If there’s one thing The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power does well, it’s setting up mysteries that will have even the tried and tested Tolkien fans racking their brains searching for an answer.
From Sauron’s identity to the enigma surrounding the Stranger, it seems that Amazon’s take on Middle-earth is playing its own version of Riddles in the Dark. Until the writers decide that it’s time for the audience to learn the truth, all we have to go on is guesswork, and no amount of it is going to tell us what we want to know about either of these characters.
Still, despite playing their cards pretty close to the chest, The Rings of Power writers love to leave breadcrumbs for the community to follow, and the hints narrow down the possibilities significantly.
Again, there’s no telling who the Stranger is. Maybe we’ll learn the truth in the upcoming season finale. Perhaps the mystery giant will do something that confirms his identity beyond the shadow of a doubt. But until then, here’s a breakdown of our best theories.
The case for the Stranger being one of the Istari
The Istari, also known as the order of wizards, came to Middle-earth in the early Third Age to guide the Free Peoples in their struggle against Sauron, were he to return. These included Gandalf, Radagast, Saruman, and the two mysterious Blue Wizards.
The Rings of Power has dropped a lot of hints over the past seven episodes that the Stranger is none other than Gandalf. For one thing, the character seems to have mastery over fire, and as you may recall, Gandalf was also a “Servant of the Secret Fire” and the “Wielder of the Flame of Anor.” What’s more, he has the ability to talk to fireflies, which is basically a signature move of Gandalf’s.
That being said, this could be a deliberate red herring, which takes us to the next two possible candidates; Saruman, the head of the order, and the eccentric Radagast the Brown. The only catch is, these two also appeared in Middle-earth in the Third Age, and Tolkien never changed his opinion on that point.
As for the two Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando, they came to Arda in roughly the same time period as the rest of the Istari. At least, that’s what the author implies in TheTwo Towers when Gandalf confronts Saruman for his treachery. But in later writings, near the end of his life, Tolkien asserts the Blue Wizards actually came to Middle-earth in the Second Age to disrupt the Enemy’s machinations in the East. Check out this excerpt from “Last Writings” in The Peoples of Middle-earth companion book:
Their task was to circumvent Sauron: To bring help to the few tribes of Men that had rebelled from Melkor-worship, to stir up rebellion. And after his first fall to search out his hiding (in which they failed) and to cause [dissension and disarray] among the dark East. They must have had very great influence on the history of the Second Age and Third Age in weakening and disarraying the forces of East who would both in the Second Age and Third Age otherwise have outnumbered the West.
That would fit the Stranger as good as any canon description, and the “tribes of men that had rebelled from Melkor-worship” sounds a hell of a lot like the people of the Southlands and their trials against Adar and his Uruk. But if the Stranger is one of the Blue Wizards, where is the other one?
The case for the Stranger being one of the Maia
When asked if the Stranger was Gandalf or Saruman or Radagast in an interview, The Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne hinted that while he may not be one of the three powerful Istaris, he could be of “the same class.”
Again, that could be either referring to the mysterious Blue Wizards, or simply one of the Maia, since all Five Wizards were of Maiar origin. The Maia were lesser angels created by Eru Iluvatar at the moment of creation, to help their greaters, the Ainur, in shaping Arda and the continent of Middle-earth. They were extremely powerful and potent in their craft, being able to influence the very nature of elements in the world and summoning great powers to their aid. Sauron, the enemy of the Free Peoples in the Second and Third Ages, was one of the Maia, and so were Gandalf and Saruman.
The Stranger hasn’t so much as spoken a sentence in The Rings of Power, but his powerful magic only brings the Maiar to mind. Besides, the man literally fell down the sky via a comet, so he definitely must have been a resident of Eru’s Timeless Halls, rather than the Undying Lands of Valinor. As to whether he could be one of the Maia we know, or a completely new individual, your guess is as good as ours.
The case for the Stranger being Sauron himself
We would not have conceived of the Stranger being Sauron if it weren’t for the show itself poking that thought train every now and then with a stick. It started when the Stranger used his magic to realign fireflies and give Nori an image of the constellation he’s seeking out. As the little insects descended, however, their light went out and the Stranger could be seen smirking at something unseen.
I don’t know about you, but in cinematic language, that’s as close to implying someone is evil as you can get without outright saying they’re evil, and a rather hackneyed way of going about it, too. The Stranger doesn’t seem to understand who he is, and he repeatedly puts the Harfoots at risk without meaning to. Of course, one could argue that he helps them out a great deal as well, and that doesn’t sound too much like Sauron, who is the literal embodiment of evil in Middle-earth after his master Morgoth.
All of that makes it highly unlikely that the Stranger will be Sauron, unless Amazon is going for some sort of strange redemption arc that will end up infuriating the entire fandom, even those who’ve actually grown to enjoy The Rings of Power for what it has to offer.
There are a number of other theories swirling about online, like the one that claims he is Tom Bombadil, but we’re willing to go out of their way and say that such a notion makes no sense whatsoever. So, I guess that only leaves us with the most probable of the three possibilities.
Will the Stranger be revealed as one of the Blue wizards? Will his identity be revealed at all? We’re going to learn the answer to that soon enough when the show returns for its season 1 finale this Friday.
