely to be an ancestor of the LOTR hobbits, wouldn’t that make for the perfect origin story for Gandalf’s love for the halflings and knowledge of their strong spirit? Unlike Saruman, who became arrogant and prideful, Gandalf remained humble and good, and always positive, possibly because when he came to Middle-earth, he learned from the best, the hobbits?
The Wizard’s Staff
If you’ve seen the first three episodes of The Rings of Power season 2, you know that The Stranger has been having dreams about a wooden stick, a staff, that has been waiting for him above a cliff. And you know who had a staff that resembled a simple wooden stick walking stick, don’t you?
We’ll finally get our answer in the later episodes of The Rings of Power season 2, but until then, it is kind of fun to speculate, isn’t it?
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Jinal Bhatt
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