Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power, Season 2, Episodes 1–3.
Much of the first season of The Rings of Power was devoted to fan theories about who exactly the Stranger really was. While that mystery isn’t fully solved, the second season introduces a new wizard who is sure to be in the theorizing spotlight.
Game of Thrones actor Ciarán Hinds plays a new character in season 2, simply called the “Dark Wizard.” How fascinating…
We first meet the character in season 2, episode 2 – and while not much is revealed about him, he seems to be very powerful. There are also many candidates for who he could be, with everyone from Gandalf to Saruman suggested. Below, we’ll go over all the theories so far, and also give an exclusive sneak peek from the showrunners.
Who is the dark wizard in season 2 of The Rings of Power?
Very little is known about who exactly the new character is, but we do know that he is very interested in the stranger. In Season 2, Episode 2 of “The Rings of Power,” he questions his messengers about who this Istar is, and it doesn’t seem like his interest is entirely innocent.
The official description of the character reads: “It turns out that the mysterious being known as the Stranger is not the only wizard to have come to Middle-earth… for in the mysterious lands of Rhûn, another wizard awaits him. A dark and powerful wizard, whose origins and intentions are shrouded in mystery, who has a legion of magically gifted acolytes who obey his every command – including the three travelers who sought out the Stranger at the end of the first season… at the Dark Wizard’s command.”
While we don’t have anything official yet, that doesn’t mean theories haven’t started coming in. Here are some of the main candidates so far.
Blue Wizard
The most likely candidate, based on what we know so far, is that he is one of the Blue Wizards. Two of the main candidates for this are Morinehtar and Romestamo. In Tolkien’s books, they were sent to the far east and south of Middle Earth to prevent Sauron’s rise. There are quite a few discrepancies between Tolkien’s earlier and later writings about who these figures really were, but one of the most fascinating pieces of information comes from his “Last Writings,” The Peoples of Middle Earth.
In it, he suggests that the Blue Wizards traveled to Middle Earth long before Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast, arriving in the Second Age. “Their task was to circumvent Sauron: to help the few tribes of Men who had rebelled against Melkor worship, and to instigate a rebellion,” Tolkien wrote – could these two wizards actually be the Dark Wizard and the Stranger? Time will tell.
Saruman
When you hear “Dark Wizard” and “Lord of the Rings,” you probably immediately think of Saruman. The Istar was sent to Middle Earth in the Third Age to defeat Sauron before betraying his fellow wizards and joining the Dark Lord. There are some physical features that appear very similar between the Dark Wizard and Saruman, and he is clearly extremely powerful.
However, there is one major drawback to him: the fact that he already seems to be an evil character, which would not fit with Saruman’s path. In Tolkien’s books, it is seen as a great betrayal when Saruman turns to Sauron in the Third Age. It would not make sense if the character had already turned to evil many years earlier.
Radagast or Gandalf
While there have been many hints that the stranger might actually be Gandalf, nothing has been confirmed yet. So it seems possible that this new figure is one of the remaining members of the Wizarding Council, namely either Radagast or Gandalf. In Tolkien’s writings, both were brought to Middle Earth in the Third Age to try and stop Sauron, but could they have arrived much earlier on another mission? The series has played with timelines quite a bit so far, so it seems possible. Most of the evidence currently just points to this being another powerful wizard, though, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
What did the showrunners of “The Rings of Power” hint at?
Speaking to GamesRadar+ at the season two junket, The Rings of Power showrunners were tight-lipped about Hinds’ role, with JD Payne telling us: “You’ll have to watch the show and look at that, but we know he’s in Rhûn and there are strange things going on there, many of which he may have set in motion…” Very intriguing indeed…
For more, check out our guide to the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, as well as our The Rings of Power season 2 review and our The Rings of Power season 2 release schedule.
