Summary
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The Rings of Power
‘s second season will explore the identity of The Stranger, a mysterious wizard. - Actor Daniel Weyman initially thought he was playing Dark Lord Sauron but doesn’t know the character’s true identity.
- The Stranger’s arrival and transformation could hint at him being Saruman, rather than Gandalf.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is preparing to bring its second season to Prime Video this year, and there are many storylines to be developed and resolved in the new episodes – not least the identity of The Stranger. While there are several powerful characters at play in the Tolkien-inspired series, most of them have been identified, other than the mysterious wizard played by Daniel Weyman.
The Rings of Power is an expansion of the Lord of the Rings franchise, that explores the Second Age of Middle Earth. While there are several characters that fans only familiar Tolkien’s central Rings stories and not the expansive Histories of Middle Earth or The Silmarilion will recognize, there are many new characters that have been developed from Tolkien’s very brief notes found in the Lord of the Rings appendices.
Release Date September 2, 2022
Seasons 1
Studio Amazon Studios, Harper Collins Publishers, New Line Cinema
Franchise Lord of the Rings
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Among these is seemingly The Stranger, a wizard who fell from the sky in the opening episode of Season 1, with no identity and no memory of who he was before. While the internet immediately began to speculate on who The Stranger is, actor Weyman originally believed that he could actually be playing the Dark Lord Sauron in the series. Speaking to Empire in their latest print edition, Weyman said:
“When I first read that script and got to that point, I was like, ‘Whoa, holy moly, I’m playing Sauron here!’ When he’s told he’s Sauron, he’s very close to being manipulated into a place he might not be able to turn back from. Who knows what would have happened?”
Weyman continued to confess that while he is constantly asked about the identity of the character, in all honestly, he doesn’t really know any more than audiences. He added:
“Lots of people ask me all sorts of questions about who The Stranger is, but it’s not my job to say where he’s going. My job is just being in the moment, where I can serve the story best.”
Is The Rings of Power’s Stranger Gandalf, or Someone Else?
From the moment The Stranger arrived in Season 1 of The Rings of Power, fans have speculated that the amnesiac character is actually Gandalf. Although there have been several hints given that the Istari will become the wizard that befriends both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, nothing is yet set in stone, and there are reasons why it is just as likely that the character will not be Gandalf when all is said and done.
The false trailer identifying him as Sauron has already been proven to be a red herring, and the numerous subtle references to Gandalf, through certain phrases spoken by the character and his general appearance, could well be a similar misdirection. One of the most prominent signs that Weyman is not playing Gandalf is the manner of his arrival, which is reminiscent of Gandalf’s Lord of the Rings return following his fight with the Balrog. His fleeting memories of his previous self, and his switch from the Grey to the White, seem to be a similar metamorphosis that The Stranger is undergoing.
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This could suggest that another familiar Lord of the Rings wizard is actually the true identity of The Stranger; Saruman. Having assumedly undergone his own change from the Grey to the White, that could be the event that has been witnessed in Season 1, and we could be seeing the rebirth of that wizard long before he became corrupted by the power of Sauron.
Only time will tell whether this is the case, but Season 2 of The Rings of Power will certainly drop more hints to his identity when it is released on Prime Video on August 29.
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