Who is the stranger? 'The Rings of Power' season 2 finale has a big reveal

This article contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of “The Rings of Power.”

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” confirmed what many fans suspected all along: The Stranger is Gandalf.

In the season finale, the mysterious, gray-haired wizard, played by Daniel Wayman, finally learns his name, admitting, “Gandalf. That's what they call me, don't they?”

There was a deliberate slow burn on the part of publishers Patrick McKay and JD Payne. The Stranger was introduced in Season 1 as a potential red herring for the villain Sauron (Charlie Vickers), but by the end of the season, it was revealed that he was one of JRR Tolkien's Istari, magical creatures commonly associated with the Third Age. middle-earth

But McKay and Payne say the Stranger doesn't always want to be Gandalf, a powerful wizard also known as Olorin in Tolkien's writings.

“No one would believe us, but it was a journey of discovery for the character and the characters around him, and it was a journey of discovery for the writers,” McKay says. “We wanted it to be a real story about a wizard who he is and what he has to do.”

Payne added that they delved into Tokin's legend to see what wizards were around in the Second Age. “In Deep in the History of Middle-earth, volume 12, he confirmed that Olorin had already visited Middle-earth. So Tolkien left it open that Gandalf might have arrived before the Third Age,” he says. “But there were also things we discovered within the story. did things that really seemed to fit the character when you met him later.”

There were other options for the Stranger's identity, including Saruman and the Blue Wizards. But McKay and Payne dropped them because they didn't make sense for the story. By the season 1 finale, the showrunners had solidified their decision and reverse-engineered the details from there. The Stranger even uttered one of Gandalf's most famous lines: “When in doubt, always follow your nose.”

“They had about five different lines they wanted me to record at the time, some of which had Gandalf in them and some of which would never happen. [have] As said before,” Weyman remembers. “Of course, I knew there was resonance. But when we talked about it, the idea was that it might be cool that a line that Gandalf says is said by an unknown wizard from the Second Age. Over time it has become a magical thing. It all played out for me because he didn't have a name at the time and I didn't need to know it.”

But McKay says the showrunners “weren't trying to play games or trick people. And, in fact, there are more clues throughout Season 2 leading up to the big reveal.

“We were playing with our hands open really early,” McKay said. “The hobbits started talking, 'Well, maybe you need a “gand” to help control your powers.' I don't know how much more obvious it will be and later someone calls him 'Grand Elf'.”

The showrunners also dropped visual clues about the character's identity, including a wizard's costume that finds its way to a stranger.

“It's a joy to see a character come together, piecemeal, costume-wise, and watch him become the character you know,” Payne says. “You can finally see him get a hat.”

You also see his personality develop, Payne says. “He has a somewhat angsty and ironic relationship with the characters of the Third Age,” he says. “We see him start to develop some sense of humor and warmth and, at times, experimental irritation with these animals, but it's always underpinned by a deep love.”

Despite hints, Wayman himself didn't officially learn of the reveal until midway through filming Season 2. The showrunners were eventually forced to tell the actor because they needed to film the scene from episode 8 where Gandalf admits what he's told. . The final scene was shot at Tom Bombadil's house – a set that was supposed to be taken down before the end of production. The showrunners sat Wayman down and said, “You're going to know your name is Gandalf.”

Tom Bombadil (Rory Keener), left, with Stranger (Daniel Wayman) in “Ring of Power”

(Ross Ferguson/Prime Video)

“This is the first time I've heard anything about it,” Wayman said. “The whole first season was about keeping the audience in the dark as to whether he was going to be good or he was going to be bad. And throughout Season 2, I didn't feel too bothered by the buzz around his name because I was playing these really specific scenes. Being suddenly given this information was a real pinch-me moment, as a 47-year-old thinking about his childhood dream of becoming a wizard.”

Although some of Gandalf's characters are drawn directly from Tolkien's writings, the showrunners also took some dramatic license. The version of the wizard seen in “The Rings of Power” is not the same as the one readers and movie fans know from the Third Age. What happens in the planned five seasons of the prequel series will form the basis of who Gandalf will become when he is better known as Gandalf the Grey.

