The Rings of Power over its first two seasons has garnered alot of love from fans of the OG films and books as well as earned a new fan following. In its last episode of season 2. the makers finally gave fans what they had been waiting for all along. While there aren’t many characters connecting the series to its original one in particular was awaited. The makers finally confirmed that the Stranger is one of Lord of The Ring’s favourite characters Gandalf. However, the revelations also breaks canon version of the grey wizard’s story from Tolkien’s original LOTR lore.
For two season the makers have been hinting at Gandalf’s identity and his connection to the shire. The Stranger was first introduced as an Istar but nothing more, it also led to hints about him being a dark wizard or a blue wizard. One of the biggest reasons for lack of believe that it could be Gandalf the Grey was due to the timeline. Meanwhile, there were always hints in the dressing, dialogues and hobbit companions about how the Istar could be Gandalf the grey. In season two he also came across the dark wizard and blue wizards which has a major impact on the original story as this paints a different picture of the characters and their lore.
According to Tolkien lore, Gandalf arrived in Middle-earth about 1000 years into the Third Age. However, Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age which lasted for about 3,441 years, brining Gandalf to the story thousands of years before he actually did. Meanwhile, it was the blue wizards that arrived in the Middle Earth during the Second Age. The Rings of Power makes could be using that detail to subvert the original LOTR lore.
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The makers also made another big change to Gandalf’s story. The show reveals he arrived in a flaming meteor and for the rest of the season one he is seen struggling with remembering his identity. Referred to as The Stranger for long, he was discovered by Nori the Harfoot. She not only aids him in trying to remember his name, or who he is but also identify his purpose. Howvever, in the Tolkien lore, Gandalf the Grey’s journey was different. The author did not give alot of details but it was revealed that Gandalf departed Valinor and sailed on a ship, landing in the Grey Havens. He had also met Círdan the Shipwright in the Grey Havens who has also been introduced in Rings of Power season 2 as one of the oldest Elves on Middle Earth.
The new series established a deep connection between Gandalf, the Hobbits and the Shire but in the books, he travelled much of Middle Earth for half a century before coming across any hobbits in the Long Winter in Third Age 2758. They as a community help him survive the long brutal weather and he is fascinated by their strength and endurance.
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Continuing on in season 3, this will leave to more changes as the show has confirmed there are 5 Istaris as well as the books. This will brinh more of a mystery to who the dark wizard is in the new series, but whenever his identity is revealed it will most likely break another canon of the lore.
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