Rings of Power’s Gandalf breaks silence on 2 huge unanswered questions
Prime VideoRings of Power’s biggest secret is out after the Season 2 finale: the Stranger is Gandalf! Big questions remain about his character’s journey, though, and we put them to Daniel Weyman.
Once upon a time, Rings of Power viewers knew him as the “meteor man”, until the show gave him his official, temporary moniker: the Stranger.
Between his friendship with the Harfoots and Tom Bombadil, and his habit of borrowing quotes from Lord of the Rings (notably, he told Nori to “follow her nose”), a prevailing prediction arose.
Sorry, Blue Wizard believers, but Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 8 confirmed that the Stranger is, in fact, Gandalf.
“One of the things for me is the joy of being able to talk about it, having known for nearly a year and a bit since we filmed the name scene. So that’s quite a long stretch,” Weyman told Dexerto in an interview before the finale.
Prime Video/New Line CinemaHere’s the thing: in Tolkien’s writings, Gandalf doesn’t come to Middle-earth until the Second Age, so we’re in uncharted territory in the character’s backstory.
Weyman didn’t know he was Gandalf when he was hired – he thought he might have been Sauron at one point. Now, it remains to be seen what will happen to him as the Dark Lord’s power stretches across the continent – and even the star doesn’t know what’s coming.
“I think that’s one of the things about our show… the Second Age lasts thousands and thousands of years [but] there is not very much written about it,” he said.
“There are certain key points that we know happened. But within the narrative of that, there are actually lots of sort of blank areas and sort of caves.
“And I think the writers and showrunners have tried to go into those caves and explore stuff. It won’t surprise you to know that I know nothing about what’s coming. For either my character or any of the others.
“I’m pretty sure that there’ll be certain big beats that we hit, but in terms of future storylines, no, I don’t know anything of that.”
Prime VideoThat tees up the second unanswered question coming out of Season 2: who the hell is the Dark Wizard? With Gandalf in the picture, Saruman seems like a possibility, especially with how he calls him “old friend” in the finale.
“I don’t know that either. It’s a big mystery and Ciarán’s got such gravitas… I don’t know, is the very short answer,” Weyman said.
“There have been lots of things that I picked up when we were filming where I was like, ‘I wonder if this is it.’ But it seems to be no different to all the things that the people who are watching the show are picking up on themselves.”
After the finale, make sure you check out our recaps of the rest of Rings of Power Season 2:
You can also read our breakdown of the Undying Lands, Forodwaith, and Círdan, and if Rings of Power is considered canon in Lord of the Rings. We also spoke to Elrond’s actor about that Galadriel kiss.