Who’s the Stranger? The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy creators J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay laid the groundwork for an overarching thriller in season 1 and don’t appear eager to disclose something too early in season 2. However actor Daniel Weyman tells Polygon an encounter later on this season could not bust open the thriller field, however guarantees to shake up no matter’s inside.
When The Rings of Energy picks again up with the magical man who fell to Center-earth in a meteor, the wizard and his harfoot companion Nori (Markella Kavenagh) are trekking to the land of Rhûn to [checks notes] discover a star sample that can unlock his reminiscences? Wizard Enterprise. The deeper the Stranger — and the sequence itself — delves into Rhûn, the extra Payne and McKay are carving out what J.R.R. Tolkien left to the creativeness in his authentic writings and threading in additional thriller; the trio of premiere episodes additionally introduces a brand new Darkish Wizard (performed by Ciarán Hinds) whose identification is certain to be a degree of fan hypothesis as nicely.
That means the reintroduction to Weyman’s character does little to dispel any theories on who or what the Stranger is within the broader context of Center-earth — however the potentialities appear narrower than ever. At this level, now that we all know Sauron’s identification, that the Stranger is an “istar,“ and that Tom Bombadil is already on the market roaming the woods, there appear to be three choices:
Would Gandalf arrive in an enormous ball of flame? It’s a powerful connection, and true to the istar’s historical past as a wizard identified for dealing in hearth. (Within the books, he has referred to himself as “a wielder of the Flame of Anor!” that means he actually wields the ability of the solar.) The filmmaking in The Rings of Energy additionally leans closely into the iconography of Gandalf as rendered within the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy, from his look to his aptitude for singing ditties to hobbit-like creatures.
There are many different little connections between the characters — many suppose the Stranger drew the identical rune image that Gandalf scrawled on Bilbo’s door in The Hobbit again in season 1 — however the largest discrepancy could be the timeline. However up to now in season 2, the Stranger can be determined to search out his identify… and there aren’t too many named wizards who would match the invoice of a kindhearted, staff-supported bearded Center-earth man.
The Stranger is a brand new Blue Wizard
Gandalf just isn’t the one istar of Center-earth, and Tolkien paved the best way for Payne and McKay to create their very own magic-wielding icon in the event that they didn’t wish to be too tidy about constructing connections to The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. As the speculation goes, two Blue Wizards roamed Center-earth within the Second Age (one in every of Tolkien’s retcons that helps with the timeline points) and the Stranger may very well be one in every of these istar “exams” despatched by the Valar. A reveal could not have the identical oomph as “Hey, it’s Younger Gandalf!” however the Stranger’s Gandalf-ness may merely be extra of an echo of a traditional character than a literal reimagining.
The Stranger is each Gandalf and Saruman however he’s gonna get struck by lightning or one thing and be cut up into each
I simply wished to throw this on the market.
For all of the theorizing and seismic godly exercise that could be on the coronary heart of his character, Weyman’s pursuit in taking part in the Stranger is to maintain him tied as carefully to the earth round him as doable. The actor tells Polygon that the Stranger’s season 2 arc is all about wielding his uncooked magic, and changing into snug in his personal physique.
“I used to be fairly eager to keep away from, or I felt that the Stranger would wish to keep away from, among the errors that he made in season 1,” he says. “So among the ways in which he channeled power he wished to keep away from in season 2.”
The sudden chaos of a self-aware istar comes into play early on in season 2, when Nori, determined for meals, begs the Stranger to make use of his powers and produce some grub. The conjuration backfires, blowing the tree to bits (though Nori will get some literal grub, within the type of a bug colony scattering in each course). The misfire is indicative of what Weyman sees because the Stranger’s nice hurdle.
“On the finish of season 1, he’s used a employees to, I felt like, join the kind of heavens, the metaphorical heavens, with the earth,” Weyman says. “That appears to work for him. And so he’s kind of craving to do the identical factor — he thinks he’s figured it out. And when he will get to this tree, reasonably than utilizing that type of uncooked, aggressive power, he wished to do one thing that was extra nurturing. And so he truly went towards the basis. That feels to me like a repetitious factor that he’s attempting to do when it doesn’t work. He’s attempting to determine a brand new manner of utilizing power. Effectively, if it was, if that wasn’t the best manner of me utilizing my powers, how may I do it? He’s all the time attempting to suppose outdoors the field, and I feel that’s a part of his downside. He’s probably not trusting, probably not stress-free into himself. He’s attempting to drive the problem on a regular basis. He’s impatient. He thinks he’s acquired an concept of what it ought to be. And I feel that’s the place a number of the issues originate from.”
As teased in trailers, the Stranger may have his world rocked by Center-earth’s highest-rated motivational speaker and life coach, Tom Bombadil. “Tom goes to upturn his world and take him completely out of his consolation zone, and perhaps that’s the factor he must reset and to lastly be current sufficient to let issues occur. We’ll see.”
Whether or not taking pictures in New Zealand in season 1 or round England in season 2, Weyman stresses that, with regards to feeling linked to the Stranger, it’s much less about lore than land. However the connection was at slight threat in season 2 because of the addition of footwear. The second largest query the actor acquired throughout season 1 after “Who’s the Stranger?” was “When will the Stranger get footwear?“ and whereas his wizard has acquired slippers for his journey to Rhûn in season 2, Weyman struggled over the sartorial alternative.
“With the Stranger, a lot of season 1 got here from his toes being kind of within the earth, within the floor, and the fundamental forces round, you realize, the wind, the pure world,” he says. “I feel we have been very anxious about his toes being ripped to shreds on the Tenerife rocks [on the Canary Islands]. I used to be a bit anxious that I’d lose that connection to nature. However for me that’s the factor that I attempt to hold on to as a result of I feel it’s such a central, core a part of him, and from that all the things else will stream.”
New episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy stream Thursdays on Prime Video by means of Oct. 3.