After season 1 strongly teased the Stranger’s true identity, LOTR: The Rings of Power season 2 faces a Gandalf test that it shall not pass.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 may come to regret the massive Gandalf hint dropped at the end of its first season. Amazon’s Tolkien TV show, set in The Lord of the Rings’ Second Age, introduced two mystery characters in its debut season: Daniel Weyman’s the Stranger and Charlie Vickers’ Halbrand. The two most popular Stranger theories speculated that the fallen Harfoot-botherer was either Sauron or Gandalf. Ultimately, Halbrand turned out to be Sauron and The Rings of Power’s ending heavily insinuated the Stranger is Gandalf.
The Stranger’s true identity is not quite as iron-clad as Halbrand’s, who unequivocally revealed himself to be The Lord of the Rings’ jewelry-making main enemy. Instead, The Rings of Power season 1’s finale saw the Stranger utter, “When in doubt, Eleanor Brandyfoot, always follow your nose.” This advice directly mirrored a famed Gandalf quote from The Fellowship of the Ring, “If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose.” The intention here was clearly to link the Stranger with The Lord of the Rings’ iconic wizard, but like Pippin playing with a big marble he found in Isengard, it’s a decision that may bring trouble further down the road.
The Rings Of Power’s Gandalf Tease Created Expectations Season 2 Will Struggle To Meet
Only A Fool Of A Took Would Go Head-To-Head With Ian McKellen’s Gandalf
Meeting the obscenely high bar set by Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was arguably The Rings of Power’s biggest challenge, and the most direct comparisons season 1 faced concerned Amazon’s recasts – Morfydd Clark replacing Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and Robert Aramayo taking over from Hugo Weaving as Elrond. The elves’ original movie depictions are both beloved, which set huge expectations for The Rings of Power to meet. Neither, however, are as beloved as Ian McKellen’s Gandalf, and that gives The Rings of Power season 2 a much bigger headache.
The Rings of Power season 2 can either disappoint fans who were excited after the ” follow your nose ” tease, or it can run with the Gandalf clue and endure the inevitable, unwinnable comparisons between Weyman and Ian McKellen.
Because the Stranger’s identity was a total mystery at the beginning, he entered The Rings of Power with no expectations attached. His characterization was completely original, containing flecks of darkness and occupying a deep state of confusion over his arrival in Middle-earth. Now a thread is directly connecting the Stranger and Gandalf, The Rings of Power season 2 needs to actually give Daniel Weyman’s hairy wizard all the familiar characteristics Gandalf has. With his mind clearer by the end of season 1, audiences will expect to see the character they know and love, not a raving, childlike recluse.
This immediately heaps far more pressure on The Rings of Power season 2. Ian McKellen’s Gandalf is a performance that cannot be topped, and after the The Rings of Power season 1 finale’s “follow your nose” tease, Weyman’s Gandalf-ness will come under the microscope as he journeys to Rhûn with Nori. When recasting an iconic role, many movies and TV shows deliberately make the new interpretation different, hoping to avoid like-for-like comparisons between past and present characters. The Rings of Power season 2 doesn’t have that luxury, since reinventing Gandalf amounts to Tolkien sacrilege.
Thus, season 1’s Gandalf line has created a no-win scenario. The Rings of Power season 2 can either disappoint fans who were excited after the “follow your nose” tease by continuing to write the Stranger with an entirely different personality to Lord of the Rings’ most famous wizard, or it can run with the Gandalf clue and endure the inevitable, unwinnable comparisons between Weyman and Ian McKellen.
Gandalf’s Presence In The Rings Of Power Season 2 Creates A Canon Problem Too
A Wizard Arrives Exactly When He Means To (But Not Until The Third Age)
The Rings of Power season 1 followed Tolkien canon about as closely as Fëanor followed the rules of Valinor after creating the Silmarils, but despite making countless deviations and condensing the timeline, The Rings of Power was usually careful to avoid rewriting Middle-earth lore wholesale. Stories such as the Southlands transforming into Mordor and Galadriel’s connection to Sauron may not have been plucked from Tolkien’s legendarium, but neither did they outright contradict it.
