Does the story want the Stranger to be Gandalf?

[Karen Howard]

I’ve been resistant to the theory that the Stranger is Gandalf. From the standpoint of the lore, it seems to make more sense for him to be one of the blue wizards. However, I’m beginning to think that, from the standpoint of the story, he needs to be Gandalf, for two reasons:

First, the story is about two major events: the fall of Numenor and the forging of the rings of power. That being the case, a subplot of proto-hobbits and blue wizards in the east seems to be a pretty big tangent. It seems more likely that the Stranger will return to the west to participate in the fight against Sauron, which argues for his being Gandalf.

Second, it seems like the series should end with the elven rings in the hands of their final owners, which means that Gandalf is going to have to show up sometime. The most natural way for that to happen is for the Stranger to be Gandalf.

Am I out to lunch, or does this sound reasonable?

 

[Ilana Mushin]

I’ve been resistant to the theory that the Stranger is Gandalf. From the standpoint of the lore, it seems to make more sense for him to be one of the blue wizards. However, I’m beginning to think that, from the standpoint of the story, he needs to be Gandalf, for two reasons:

First, the story is about two major events: the fall of Numenor and the forging of the rings of power. That being the case, a subplot of proto-hobbits and blue wizards in the east seems to be a pretty big tangent. It seems more likely that the Stranger will return to the west to participate in the fight against Sauron, which argues for his being Gandalf.

Second, it seems like the series should end with the elven rings in the hands of their final owners, which means that Gandalf is going to have to show up sometime. The most natural way for that to happen is for the Stranger to be Gandalf.

Am I out to lunch, or does this sound reasonable?

I'm hoping still that the Stranger will be Blue Wizard and not Gandalf. I think that there is a big plot to be developed about Sauron's recruitment of human armies in the East and possibly South and the Stranger plotline will be part of that story. I don't think that's a big tangent to the story of 'The rise and fall of Sauron', which I think is another way of looking at the overarching story of the 5 seasons. I take your point about possibly ending with the Rings with their final owners - but maybe not? There may be future stories they are thinking of doing past the 5 seasons of this show. There's a HUGE amount of third age material to be tapped.

 

[SecretSpy97]

I’ve been resistant to the theory that the Stranger is Gandalf. From the standpoint of the lore, it seems to make more sense for him to be one of the blue wizards. However, I’m beginning to think that, from the standpoint of the story, he needs to be Gandalf, for two reasons:

First, the story is about two major events: the fall of Numenor and the forging of the rings of power. That being the case, a subplot of proto-hobbits and blue wizards in the east seems to be a pretty big tangent. It seems more likely that the Stranger will return to the west to participate in the fight against Sauron, which argues for his being Gandalf.

Second, it seems like the series should end with the elven rings in the hands of their final owners, which means that Gandalf is going to have to show up sometime. The most natural way for that to happen is for the Stranger to be Gandalf.

Am I out to lunch, or does this sound reasonable?

Personally, I believe(/hope) that the Stranger is a blue wizard. I do see both of your points though. Plus there is the other discussion points people have made regarding RoP being why Gandalf likes Hobbits, he says the 'follow your nose' thing, he whispers to bugs, and he has displayed some fire magic. The only blue wizard support that I could find (from my limited knowledge of the blue wizards) is that the Stranger is going east and that is where the blue wizards were said to have gone. Given all of this, if the Stranger ends up being Gandalf I wouldn't be surprised.

That said, Season 1 has shown that the showrunners are totally prepared to play with the audience's preconceptions to create mystery. By this, I am referring to the 'Who is Sauron?' mystery that was strongest during the first few episodes of S1. Is it Adar, who was leading the orcs and is clearly evil? Is it this mysterious Halbrand, since he is a never-before-known human? Is it the Stranger, whose crater sort-of looked like Sauron's Eye from the films and who killed all those poor fireflies?

Could the hints of the Stranger being Gandalf be another ploy by the showrunners to trick us? I mean, it is possible that the Stranger and Gandalf coincidentally said the same line. And the Stranger's magic had many different facets, with a heavy focus (in my opinion) being on healing which isn't in Gandalf's spellbook (from what we've seen).

Perhaps Gandalf will be introduced in a later season. Or could even just show up at the very end where they drop a ring into his hand and then bid him adieu.

I hope that it is a blue wizard and not Gandalf, so my observations may be corrupted by my hope-bias. Thus, in the end, I don't know. But I'm excited to find out either way!

 

[Dorbelt]

The theory that the Stranger is Gandalf is enticing but raises doubts.On one hand, his powers and behavior resemble those of the famous wizard and his presence seeems crucial in the fight against Sauron.On the other hand the the chronology of events and consistency with Tolkien's canon are problematic.The creators may intentionally/ introduce confusion but whether the Stranger ultimately turns out to be Gandalf or one of the blue wizards remains an intriguing my stery😉