Gandalf’s twist in The Rings of Power created an impossible Lord of the Rings problem

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power may regret the massive Gandalf hint dropped at the end of the first season and confirmed at the end of the second. Tolkien TV show on Amazon, set in Lord of the RingsIn its debut season, Second Age introduced two mysterious characters: Daniel Weyman’s Stranger and Charlie Vickers’ Halbrand. The Stranger’s two most popular theories suggest that the fallen restless Harfoot was either Sauron or Gandalf. Halbrand was eventually revealed to be Sauron and Rings of PowerThe ending strongly suggests that the Stranger is Gandalf.

The Stranger’s true identity was not as ironclad as that of Halbrand, who revealed himself unequivocally Lord of the Rings‘The main enemy of jewelry. However, end Rings of Power Season 2 finally confirmed what the Season 1 finale hinted at: The Stranger is Gandalf. The season two finale cemented the tease of the first season: Rings of Power Gandalf calls himself by name when he acquires his staff. However, Gandalf, being in Rings of Power is already creating problems for Lord of the Rings prequel

Gandalf from The Ring of Power is already causing problems for future seasons

Only a fool could face Ian McKellen’s Gandalf

Meeting the obscenely high bar set by Peter Jackson. Lord of the Rings film trilogy may have been Rings of PowerThe biggest problem and most direct comparisons the first season faced were with Amazon’s recasts, with Morfydd Clark replacing Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and Robert Aramayo replacing Hugo Weaving as Elrond. Both of the original portrayals of elves in the films are beloved, which brings great hope for Rings of Power meet.

However, none of them are as beloved as Ian McKellen’s Gandalf, and that gives Rings of Power much bigger headache. Not only will it be difficult for future seasons to portray a Gandalf as popular and iconic as the wizard from Peter Jackson’s novel. Lord of the Rings movies, but confirmation at the end of the second season also means there will be major scheduling issues.

Since the Stranger’s identity was a complete mystery at first, he entered. Rings of Power without any expectations. His characterization was completely original, containing patches of darkness and causing a state of deep confusion about his arrival in Middle-earth.

Now the thread directly connects the Stranger and Gandalf, Rings of Power Season three and beyond will need to give Daniel Weyman’s hairy wizard all the familiar characteristics that Gandalf has.. As his mind clears by the end of the first season, viewers will expect to see a character they know and love, rather than a wild, childish recluse.

This immediately put much more pressure on Rings of Power Season 2 – The pressure that Gandalf’s confirmation during the finale only intensified in Season 3 and beyond. Ian McKellen’s Gandalf is a performance that cannot be topped.and after Rings of Power season 1 finale”follow your nose“Also teased in the season two scene where the wizard finally gets his staff, Weyman’s Gandalf-ness will come under the microscope.

When reimagining an iconic role, many films and TV shows deliberately re-interpret another, hoping to avoid similar comparisons between past and present characters. Rings of Power doesn’t have that luxury, since reinventing Gandalf would amount to sacrilege to Tolkien.

Thus, Gandalf’s arc in the first season created a no-win scenario. Future seasons Rings of Power may either disappoint fans who were excited about continuing to write The Stranger with a completely different character than Lord of the Ringsthe most famous wizard, or he can use Gandalf’s hint and weather the inevitable, unwinnable comparisons between Weyman and Ian McKellen.

Gandalf’s presence in the Rings of Power also creates a canon problem

The wizard appears exactly when he wants (but not until the Third Age)

Rings of Power The first season followed Tolkien’s canon about as closely as Fëanor followed the rules of Valinor after the creation of the Silmarils, but despite countless deviations and compression of the timeline, Rings of Power was usually careful to avoid completely rewriting the lore of Middle-earth.. Stories such as the transformation of the Southlands into Mordor and Galadriel’s connection with Sauron may not have been taken from Tolkien’s legendarium, but they did not directly contradict it.

Including Gandalf Rings of Power risks breaking this rule. Tolkien stated that Gandalf did not come to Middle-earth until the Third Age. indeed, he did not want to be included among the wizards sent to confront Sauron. Gandalf’s hesitation before battle in the Third Age makes the prospect of his visit to the Second Age as a “Stranger” difficult to entertain. This represents a much more significant departure from canon than most of the other changes made Rings of power.

Could Gandalf’s original form solve the problem of the rings of power? Probably not

A Stranger Can’t Get Away with Playing ‘Olorin’ Instead of Gandalf

Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings The films gloss over this issue somewhat, but Gandalf is not exactly a wizard. Like Saruman and Radagast, he is a Mayan angelic spirit who serves the God of Tolkien’s fantasy world. Five Mayans were chosen to travel to Middle-earth disguised as wizards, and this is how Gandalf eventually becomes involved in Lord of the Rings.

It is important to note that wizards only possess vague memories of their Mayan forms, as well as some of their true power. Many have wondered if Rings of Power Season 2 will try to get around the Gandalf issue by naming the Stranger “Olorin”. – Gandalf’s original name for Maya.

