Spoilers for the current season of The Rings of Energy may be discovered all through this text.
For 2 complete seasons, we had been theorizing about what The Stranger’s title was on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy. Then, on the very finish of Season 2, it was formally revealed that Daniel Weyman’s character was, certainly, Gandalf. Nevertheless, despite the fact that that was a well-liked idea early on within the present’s run, it really wasn’t at all times the official plan, as showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne defined.
It seems that Gandalf was by no means totally within the playing cards from day one. Whereas The Stranger was revealed to be a wizard in Season 1, his id wasn’t revealed till the top of Season 2. With that in thoughts, whereas on the Home of R podcast, McKay defined that they really didn’t totally know the place they had been going with this character at first, saying:
I do not know that we did know from the beginning that that is the place we had been going. There’s a narrative that’s actually humorous. I informed it to any individual the opposite day, and Markella Kavenagh, who performs Nori, informed it the opposite day at an occasion, which is the very first rehearsal that the Harfoot women had with Mr. Stranger and J.A. Bayona 5 years in the past, the very first thing earlier than we did something Markella was like, ‘I’ve a query. Is he Gandalf?’
Whereas the Harfoot actress had an inkling from the soar, on the time, his id seemingly wasn’t locked in. Even when it was, Daniel Weyman, who performs Gandalf, didn’t wish to know, because the showrunner defined:
And Daniel Weyman, in his very Daniel Weyman method, took the reply, and he was like, ‘Properly, I do not wish to know, as a result of he would not know but. He is in like alpha state, like an toddler who has to, sort of piece collectively who he’s and what the world is, and each step of that journey is necessary and to by some means make it a couple of title or have prior data would really not inform that story.’ And I feel, whether or not consciously or unconsciously, that is very a lot the strategy we took for a really very long time.
So, there you may have it. Whereas indicators pointed to The Stranger being Gandalf, it wasn’t essentially deliberate that method.
They did have choices too. There have been 5 wizards complete they may choose from — Radagast, one of many two blue wizards, Saruman or Gandalf. And it looks as if they thought of all of that for some time. Nevertheless, finally, they got here to the belief that Weyman’s character was in truth the wizard who’s performed by Ian McKellen within the movies. To that time, McKay defined how they got here to that conclusion:
Then it turned clearer and clearer the extra time we sat with the character that it was additionally apparent who he was the entire time. And sooner or later, it was like, ‘Oh, OK then, I suppose that is what we’re doing, roughly.’ Which is to say that we by no means needed the title to be one thing imposed upon the present or the character. We needed the character to return to that at a degree in his evolution the place it felt like possibly he’d earned the mantle of it in a method that felt distinct from issues that anybody could be bringing to it, together with him.
After that, J.D. Payne mentioned that they had been asking all kinds of questions on The Stranger that will result in his title. He famous that what his powers had been, how he controls them, what they had been meant for and extra all helped reveal his moniker. Then, by the top of Season 2, his title felt tremendous apparent.
It was certainly apparent. If he didn’t find yourself being Gandalf, I might have been shocked, as a result of the groundwork they laid made it so all indicators pointed to the beloved wizard.
In the end, it is fascinating to look again and notice that the showrunners weren’t 100% certain that The Stranger was Gandalf at first. Nevertheless, the truth that they went on the identical journey of discovery that The Stranger went on, which means they let the indicators of his title reveal themselves reasonably than totally plan them from the beginning, is fantastic.
Now, I can’t wait to see how this wizard’s story expands in Rings of Energy Season 3. To return and see the evolution of this wizard from The Stranger into Gandalf, you’ll be able to stream the Lord of the Rings prequel with an Amazon Prime subscription.