Warning: Spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episode 8
After The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season finale, the prevailing theory is that the Stranger is none other than Gandalf, but another possibility worth considering is that he’s really a Blue wizard. After a full season of teases and a clever misdirect in the finale, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show has finally confirmed that the Stranger isn’t Sauron. Instead, it appears that the Stranger may be an entirely different Middle-earth figure.
The ending of the finale put the show in a position to reveal that the Stranger is Gandalf, but the reveal that he’s a wizard proves nothing on its own. After all, Gandalf is far from the only spellcaster in J.R.R. Tolkien’s world. As the books and the movies have mentioned, there are at least five wizards in Lord of the Rings canon. Aside from Gandalf, there’s also Saruman, The Hobbit’s Radagast the Brown, and two Blue Wizards named Pallandro and Alatar. The Stranger's personality doesn’t resemble Saruman's in any way, and both Gandalf and Radagast weren’t supposed to be in Middle-earth until the Third Age, whereas The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age. All things considered, it may make more sense for the Stranger to be one of the Blue Wizards.
The Rings Of Power Really Wants You To Think The Stranger Is Gandalf
Regardless of who the Stranger actually is, it’s clear that Gandalf is meant to be the leading candidate at the end of The Rings of Power season 1. His manner of speaking in the finale, combined with his status as a wizard, does indeed leave that impression. And his final line, “When in doubt, Elanor Brandyfoot, always follow your nose”, was the strongest hint yet. The decision to copy one of Gandalf’s lines from The Fellowship of the Ring indicated that this was The Rings of Power’s way of confirming the Gandalf theory, but in spite of all the show’s efforts to connect the two characters, there’s still room for doubt, especially since the series could technically be using Gandalf as a red herring.
How The Stranger Could Be A Blue Wizard Instead (& What That Would Mean)
Rather than drop an official Gandalf reveal in The Rings of Power season 2, the series could ultimately link him with either Pallandro or Alatar. In terms of the timeline, both scenarios work better than the character being Gandalf. Based on what’s known about the characters, the two were in Middle-earth around this time. Plus, Pallandro and Alatar were based somewhere in the East, which is exactly where the Stranger and Nori were headed when The Rings of Power finale ended. Both were there to oppose Sauron, which is consistent with what The Rings of Power is setting up the Stranger to do when it returns.
Admittedly, the Stranger standing revealed as Gandalf would be an exciting turn of events for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, but the show choosing to make him one of the Blue Wizards would be a much less problematic approach. It shouldn’t be forgotten that not only would the show be violating canon by bringing Gandalf into the Second Age, but any actions he takes in the stories to come would only serve to create more issues. But in the cases of the Blue Wizards, so little has been said about Pallandro and Alatar in The Lord of the Rings that the show would have the freedom to write its own story for either character.