{"id":489628,"date":"2022-09-02T06:30:28","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T03:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/who-is-the-stranger-3-theories\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T06:30:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T03:30:28","slug":"who-is-the-stranger-3-theories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-the-stranger-3-theories\/","title":{"rendered":"#Who is the Stranger? 3 Theories"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a34d7242c468\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a34d7242c468\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-the-stranger-3-theories\/#%E2%80%9CWho_is_the_Stranger_3_Theories%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Who is the Stranger? 3 Theories&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-the-stranger-3-theories\/#Gandalf\" >Gandalf<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-the-stranger-3-theories\/#A_Blue_Wizard\" >A Blue Wizard<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-the-stranger-3-theories\/#Sauron\" >Sauron<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWho_is_the_Stranger_3_Theories%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Who is the Stranger? 3 Theories&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div> <strong>[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for <em>The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power <\/em>Episodes 1 &amp; 2.]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The \u201cMeteor Man\u201d in <em>The <\/em><em>Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power <\/em>is quite the mysterious figure. Called the Stranger for now, Daniel Weyman\u2018s character careened through the sky in a blazing ball of fire and crashed into <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rhovanion (home of the harfoots) in the final moments of the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> premiere, which debuted in tandem with Episode 2 on Thursday, September 1 at 9\/8c on Prime Video.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While everyone in Middle-earth bore witness to his descent (truly everyone \u2014 his arrival gave us the first view of the ents!), his bombastic landing was only witnessed by the wide-eyed, rule-breaking harfoot Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh). Nori spends all of Episode 2 keeping the Stranger a secret from her hobbit-ancestor community with the reluctant help of her good friend Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So, who is the Stranger? By nature of his concealed identity, the series is clearly prepping for a big reveal down the line. When that reveal will h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en is anyone\u2019s guess, plus journalists were only provided with screeners for Episodes 1 and 2 when reviewing the series, so only the cast and creators really know. Since we\u2019re all in this together, let\u2019s try to unpack this Meteor Man mystery together.<\/p>\n<p>Here are our theories about who the Stranger in <em>The Rings of Power<\/em> could be.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gandalf\"><\/span>Gandalf<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I\u2019ll admit that my initial gut feeling said the Stranger is Gandalf. Weyman\u2019s shaggy hair, beard, and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> stature alone resemble a young Ian McKellen enough that, at first glance, I thought the show might be trying to go for a young Gandalf. But then, logical thinking took over. What a concept!<\/p>\n<p>Gandalf does not appear in Middle-earth until the Third Age, thousands of years away from <em>The Rings of Power<\/em> timeline. Amazon was given the rights to the Second Age of Middle-earth by the J.R.R. Tolkien estate under the condition that they don\u2019t cover the Third Age, the subject of Peter Jackson\u2018s trilogies. Given Gandalf\u2019s importance in the Third Age and the fact that \u2014 unlike Galadriel and Elrond \u2014 he doesn\u2019t arrive in Middle-earth before then, it\u2019s hard to believe Gandalf could be the Stranger.<\/p>\n<p>But there could be a loophole in the fact that Gandalf was around long before the Third Age and long before he ever stepped foot in the Shire. Gandalf is part of the Maiar, a group of divine beings around since the beginning of time. Eru Il\u00favatar, the One creator (God, basically), created the Valar to help him, and then he made the Maiar to help the Valar.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1058963\" style=\"width: 869px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1058963\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1058963 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/gandalf-lotr-859x570.png\" alt=\"Ian McKellan as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings\" width=\"859\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/gandalf-lotr-859x570.png 859w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/gandalf-lotr-435x289.png 435w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/gandalf-lotr-768x510.png 768w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/gandalf-lotr-234x155.png 234w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/gandalf-lotr-570x378.png 570w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/gandalf-lotr.png 2028w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 859px) 100vw, 859px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1058963\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New Line Cinema<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In the previous ages, Gandalf was in Valinor and known as Ol\u00f3rin. He was sent to Middle-earth in the Third Age with four other Maiar (including Saruman, known as Curumo, and Radagast, known as Aiwendil, both seen in <em>The Lord of the Rings<\/em> and <em>The Hobbit<\/em>) to help bring down Sauron. They were sent to Middle-earth embodying old men and called the Order of Wizards (also called Istari).<\/p>\n<p>The Stranger being Ol\u00f3rin\/Gandalf would require a huge creative liberty, as it would bring him to Middle-earth thousands of years before he does in the books and possibly before the rest of the Order of Wizards. It also wouldn\u2019t be like the wizards to arrive in such fiery fashion; they aimed to blend in when coming to Middle-earth. On the other hand, Gandalf does have a special ability to produce fire, so the literal great ball of fire the Stranger arrives in raises an eyebrow.