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The Rings of Power season 2 finale confirms the identity of its most mysterious character. But before we get into that, be warned that this article features major spoilers for episode 8, so make sure you’ve seen it before reading on.
If you’re still here then you’ll know that the season finale finally confirms who the Stranger really is. After almost two seasons of speculation – and so many hints it was starting to become overload – we know now he is Gandalf after all.
He encounters the Dark Wizard in the finale who hints that he knows his true identity, calling him an "old friend". He then tells him that there were five of them (which should be ringing alarm bells for those who know their Istar). However, it’s not the Dark Wizard who gives him the answer, as the Stranger shuns him for endangering Poppy Proudfellow’s and Nori Brandyfoot’s lives.
Later in the episode, the Harfoots and the Stores say their farewells to the Stranger, and start calling him the "grand elf". It’s not entirely clear where this nickname comes from, but it seems it sparks something inside of him.
He then finds his staff in the Stores’ home, realizing that it was his path to find them all along. The Stranger then walks across Rhun to find Tom Bombadil once again.
When the pair meet again in the mysterious man’s hut, Bombadil tells him: "A wizard does not find his staff, it finds him, like his name." The Stranger then replies: "Gandalf, that’s what they’re going to call me, isn’t it?" The pair then sing Bombadil’s song, as the camera pans away from.
So there we have it, after endless quoting of Middle-earth’s favorite wizard and a misdirect in the season 1 finale, it has been confirmed that the Stranger is Gandalf after all.
Does the Stranger being Gandalf fit with J.R.R. Tolkien’s works?
One of the big questions about the Stranger’s identity was whether it actually made sense that he is Gandalf. The big issue arises is that according to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Appendix B, Gandalf didn’t actually arrive in Middle-earth until the Third Age – specifically via a ship at the Grey Havens, where he met Cirdan and was given his ring.
It seems like The Rings of Power is changing this timeline slightly, then. So far, the Prime Video series has tended to compress events to make them fit with the narrative of the story they’re telling, and it seems this may be another example of just that. Equally, it’s also possible that the showrunners are adding in more color to Gandalf’s backstory, just as they have with other characters like Sauron and Galadriel.
If you’re a Tolkien purist, this reveal might rub you up the wrong way, but bringing in some more details of Gandalf’s experiences with Tom Bombadil and his connection to the hobbits, seems pretty fitting to the wizard we know and love – as does setting him on a path to collide with Sauron. We’ll just have to wait and see where the show takes this.
For more on The Rings of Power, check out our The Rings of Power season 2 review and our guide to the best shows on Amazon Prime.