Alas, this won’t work either. Dubbing the Stranger “Olorin” would solve some problems, such as Amazon avoiding the “Gandalf” moniker and Third Age Gandalf not remembering his participation in Rings of Powerbut the two biggest problems will remain. Although Tolkien wrote relatively little about Olórin, the character appears identical to Gandalf in personality and spirit..

Even if the Stranger called himself Maia in Season 2, there is no reason why Olórin would behave differently than Gandalf. This means that viewers would still expect Rings of PowerThe Wizard will look more like Gandalf in season two and will continue to draw comparisons between Daniel Weyman and Ian McKellen.

Using Olorin as a card to get out of Angband won’t do any good either. Rings of PowerProblems with the Gandalf canon. As spirits, the Maiar reserve the right to travel to and from Middle-earth at will, so it is likely that Olórin may have been present in Middle-earth during the Second Age.

However, when the Stranger fought the Dweller, the villainess openly called her opponent “Istar”, that is, a wizard. This phrase completely eliminates the possibility that the Stranger is Olórin or some spiritual version of Gandalf.

Rings of Power couldn’t pretend the Gandalf hint didn’t happen in Season 1

The mysterious wizard using Gandalf’s own lines is Gandalf himself? Don’t be funny

Many noted that Rings of Power could completely ignore the mockery of Gandalf in the first season, and various figures involved in the series have hinted that this is the direction the second season will take before confirming his identity in the finale.

Writer Jennifer Hutchison downplayed the connection between Gandalf and the Stranger, suggesting that “follow your nose” the comment could be passed from one character to another. Likewise, creators J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay refused to acknowledge any connection between the Stranger and Gandalf.even suggesting that Daniel Weyman’s character could turn out to be a villain,

“Wizards can be just as evil and dangerous, they can be Sauron’s rivals or Sauron’s allies, and the Stranger’s journey will continue. So I think it’s still an open question…”

However, hiding the fact that there is nothing in it would also lead to Rings of Power Teasing Gandalf in Season 1 is seen as a cop-out. The Amazon TV show positioned the Stranger’s identity as a key mystery throughout the first season, and the writers must have known that Gandalf would be the first name that came to mind for viewers.

Rings of Power introduced a wizard, deliberately concealed his identity, hinted that said character might be Gandalf for most of the eight episodes, and then had that character say one of Gandalf’s most famous lines in the finale. The suggestion that viewers were jumping the gun if they assumed the Stranger was Gandalf seemed unfair, especially now that Season 2 has confirmed it.

If Rings of Power The second season backtracked and confirmed that there was no connection between the Stranger and Gandalf, the finale of the first season.follow your nose“Looking back, the callback would have seemed cheap – a link designed to generate excitement and speculation in the short term without any real intention of paying off in the long term.

How fans reacted to Gandalf’s turn of events

Fans of the die-hard Tolkien did not take Gandalf’s participation in The Rings of Power very well

Unfortunately for Amazon, Gandalf’s presence Rings of Power This decision was not received in the least bit well by fans – at least those familiar with the established canon of JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth. It’s no secret that Gandalf was not present at the fall of Sauron. This was even confirmed in Peter Jackson’s book. Lord of the Rings trilogy. Moments like Elrond’s words: “I was there, Gandalf, 3000 years ago.” when talking about Sauron’s first defeat, the idea is established that, despite his long life, the Gray Wizard was not present at the great battle shown at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Fellowship of the Ring There was also a clear hint in the opening montage itself that Gandalf simply wasn’t around when Sauron first rose to power. Given how directly involved he was in the War of the Ring and the defense of Middle-earth from the forces of Mordor during the events Lord of the Rings trilogy, his absence there when Isildur refused to throw the ring into Mount Doom was a clear sign of his absence from Middle-earth as a whole. In this regard, even casual viewers could put two and two together – if Gandalf had existed in the Second Age, he would have been present during the battle, as it is simply not in his nature to ignore such a huge threat to the free peoples of Middle-earth.

Tolkien was also very clear about the timing of the arrival of Gandalf, Saruman and the rest of the Istari in Middle-earth. They arrived as a response to Eru (the equivalent of God in Tolkien’s myths) to the emergence of Sauron as a defense against the same thing happening again. The presence of the Istari was one of the defining differences that separated the Third Age of Middle-earth from the Second. Amazon inserted Gandalf into Rings of Power significantly ignores not only Tolkien’s established timeline, but also the thematic significance of when exactly wizards arrived in Middle-earth.

Even many casual fans were unhappy with Gandalf’s presence. Rings of power. Many of them, without much knowledge of the J. R. R. Tolkien canon, simply saw it as Amazon’s attempt to squeeze in as many familiar names from Lord of the Rings as far as possible. While the story is about Rings of Power still far from finished, In Season 3 and beyond, there will be an uphill battle to defeat the vast majority of existing players. Lord of the Rings fans when it comes to their decision to include Gandalf.