For two seasons, Lord of the Rings fans speculated about the identity of “The Stranger” in Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, with many wondering if, in fact, it was the great wizard, Gandalf. In an interview with Screen Rant, series showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are talking about why it took two seasons to finally reveal who The Stranger, played by Daniel Weyman, actually is. The finale of Season 2 of The Rings of Power saw The Stranger finally receiving his wizard’s staff and his name, which came from “Grand Elf” that was given to him by the Stoors. For the first season and even some of Season 2, the showrunners toyed with audiences regarding the identity of Weyman’s character. They offered up some ambiguous and deceptive clues that The Stranger could be one of several characters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe, like another wizard or even Sauron.

Showrunner Says They Knew Where the Character Would Go

“Yeah, so we wanted it to be a journey of discovery for the audience, the character, and for ourselves, and we truly left ourselves open,” Payne said. “We said, ‘We’re bringing this to Middle-earth.’ We had some suspicions from the beginning who it might be, but I think, especially as the friendship between he and Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards) grew to be so rich, we said, ‘Gandalf loves halflings. Saruman doesn’t really love halflings, he speaks about them really dismissively. And Radagast doesn’t seem to feel much, one way or another about them.’ We felt like it really sort of made sense, if you were looking at canon, you know where this character would ultimately go,” Payne added.

Gandalf’s Journey of Self-Discovery

Payne said the character’s arc was one of self-discovery and the wonderful acting by Weyman brought the character to life. Payne added that Season 1 is all about The Stranger figuring out if he is good or if he is evil. “Now that he figures out he is on the side of good, it’s like, ‘Well, who am I, and how do I harness my powers?’ So, he goes on this journey to eventually reach Tom Bombadil, and it felt like that journey of the staff, and his name, and figuring out how to control his powers all felt like they sort of wanted to come together. We also didn’t want to tease it forever, like, ‘Season 4 you’ll know!”

Hints Were Planted at the Start of Season 2

McKay said that in the second season, they began to show their cards as to who The Stranger was. “Yeah, in our minds, from the beginning of Season 2, we’re showing you the hand of poker, right? There should be no doubt in most of the audience’s mind by those first couple episodes, we’re dropping all kinds of hints. Like, ‘Yes, that’s who he is. Don’t worry about that. It’s about what he’s learning, about who he’s going to be. That is more important than just a name,” McKay said.

Gandalf’s story will continue to be told as The Rings of Power was just confirmed for a third season by McKay and Payne. The first two seasons of The Rings of Power are streaming on Prime Video.