With Orcs on the march and Sauron (Charlie Vickers) actively sabotaging safe passage into Eregion, a dark shadow hangs over this week’s episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2. Between the mourning Ents that Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) encounters north of Pelargir and the Barrow-wights that ambush Elrond’s (Robert Aramayo) company, ominous signs of coming conflict hang in the air for Prime Video’s premier fantasy series, but as always, relief from Middle-earth’s darkest forces can be found among some of its smallest inhabitants. After being separated from both their pursuers and the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) in last week’s sandstorm, Season 2, Episode 4 of The Rings of Power, “Eldest,” sees its Harfoots plunge deeper into Rhûn, coming across some distant relatives who just might help viewers finally unearth the Stranger’s true identity.
Ever since the Stranger fell out of the sky in the series’ very first episode, audiences have been clamoring for confirmation about which magical Middle-earth being Weyman is really playing. While the Season 1 finale confirmed the Stranger is, in fact, an Istar — a wizard and Maiar spirit sent by the Valar in Valinor to contribute to the fight against Sauron’s second coming — the jury is still out on which one he is, exactly. In strict accordance with traditional Tolkien lore, the Stranger would most likely be one of the two Blue Wizards sent to Middle-earth in the Second Age, though Weyman’s ragged appearance and brown robes have also lent credence to the idea that he is a younger version of Radagast the Brown. Yet, with his love of halflings, fellowships, and unexpected journeys, it still seems most likely that the Stranger is an untested Gandalf, a fact The Rings of Power seemingly makes light of during Season 2, Episode 4.
The Stoors Hint at the Stranger’s Identity in ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2
This glib moment comes after Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards) stumble across another halfling settlement in the lands of Rhûn populated by Stoors, an older race of Hobbits that occupy the region’s harsh desert landscape by relying on home-grown gardening and intuitive machinery. Seeking sanctuary from the Gaudrim riders chasing them, the Harfoot adventurers soon find themselves explaining their situation to the Stoors’ community leader, Gundabel (Tanya Moodie), who is quick to hilariously dismiss Nori’s romantic account of their heroic mission. Instead, Gundabel asks about the friend the pair have lost, reacting to conjecture about the Stranger’s height and species by sardonically calling him a “Grand-Elf,” which, when said with Gundabel’s accent and inflections, sounds suspiciously familiar to the name fans know.
While this moment is little more than a brief aside in Episode 4’s larger story, the dialogue does tie into the Stranger’s scenes with the long-awaited Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) in “Eldest” as well. During their conversation about wizard staffs in the hermit’s cottage, Bombadil asserts that the tools are like names in that the Stranger owns his but still needs to earn it, hinting that Weyman’s wanderer may soon find himself put to the test. Moreover, with the Stoors’ settlement threatened by the Gaudrim directly at the end of “Eldest” and Gundabel herself developing this familiar moniker for Weyman’s Stranger, it’s likely that Gandalf’s name will be given to him by the ancient Hobbits, cementing the Grey Wizard’s connection to the species in return for saving them from their masked assailants.
‘The Rings of Power’s Stranger Has the Chance To Come Into His Power
Before the Stranger can hope to safely defeat the Gaudrim, however, he needs to learn how to control his magic, a task he’s been struggling with throughout the first three episodes of The Rings of Power Season 2. Between accidentally causing insects to burst out of a tree instead of fruit in Episode 1 and spawning the unruly sandstorm that separated the Harfoot-Istar trio in Episode 2, the Stranger has consistently been troubled by the magic he can’t understand, a trend that only continues in Season 2, Episode 4. As further proof of his likely identity as Gandalf, the Stranger’s attempts to break off a familiar-looking branch from the tree next to Bombadil’s cottage, Old Man Ironwood, result in him being consumed by the tree himself, demonstrating how the Istar still has much to learn of Middle-earth.
In a fascinating development, Bombadil’s rescuing of the Stranger solidifies the enigmatic ancient as a mentor figure for the wizard-in-training, as the self-proclaimed wanderer subsequently counsels the Stranger on asking for gifts from nature before taking them. Upon witnessing Bombadil’s power over firsthand and noticing the constellations chalked onto the roof of the ancient’s dwelling, the Istar realizes that he was never meant to search for literal stars in Rhûn at all–he was meant to find Bombadil himself. This realization, combined with Bombadil’s own challenge to the Stranger to prove he can become worthy of his power, puts Weyman’s character firmly on the path to improving his abilities, though a teacher is not all that The Rings of Power provides the Stranger in a season already dominated by the horror of Sauron’s tempting decept
‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Confirms the Stranger’s Purpose on Middle-earth
When Tom Bombadil’s conversation with the Stranger is interrupted by the passing of Gaudrim riders, the series is no longer so tight-lipped about the Istar’s importance to its central story. Adding some intriguing context to the backstory of Season 2’s equally-mysterious Dark Wizard, Bombadil confirms that the villainous spellcaster is also an Istar who briefly trained under him, explaining to the Stranger that this dark adversary is now intent on joining his power with Sauron’s in order to accumulate more influence. However, when Bombadil reveals he intends to leave that battle in the hands of those to whom it was given, Weyman’s wizard becomes visibly agitated, chasing his host down a staircase while asking if he’s expected to fight the Dark Wizard or Sauron with his power. Bombadil then dramatically pauses, informing both the Stranger and the audience that the wizard’s role in Middle-earth is to combat the source of both evils.
Given Gandalf’s prominent role in defeating Sauron for good during the Third Age, this revelation supports the idea that The Rings of Power’s more charming Istar is indeed the Grey Wizard of old, though, of course, fans can’t be certain how events in the series will ultimately unfold. If the Dark Wizard is in fact a young Saruman, as some already believe, it’s possible the two could join forces, though this constant transition between light and darkness would likely undermine Saruman’s status as the leader of the Istari in traditional Tolkien lore. Moreover, with Sauron mastering his manipulation of Mithril in Eregion, enough dark forces have certainly been mustered to put the Stranger’s powers to the test, and with The Rings of Power setting the stage for the Istar to hone his abilities in Rhûn, whoever Weyman is truly playing will certainly give Sauron a formidable enemy in the wars to come.
