Now that we aren’t trying to sus out who Sauron is, because we know he’s Halbrand, it’s time to fully focus on a different Rings of Power mystery: Who is The Stranger? So, with Rings of Power Season 2 starting on the 2024 TV schedule on August 28, it felt like the perfect time to do a deep dive into the theories revolving around this Istari character and his true identity.
While theories bubbled up toward the end of Season 1 that weren’t wizard related we can now say with full confidence that The Stranger is Istari, meaning he’s a wizard. However, what we don’t know is which wizard he is. Even the actor who plays him, Daniel Weyman, doesn't know (or at least that's what he said at the end of Season 1). When asked if he knew the identity of this mysterious wizard, the actor told Syfy:
No, I think nobody in our world knows the identity of the Stranger, including the Stranger himself. I’m actually much more excited by the honesty of that. I think we’ll get a much better performance from me and therefore the audience will understand the Stranger and be better able to empathize with his journey if that’s where I am.
So, with that in mind, there’s been a lot of speculation about who The Stranger might be. Now, as Season 2 approaches and his quest in Rhûn begins, let’s break down some theories about the identity of Daniel Weyman’s character.
The Most Popular Theory Is That The Stranger Is Gandalf
Easily, the most popular theory floating around is that The Stranger is the beloved wizard Gandalf. In Rings of Power, Weyman’s character develops quite the love for the Harfoots who save him, and in Lord of the Rings, Gandalf has an affinity for the Hobbits. Plus, he can speak to insects, he loves a song, and as Games Radar pointed out, there’s a line in the series where The Stranger tells Nori:
Always follow your nose.
You might remember that’s something Gandalf says to Merry in The Fellowship of the Ring too.
Over on Reddit folks have lots of thoughts on this matter, and they have pointed out various clues that could allude to The Stranger being Gandalf.
Many are convinced by the aforementioned notion that The Stranger has an affinity for the Harfoots, just like Gandalf loves the Hobbits. However, @timetraveller1992 went a step further to point out that The Stranger sings much like Gandalf does, and “the taste for music seems to be acquired from his being around the Harfoots.”
Fans have also noted, as ScreenRant pointed out, that The Stranger uses magic similar to Ian McKellen’s wizard. He speaks to fireflies in a way similar to Gandalf talking to moths. Plus, they also both use spells that send ripples through the ground.
Another convincing parallel ScreenRant pointed out revolved around the wizard’s love for constellations. Their article noted that Gandalf was “aligned with Varda” who was the “creator of the stars in the night sky.” The Stranger is fascinated by the constellations in Rings of Power, and he’s following one on his next quest.
Along with all of this, Weyman has said that The Stranger’s costume changes over Season 1, and by the end, he’s wearing robes that are very wizard-like.
Pretty convincing, right? However, there are many fans who don’t believe this would happen. So, while Gandalf seems like the most likely option, five wizards were sent by Valar, so it’s entirely possible that The Stranger is some other magical man.
Could The Stranger Be Saruman?
It’s a well-known fact that of the Istari to arrive in Middle-earth, Saruman was the first. In Rings of Power, the Mystics refer to The Stranger as the Istar rather than an Istar, as Game Rant pointed out, which could mean he’s the first of these wizards to arrive. Plus, Nerdist noted that the wizard was traveling around Rhûn before The Lord of the Rings, and notably that is where The Stranger was headed at the end of Season 1. It also explained that our guy Gandalf never went to that realm as far as we know.
Another compelling point regarding The Stranger being Saruman revolves around the notion that Gandalf didn’t come to Middle-earth until the end of the second age, which was after Sauron was defeated. Notably, Rings of Power takes place before that, during Sauron's rise back to power, so it stands to reason that this wizard on the show might be older than Gandalf.
However, as critics and fans of the series have pointed out, changes have been made from the source material, so it’s hard to tell if they’ll change this or not. Nevertheless, there’s a great case to be made that The Stranger is the wizard who eventually makes an alliance with Sauron.
Is It Possible The Stranger Is One Of The Two Blue Wizards?
The primary argument for The Stranger being one of the two blue wizards has to do with when he arrived. Pallando and Alatar came to Middle-earth during the second age. Having him be one of these two wouldn’t mess with the lore as much as it would if The Stranger was Gandalf. Plus, we don’t know as much about these two, so there’s more room to flex their stories.
You might notice that I didn’t mention Radagast. Like Gandalf, he arrived later, so, that wouldn’t make much sense at all, at least to me. Also, if they are going to move up the arrival of one of these characters, they've been dropping some very direct hints that it would be Gandalf rather than Radagast.
Ultimately, we really don’t know who The Stranger is despite the clues, and the Rings of Power team wants to keep it that way. While speaking to Collider, co-showrunner J.D. Payne said:
[W]e try to make it delightful in that there are several possibilities of what that can end up meaning. Could that mean that The Stranger is Gandalf and that he says that, then he says it later on? It could definitely mean that. Could it also mean that The Stranger is Saruman, and you realize that later on Saruman said that to Gandalf and then Gandalf said it. You know what I mean? There are always ways you can sort of like pinball it. There could be delightful paths that could come out of either eventuality. So, we like to keep those doors open. It's fun to engage with the story and think of the possibilities.
Of course, it is “fun to engage” with the story and all the possibilities that come with it. However, I also can’t wait for answers.
Hopefully, we’ll get some of those when Season 2 premieres as The Stranger learns more about himself and how to harness his power. In the meantime, in the days leading up to the sophomore season’s release, you can stream Season 1 of Rings of Power with an Amazon Prime subscription.
