Raise your goblets of mead fellow magic nerds, because Amazon’s The Lord of The Rings prequel series The Rings of Power has already gotten off to a fantastical start. And while the show is set thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings, fans reckon they might’ve already spotted everyone’s favourite demon-slaying, hobbit-befriending, king-of-the-rebrand wizard: Gandalf.
At the end of the first episode, a quite literally fiery man crashed into the home of the Harfoots (who’re a type of Hobbit and also, delightful) inside a meteor. The man — known as The Stranger — has an impressive beard and magical vibe, leading some fans to think it’s Gandalf.
The stranger in rings of power kinda feels like Gandalf
— DVWG (@_beachlion) September 4, 2022
OK SO Rings of Power spoilers but I have a theory on who it was that “came down” at the end of episode 1.
I think it’s Gandalf. If not him, one of the other two wizards that we don’t know much about but I’m thinking Gandalf.
— Tristan (@CT_Irons) September 2, 2022
I’m 100% convinced that the stranger in #TheRingsOfPower is Olórin, aka Gandalf. pic.twitter.com/mpkVdVf4uq
— Alex Hale (@The89thDoctor) September 2, 2022
So we’re in agreement the stranger is Gandalf, right? pic.twitter.com/f1LPbTiwGz
— Dakota, Forensic Chronologist (@geekritique_dak) September 5, 2022
Watching the ring of power credits to see if the old man at the end of the episode is Gandalf and it only says “The Stranger” pic.twitter.com/FOpTMPaTsj
— Jake (@Jakobian99) September 5, 2022
As well as just the ~ general hairy vibes ~ there are other reasons fans reckons The Stranger could be Gandalf. For one, he etches a carving into wood, which looks similar to the rune Gandalf pops on Bilbo Baggins’s door in The Hobbit.
One of The Stranger’s carvings 👀 #TheRingsOfPower pic.twitter.com/ES9gnD4HL2
— Fellowship of Fans (@FellowshipFans) September 2, 2022
As pointed out by Collider, The Stranger’s powers also seem to match up pretty nicely to Gandalf’s — for example, he can chat to bugs.
And The Stranger being found by Harfoots narratively makes sense because Gandalf is an absolute bestie to the Hobbits. As he should be: the Hobbits are supreme.
However, making Gandalf The Stranger runs up against a Big Narrative Obstacle. Gandalf is a Maiar (super powerful angel-like beings from Valinor or The Blessed Lands).
He and some other Maiar rocked up to Middle Earth during the Third Age and five of them became Wizards: Gandalf the Grey (later the White), Radagast the Brown, Saruman the White and two mysterious Blue Wizards.
None of that made sense to you? Fair! But in short, Gandalf isn’t supposed to enter the Middle Earth action until well after the events of The Rings Of Power, which is set in the Second Age of Middle Earth.
If Gandalf is The Stranger it would technically violate canon — but some fans have even figured out a workaround for that. Maybe Gandalf comes to Middle Earth, fucks off for a bit, then comes back?
Guys, the “Stranger” is totally going to be Gandalf. He’s going to be the origin of the song “The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon.” He is the man in the moon who arrives too early and after frolicking with the hobbits, returns to Valinor to await his proper time in the 3rd age
— Elijah the Middleborne (@TheMiddleborne) September 1, 2022
There are other theories for The Stranger’s identity too: namely ultimate evil wizard Sauron or Tom Bombadil, who is literally just some guy and also one of the most powerful beings in J R.R. Tolkien‘s Lord of The Rings-iverse.
The Sauron theory has a couple of big hints: as Forbes highlights, when The Stranger lands on the ground in a flaming ring, it looks an awful lot like the Eye of Sauron.
No-one asked but my Rings of Power wild card prediction is that this chap is Sauron and the Gandalf vibes are a red herring. pic.twitter.com/CZA0t7nks3
— Laura (@pegastyx) August 31, 2022
https://twitter.com/JakeQuadinaros/status/1565824600159952896?s=20&t=ej6i7cP3Dib78oRqhLIz-A
Over to Mr Bombadil.
Tolkien never actually explained what Tom Bombadil is, but he’s been described as immortal, one of the oldest beings on Middle Earth and immune to the powers of the Ring. But he is also always wearing yellow boots and vibing in the woods with his wife Goldberry. A huge slay.
He wasn’t included in Peter Jackson‘s films because, and I quote here from The Lord of The Rings wiki, “nobody knows quite what to do with him”.
Because there’s room to play with Tom Bombadil, he could be a good Tolkien-created character to slot into The Rings of Power without explicitly tweaking the original series’ canon.
That being said, I’ve still got my fingers crossed The Stranger is Gandalf. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.