The Stranger has been revealed as one of the Istari, but who are they? (Picture: Amazon Studios)
*Warning: Contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.*
The first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power came to a close with episode 8, and teased huge cliff-hangers for season 2.
The series, a prequel to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings stories by JRR Tolkien, is reportedly the most expensive ever made, and reviews have been good.
Since the premiere, fans have wondered whether the show would answer their questions about who Sauron was, who Gandalf was, and how Middle-earth ended up in such a war-torn state.
At the end of the first episode, we were introduced to The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) after a meteor fell out of the sky and crashed in the countryside.
Since his arrival, fans have wondered if he’ll one day become Gandalf.
We may not have a definitive answer about who The Stranger is yet, but episode 8 went some way to revealing his identity. So, who are the Istari?
What is an Istar? The Istari explained
We’re finally that little bit closer to knowing who The Stranger is… (Picture: Amazon Studios)
In the eighth and final episode of the first season of The Rings of Power, The Stranger was finally trapped by the Dweller (Bridie Sisson) and the other Mystics, who have been on his tail since midway through the season.
It’s revealed that, as fans suspected, the Mystics have been following him because they believe him to be the Dark Lord, Sauron.
But when the Mystics are ambushed by the Harfoots, The Stranger manages to free himself.
He defeats the Mystics and reveals to the audience that he’s a ‘good’ man, before departing from the Harfoots.
However, before he leaves, Nori (Markella Kavenagh) asks him about a word the Mystics used to describe him: ‘Istari’.
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The Stranger then reveals that to be an ‘Istari’ is to be a ‘wise one’, or, more simply, a wizard.
The Stranger being a wizard is a theory that fans have held deeply ever since he first crash-landed into the show seven episodes ago.
The Istari are a group of wizards who were sent to Middle-earth to help its people in the war against Sauron.
Gandalf and Saruman were part of this group. As Sauron rises to power, it seems as though the timing couldn’t be better.
Which of the Istari is The Stranger?
Gandalf, who was played by Ian McKellen in the Peter Jackson trilogy (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)
While the question of The Stranger’s identity has now been partially answered, there does still remain doubt over who he actually is.
Just because he’s a wizard doesn’t necessarily mean he’s Gandalf, but The Rings of Power has given very little indication that he’s anybody else.
According to The Lord of the Rings canon, there were five Istari sent to Middle-earth to help defeat Sauron: Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, Alatar and Pallando.
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The last wizard, Pallando, has never really had his fate revealed or even detailed by JRR Tolkien, which means The Rings of Power could be building The Stranger up to be him.
Some Tolkien devotees will certainly be hoping that The Stranger isn’t Gandalf, considering Gandalf isn’t supposed to arrive in Middle-earth for, oh, a few thousand years yet.
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We’re getting closer to The Stranger’s real identity.