The Rings of Power Season 1 showed fans that Meteor Man was one of the Istari. But why did the series use the singular — an Istar?
The Rings of Power might be an action fantasy series, but Season 1 was all about mysteries. Why couldn’t Galadriel find Sauron, and which character was the Dark Lord in disguise? Then, there was Meteor Man. Was he good or evil? On top of that, fans had to wonder if Elrond would choose loyalty to the Elves or Durin? Finally, there were all the questions regarding Adar the fallen Elf and his conniving endgame.
Some of those questions were addressed before The Rings of Power finale, but there was a lot that still needed answering in Episode 8, “Alloyed.” Luckily, the episode was in the business of answering questions. It revealed that Halbrand was Sauron, which explained why Galadriel couldn’t find him. “Alloyed” also confirmed that Meteor Man was a wizard — but it referred to him as an “Istar.”
Who The Istari Were In The Lord of The Rings
A lot of fans believed that Halbrand was Sauron, but a large part of the fanbase thought the Meteor Man was the Dark Lord. In fact, it wasn’t just fans who believed that Meteor Man was evil. “Alloyed’s” opening scenes showed the three White Robes (The Dweller, The Nomad and The Ascetic) telling him that he was Lord Sauron. A little later, though (with some prompting from Nori) Meteor Man defied the White Robes and banished them to the shadow. Then, they realized their mistake and said, “He is not Sauron. He is the other. The Istar. He is…”
As Meteor Man revealed later in the episode, the word Istar means “wise one” or “wizard.” In The Lord of the Rings, there were five Istari: Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast, Alatar and Pallando. They were Maiar sent by Eru to subvert Sauron’s power in Middle-earth. Except, they weren’t allowed do battle with the Dark Lord. Rather, they were supposed to encourage, support and exhort the free peoples of Middle-earth so that they could mount a fight against Sauron.
Is Gandalf the Istar In The Rings of Power?
Because there were five Istari, the White Robes’ words were particularly strange. They didn’t refer to Meteor Man as, “one of the Istari.” Rather, they said, “He is the other. The Istar.” Of course, the most important Istar in LOTR was Gandalf, and all indication is that Meteor Man will end up being Gandalf, after all. Of course, that doesn’t line up with the LOTR timeline, but The Rings of Power is telling its own story — and introducing Gandalf is actually a smart story-telling move.
In The Return of the King, Gandalf told Aragorn, “The Third Age was my age. I was the Enemy of Sauron; and my work is finished. I shall go soon.” Disregarding the part about the Third Age, the quote makes it clear that Gandalf was the personal nemesis of Sauron. That makes sense because he was the only Istari to complete Eru’s mission. Thus, The Rings of Power looks to be capitalizing on Gandalf’s role as Sauron’s nemesis and setting up their rivalry much earlier than it happens in LOTR. Of course, that kind of throws the other Istari under the bus, but who knows how they will factor in before it’s all said and done.
