The Lord of the Rings: Is Gandalf the Stranger? Even his translator has no answer!

During Season 1 of Rings of Power, several fan theories suggested that the stranger, played by Daniel Wayman, could be Sauron’s alter ego.

But the last episode of the season finally revealed that it was under the guise of the human Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) that the future big bad of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was hiding.

The name of the stranger will be revealed, but…

It doesn’t matter, because the most common theory about the real identity of the stranger links him to another iconic character from the saga. Due to his appearance and magical powers, many fans speculated that he could be none other than Gandalf.

The line, spoken at the end of Season 1, is borrowed from a famous passage in The Fellowship of the Ring (“When in doubt, always follow your nose”) seemed to confirm well that the stranger is indeed Gandalf. But not in the eyes of the series’ creators, who continue to cast doubt on the character’s identity.

At our microphone, screenwriter Patrick McKay revealed that the name will be given to the character from the second season. But this discovery will ultimately not be as important as we think: “The character’s story isn’t just based on his name. We follow a wizard in search of identity, who is looking for a purpose and learning to master his powers. So his name is not important, what “he is in our eyes is a person. He will become.”

His translator himself has no answer

Also encountered by AlloCiné, English actor Daniel Weyman tried to cover his tracks. The latter also surprised us by claiming that they have no idea about the identity of the character and don’t know the rest of the story.

Therefore, his performance is guided only by his instinct and customized scripts that fit his personality: “I guess you can call him whatever you want. In a scene from season two, Nori is trying to come up with a name for him, and the character replies that none of the names we’re trying are right for him.”

“He’ll know which name suits him when the time comes.”he added. “So that’s the path that the character goes through in season two, and me as an actor, in particular, to live in the present without projecting ourselves into the future.”

Gandalf and his many aliases…

An answer full of mysteries, which Gandalf himself would not deny… so we will have to wait until we discover the name you will call the unknown and what it will mean.

J.R.R. In Tolkien’s novels, the Wizard lists his names as Mithrandir for the Elves, Tarkun for the Dwarves, Incanus in the South, and Olorin in the Western Territories. “In my youth that was forgotten” according to his words. Here it is…

If Gandalf appeared under a different name, the most logical name would be Olorin. However, the screenwriters will still have to figure out a new mystery, the latter should not have appeared at this stage of the story.

In Tolkien’s books, Phandalf does not arrive in Middle-earth until 1000 years into the Third Age. However, the series takes place in the last hours of the Second Age (that’s why the appearance of Gandalf in the series is a millennium ahead compared to the chronology of the books!).

Rings of Power Season 2 can be seen every week exclusively on Prime Video.

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