SPOILER LotR - The Rings of Power

They haven't confirmed it's Gandalf. It could be one of the blue Wizards sent during the 2nd age.

 

Sorry, @DailyPlunge, but the show did everything but scream THIS IS GANDALF!!!!

I imagine how he ends up getting called Gandalf the Grey will be told to us over the course of the series. So instead, the showrunners came up with a clever way to do it that didn't require the stranger being referred to as Gandalf this early in his origin story. Having him utter one of his iconic lines from the LOTR was an absolutely brilliant way to reveal his identity to viewers.

With all due respect to the Rings storyline (which I like), I'm most looking forward to Season 2 to continue the adventures of Gandalf and Nori and see what happens to Prince Durin and the doomed dwarves of Khazad-dum.

 

People will be profoundly disappointed now if it's not. I thought it was Gandalf at the beginning, it's just an odd choice to leave it open. For the series to invest that much time into that story-line I'm surprised there wasn't a clearer resolution. I'm also surprised the Tolkien estate approved it.

 

If Gandalf hasn't been given the name Gandalf this early into his time on Middle Earth, how could have McKay & Paine made it any clearer than they did?

 

They could have revealed his name as Olórin or something.

I kind of wish the Sauron thing was handled better. I would have preferred if he would have a more direct hand in making the Elven rings. The way he just leaves after his reveal was kind of weak. I think it would have worked better had she just suspected something was wrong instead of this bizarre "be my queen" angle. Anyway, just nitpicking.

 

The story we've been told thus far is that a powerful Stranger has arrived in Middle Earth without any real awareness of who he is or what he is, let alone what name he is called by.

Viewers spent the entire season watching the Stranger become re-accustomed to speaking and becoming more aware of his nature (is he good or bad? Are the bad things he's done an accident or part of his true nature?)

If McKay and Paine had wanted to fast-forward the Stranger's origin story, they could have ended S1:E8 with him saying, "NOW I remember!!! They used to call me Olorin." The fact that they chose NOT to do this is because they plan for Gandalf's journey of self-discovery to continue into Season 2 (and perhaps even beyond it.) That said, they're in a pickle on how to end Episode 8 because Gandalf is SUCH a popular character in Tolkien's books and Jackson's films that they'd be wasting A Golden Opportunity to hype Season 2 by not letting the public know that the one and only Gandalf the Grey is one of the featured characters in the LOTR: The Rings of Power.

So how can they clue the show's audience into the Stranger's true identity without prematurely ending our favorite wizard's journey of self-discovery?

Having him repeat one of his most quoted lines from The Fellowship of the Ring was THE PERFECT SOLUTION because it clues the audience into the fact that the stranger is Gandalf without ruining all the things he'll discover about himself in Season 2.

 

He learned to talk over two episodes. He remembered that it was called wizard in their tongue. It wouldn't have been a big deal for him to remember his real name. I just seemed clunky to me.

 

I understand your opinion. But you need to keep in mind that neither of us know where McKay and Paine are planning to go with Gandalf's origin story.

I suspect that the Stranger 'remembering his real name and background' will be one of the major subplots in Season 2.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 15, 2022, Original Post Date: Oct 15, 2022 ---

One more thing to keep in mind about having Gandalf in this series: Given the events of the Second Age that Tolkien laid out for readers in the appendixes to The Return of the King, it's very doubtful McKay and Paine would dare to involve Gandalf in a significant way (I suppose they could but -- given that Tolkien didn't have Gandalf coming to ME until the start of the Third Age -- its unlikely.

So if the LOTR: Rings of Power wanted to include Gandalf (which is a wise move) -- and yet not include him in the whole Rings drama which would be a radical departure from canon (also a wise move), what's the best approach?

It seems to me that making the theme of Gandalf and Nori's adventure in Rhun one of self-discovery for the two of them would be fascinating for viewers while keeping the main Rings action un-tarnished by the premature appearance of the Grey Wizard.

 

Yeah, I'm late to the party but finally finished watching the show.
As a big LotR fan (I might have read that book even more often than I have watched "A new hope"), I really enjoyed it and don't see why so many people are calling it a bad show.
Coming to Gandalf, I can see the stranger being him. We know that he just came back from an unknown to us journey when i he was send (back?) to middleearth. He might be on a mission not directly related to the main plot. And he shouldn't call himself Gandalf, since it was a name for him given by others. He should introduce himself as Olórin.