Including Gandalf in The Rings of Power season 2 would risk breaking that rule. Tolkien stated that Gandalf did not come to Middle-earth until the Third Age and, indeed, was reluctant to be included among the wizards sent to counter Sauron. Gandalf’s hesitancy to fight in the Third Age makes the prospect of him visiting in the Second Age as “the Stranger” difficult to entertain. It would represent a much more significant break from canon than most of season 1’s changes.
Can Gandalf’s Original Form Solve The Rings Of Power Season 2’s Problem? Probably Not
The Stranger Can’t Get Away With Being “Olórin” Instead Of Gandalf
Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies gloss over the matter somewhat, but Gandalf is not strictly a wizard. Just like Saruman and Radagast, he is an angelic spirit – a Maia – who serves the God of Tolkien’s fantasy world. Five Maia were picked to travel to Middle-earth in the guise of wizards, which is how Gandalf ultimately becomes involved in The Lord of the Rings. Crucially, the wizards only possess vague memories of their Maia forms, as well as a fraction of their true power. The Rings of Power season 2 may be tempted to skirt around its Gandalf problem by calling the Stranger “Olórin” – Gandalf’s original Maia name.
Alas, that wouldn’t work either. Dubbing the Stranger “Olórin” would resolve some problems, such as Amazon avoiding the “Gandalf” moniker and Third Age Gandalf not remembering his involvement in The Rings of Power, but the two biggest issues would remain. Although Tolkien wrote relatively little about Olórin, the character feels identical to Gandalf in personality and spirit, so even if the Stranger calls himself by his Maia name in season 2, there is no reason Olórin would behave differently to Gandalf. That means audiences will still expect The Rings of Power’s wizard to act more like Gandalf in season 2, and will still compare Daniel Weyman to Ian McKellen.
Using Olórin as a get-out-of-Angband-free card also wouldn’t do any good for The Rings of Power season 2’s Gandalf canon issues. As spirits, the Maiar reserve the right to travel to and from Middle-earth at will, so it is plausible Olórin might have been present in Middle-earth during the Second Age. When the Stranger was battling the Dweller, however, the villain openly referred to her opponent as “Istar” – i.e. a wizard. This line completely rules out the possibility of the Stranger being Olórin or some spirit version of Gandalf.
The Rings Of Power Can’t Pretend Season 1’s Gandalf Hint Didn’t Happen
The Mysterious Wizard Using Gandalf’s Own Lines Is Gandalf Himself? Don’t Be Ridiculous
The Rings of Power could, of course, ignore the previous season’s Gandalf tease entirely, and various figures involved with the show have already hinted this is the direction season 2 will take. Writer Gennifer Hutchison played down the connection between Gandalf and the Stranger, suggesting the “follow your nose” comment may have been passed down from one character to another. Likewise, creators JD Payne and Patrick McKay have refused to acknowledge any link between the Stranger and Gandalf, even suggesting Daniel Weyman’s character could yet be revealed as a villain,
“Wizards can be as evil and as dangerous, they can be rivals for Sauron, or allies of Sauron, and The Stranger’s journey will continue. So, I think that’s an open question still…”
Pretending there was nothing in it risks The Rings of Power season 1’s Gandalf tease being viewed as a cop-out. Amazon’s TV show positioned the Stranger’s identity as a key mystery throughout season 1, and the writers must have known Gandalf would be the first name on viewers’ minds. The Rings of Power introduced a wizard, deliberately obscured his identity, dropped hints that said character could be Gandalf for the best part of eight episodes, then had that character speak one of Gandalf’s most famous lines in the finale. To suggest viewers are jumping the gun if they assume the Stranger is Gandalf seems unfair.
If The Rings of Power season 2 confirms there is no connection whatsoever between the Stranger and Gandalf, the season 1 finale’s “follow your nose” callback will feel somewhat cheap in hindsight – a reference designed to spark excitement and speculation in the short-term without any real intention of paying it off in the long-term. As such, The Rings of Power cannot ignore the link that now tethers Daniel Weyman’s Stranger to The Lord of the Rings’ Gandalf.