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Blue_Wizard\"><\/span>A Blue Wizard<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>What seems more likely than showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay including Gandalf is that the Stranger is Maiar, but not Gandalf specifically. They even implied as much when asked if there will be wizards in <em>The Rings of Power<\/em> by <em><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/2022\/02\/10-burning-questions-about-amazons-the-rings-of-power\">Vanity Fair<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM\">\u201cWell, I would say those are not the only beings, those names, in that class,\u201d McKay said. \u201cSo maybe, but maybe not. And the mystery and the journey of it is all of the fun, I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM\">\u201cThere are tiny little nods to Tolkien that could send you this way or send you that way,\u201d added Payne. \u201cAnd we are hoping people will like taking that and putting together a huge puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1058964\" style=\"width: 466px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1058964\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1058964 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/lotr-daniel-weyman-stranger-456x570.jpg\" alt=\"Daniel Weyman as the Stranger in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power\" width=\"456\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/lotr-daniel-weyman-stranger-456x570.jpg 456w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/lotr-daniel-weyman-stranger-231x289.jpg 231w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/lotr-daniel-weyman-stranger-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/lotr-daniel-weyman-stranger.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 456px) 100vw, 456px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1058964\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amazon Studios<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In the few scenes we\u2019ve seen of him in Episodes 1 and 2, the Stranger displays some magical abilities. The lives of the Istari pre-Third Age are fairly vague in Tolkien\u2019s writing, so if they wanted a wizard but wanted to steer clear of the well-known ones, Meteor Man could be one of the two lesser known Istari wizards, Alatar and Pallando, also believed to be Blue Wizards. There\u2019s much more written about Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White than the Blue Wizards in Tolkien\u2019s writing, so their histories are a bit blurred. But Alatar was a Maia chosen to go to Middle-earth, and he brought his friend, Pallando, with him.<\/p>\n<p>The most solid argument for this is that the Blue Wizards are said to have arrived in Middle-earth in the Second Age, around the time of the forging of the One Ring (you know the one). <em>The Rings of Power<\/em> is said to be building up to the creation of the One Ring. Having the Blue Wizards\/Alatar or Pallando arrive a wee bit before then seems like a more tolerable creative liberty than having Gandalf arrive early.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sauron\"><\/span>Sauron<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Could the Stranger be the Big Bad himself? For Nori and Poppy\u2019s sake, we hope the hell not! But there are some in ways in which this would make sense. Galadriel, for starters, is convinced Sauron was not defeated after Morgoth fell; rather he\u2019s waiting for the right time to strike again and building up a legion of orcs in the meantime. And we know the show is building up for a huge reveal when Sauron does inevitably return. The actor playing the ultimate villain has not been announced, and given that the Stranger is, well, a stranger, it\u2019s easy to jump to the conclusion that Weyman is playing Sauron. But his character does seem ultimately harmless in the first two episodes.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1058965\" style=\"width: 395px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1058965\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1058965 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/the-stranger-lotr-poster-385x570.jpg\" alt=\"Daniel Weyman holding an apple as the Stranger in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power\" width=\"385\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/the-stranger-lotr-poster-385x570.jpg 385w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/the-stranger-lotr-poster-195x289.jpg 195w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/the-stranger-lotr-poster-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/the-stranger-lotr-poster-1383x2048.jpg 1383w, https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/the-stranger-lotr-poster.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1058965\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amazon Studios<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>After awaking from the fire, the Stranger seems harmless enough. He sleeps for a while, and then struggles to communicate with the two young harfoots, but he does try to communicate with them and does not try to hurt them. You could see this as a disguised Sauron putting on an innocent front as a means to his ends. And there are hints that the Stranger\u2019s powers are dark magic, the most clear example being the beautiful constellation he makes with the fireflies that promptly kills all of them. Poor things. (Protect my daughters, Nori and Poppy, at all costs.)<\/p>\n<p>In Tolkien\u2019s writing, Sauron adopted the disguise of a being called Annatar who pretended to be friends of the elves. Behind the scenes, he was plotting his rise and the creation of the One Ring. Another hint is in the Stranger\u2019s promo poster (above) ahead of the show\u2019s debut, in which he\u2019s holding an apple. In the Bible, apples symbolize betrayal. Could that be the show\u2019s way of hinting the Stranger can\u2019t be trusted, whether he\u2019s Sauron or not?<\/p>\n<p>Whoever Meteor Man is, suffice it to say we\u2019re intrigued.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power<\/strong><\/em><strong>, Thursdays, 9\/8c, Prime Video<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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Called the Stranger for now, Daniel Weyman\u2018s character careened through the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":489629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/the-stranger-lotr-rings-of-power-1014x570.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-489628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}