The Season 2 finale of Rings of Energy lastly gave us a solution to one of many present’s most urgent questions: What’s The Stranger’s identify? It seems, most guesses have been proper and Daniel Weyman’s wizard is called Gandalf. Nevertheless, the journey to get to that alternative each on display and off wasn’t a straight path. So, I requested the showrunners how they found out that this magical being was certainly the enduring Lord of the Rings character, they usually advised me how the actor who performs him impacted their choice.
Following Rings of Energy’s Season 2 run on the 2024 TV schedule, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay advised the Home of R podcast that The Stranger’s identify wasn’t set in stone from the start. They needed to go on the journey Weyman’s character went on and evolve his story to the purpose the place he earned his moniker. So, once I requested about that and the way Weyman impacted that course of, McKay advised me:
Gandalf is such an unlimited, revered, totemic determine. I believe we have been approaching him with correct respect – we will not simply have him, [and be like] ‘There’s Gandalf.’ I imply, like woah, you are coping with [an] iconic, beloved [character], you understand, it actually has to really feel like the precise factor to even attempt to contact the hem of that character’s garment.
It is smart that this can be a choice they didn’t make instantly. They wanted to take their time with it, and lay the groundwork to justify The Stranger being named Gandalf. They usually did.
A part of that’s due to Daniel Weyman’s tackle the magical being too. McKay stated it was the actor’s reference to the Nori actress Markella Kavenagh that helped them solidify the selection to make him Gandalf. As we all know, in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the istar has a deep love for halflings. So, when the showrunners noticed Weyman’s reference to Kavenagh, who performs the Harfoot halfling who helps The Stranger, it helped hammer dwelling the concept his identify could possibly be Gandalf. To that time, the showrunner stated:
I believe one of many issues that actually keyed in was that, notably [in] Season 1, Daniel and Markella, who performs Nori, had this spooky connection, which is like, you understand, ET and Elliot. It is like they have been associates. They wanted one another. It was a fateful assembly. And the extra that turned the kind of anchor we constructed that storyline round, the extra it felt like, ‘Boy, this man’s relationship to halflings seems like a very key a part of who he’s.’ Which is, like, ‘Man, that concept we had that like, possibly or possibly he is not Gandalf. Boy, this seems like Gandalf.’
It positive does really feel like Gandalf, and that turned particularly obvious towards the tip of Season 2 too. When he was confronted with the concept of serving to his associates or discovering his future, he finally went to save lots of Nori, Poppy and the Stoors. His connection to the halflings is important, and he cares for them, and particularly Nori, deeply, which is a transparent sign that he’s the wizard Ian McKellen performed within the movies.
Persevering with to interrupt down their option to make The Stranger Gandalf, McKay advised me they needed to ensure they laid the groundwork to offer him the identify in a respectful and honorable means:
I believe we have been much less like, hadn’t determined, or ‘We do not know.’ And it was extra simply wanting to really earn that identify, hopefully. And, you understand, that definitely was the respect with which we approached it.
General, Weyman and Kavenagh’s connection as Gandalf and Nori helped do precisely that, amongst different issues, and I believe it’s protected to say that The Stranger 100% deserved the legendary identify he now has.
Now, I can’t wait to see how he continues to stay as much as it when Rings of Energy returns for Season 3. Nevertheless, whereas we anticipate that, I’ll be going again to stream Seasons 1 and a pair of with an Amazon Prime subscription to look at this beautiful chemistry between these two actors and their characters that helped verify that The Stranger is Gandalf.