“What we do all the time on this show is we look for ellipses in the mythology and then hopefully those become great opportunities to fill in the gaps,” McKay says. “Gandalf the Gray falls to the Balrog and is then sent back as Gandalf the White, who isn't exactly the same guy but he's the same guy. The idea that there was probably an earlier iteration before he turned gray.”

“I'm playing Gandalf, at the very beginning of a journey, unlike what we'll find out later — thousands of years later,” Weyman added. “He has to feel things. He must make mistakes. So it gives us license to be different from where Gandalf ends up. The only way to become wise is to have a lot of life experience.”

A key element in revealing Gandalf's identity is the onscreen role of Tom Bombadil, an important character in Tolkien's legend. Bombadil, played by Rory Kinnear, is a mysterious immortal being with remarkable wisdom and power. In “The Rings of Power” he appears as the Stranger's guiding force on Rhûn.

“In the first season [my character’s] Harfoots was in this relatively small microcosm,” Wayman said. “They are very small in terms of the universe. He has no experience with anything bigger and then he comes into contact with Tom, who knows what is eternal forward and backward.

Tom creates a puzzle for the Stranger, who must choose between saving his Harfoot friends and embarking on a journey to power by electing a worker. In the end, he helps Eleanor “Norrie” Brandyfoot and Poppy Proudfoot — and takes the staff in the process. McKay says that they wanted Gandalf to earn his staff “in the most unexpected ways,” which Tom confirms when he tells the stranger that “the staff chooses the wizard.”

Holding the prop was an “awesome” moment for Wayman, who said the two staffs were meant to be shot.

“It was very nice,” the actor said. “When I touched on it, it really felt like I had hoped in my head what the idea of ​​finding him a worker would be like. All of a sudden there is a connection between what this tree lived on and through its roots to the soil and the earth and everything below it. And it felt like a friend. This is his new partner.”

“It was very beautiful,” Daniel Weyman said of Gandalf's staff. “When I touched on it, it really felt like I had hoped in my head what the idea of ​​finding him a worker would be like.”

(Ben Rothstein/Prime Video)

Gandalf's journey in season 2 ends with Norrie (Markella Cavenagh) saying goodbye and joining Tom at his home where she calls his name and the pair join their voices in song. The lyrics to the tune, “Old Tom Bombadil,” were taken from Tolkien's writings, although Payne and composer Bear McCreary rewrote them to fit the series. A version sung by Rufus Wainwright appeared at the end of episode 4, but in the finale, Wayman and Keener performed a few verses.

“There's a way a song laces into your being, and I tried to play with the idea that the song is one of those things that a stranger can vaguely remember, a bit like a sunset,” Wayman says. “He might have heard it before and he might feel like he's coming home, and it was pretty funny.”

Payne and Mackay have ideas for how Gandalf might evolve in future seasons. For example, in the Third Age, the five Istari are forbidden to destroy Sauron with their magic.

“Why might that ban be issued?” Payne said. “If you have five wizards and it's five in one, why can't they just fight Sauron in an all-out wizard grudge match? It's a question we're looking at in terms of, what journey did Gandalf take in the Second Age that could have caused this prohibition to exist in the Third Age?”

Still, there is a general plan that the showrunners want to follow, including Gandalf.

“We were very fortunate to get hired for this gig because we made it a massively serialized, long-form story-telling — a 50-hour film,” says McKay. “So while discovery is on the way and you never want to be stuck in a plan that misses something that could be better, the signposts we're hitting hold that plan. We have a destination and an arc and a journey for him that will hopefully tie into the next stories in ways that are unexpected.”

Playing the character is an “advantage” for Wayman, but the actor also doesn't want to succumb to the pressure of portraying such a notable literary figure.

“I've been with a stranger for four years and his essence is solid,” Wayman says. “The only change is people will start calling him by other names. But I think she knows what she is and what she wants to be.”