Is Gandalf Within the New Lord Of The Rings TV Present and Is He The Meteor Man?

The brand new Lord of the Rings TV series The Rings of Power is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, and naturally followers have plenty of questions on this new take a look at the fantasy world of J.R.R. Tokien’s Center-earth and the characters that inhabit it. SPOILERS FOLLOW: The primary episode of The Rings of Energy, “A Shadow of the Previous”, culminates with a mysterious stranger who comes crash-landing to Center-earth in fiery meteor. Two episodes in, the present does not reveal a lot concerning the Stranger (or “Meteor Man”), aside from the truth that he clearly has the magical and nature-affecting powers of a Lord of the Rings wizard. 

So who’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy‘s mysterious Meteor Man – and is he the present’s shock twist manner of (re-)introducing us to Gandalf? 

Is Gandalf the Meteor Man? 

It is easy to take a look at the Meteor Man in The Rings of Energy and see the frail previous physique, lengthy white beard, magic powers and instantly suppose: “Oh look, it is Gandalf!” In case your only a informal fan of the Lord of the Rings films or learn the books a very long time in the past, the affiliation would solely be pure. However as Tolkien schloars (the do exist) would shortly level out, the Gandalf as Meteor Man concept does not work as a result of timeline (see under). 

If Meteor Man is definitely Gandalf, that might a serious upset of Tolkien’s established origin for the character. After all, Gandalf’s story is just not with out its fair proportion of twists and secrets and techniques (like being a bearer of one of many Three Elven Rings), so it is not unattainable that Gandalf had a secret and far much less glamorous time on Center-earth earlier than he bought his thoughts so as. The Meteor Man clearly has bother adjusting to this new mortal kind and understanding the way it all works – as a Maiar understandably would. 

Then once more, Gandalf’s character was famous by Tolkien for being probably the most humble of the Istari (therefore his look as an previous man) and he type of simply pops up on Center-earth, assembly characters just like the elf Círdan the Shipwright and the Hobbits. That is all to say: a fiery entrance by Gandalf appears wholly out of character. 

Is Gandalf within the Lord of the Rings TV Sequence?

In Tolkien lore, Wizards are literally “the Maiar” that are (to place it merely) just like the angelic powers of the cosmos from the “Blessed Realms” often called Valinor. 5 Maiar  (the “Istari”) had been despatched to Center-Earth to oppose Sauron and took human kind because the 5 Wizards, with Gandalf being the final to reach. That pivotal occasion occurred on the star of the Third Age of Center-earth; The Rings of Energy sequence is about within the Second Age. So, followers ought to in all probability NOT anticipate to see Gandalf within the present – but it surely’s not completely unattainable… 

We now have a complete listing of theories about Who The Stranger is in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, however here is the brief breakdown: 

• Sauron – One of many central mysteries of The Rings of Energy is the place Sauron is hiding. At this level in Tolkien historical past, Sauron is stepping as much as be the second Darkish Lord to come back from the Valar, after the autumn of his grasp Morgoth within the Struggle of Wrath. Sauron is a splendidly tough and deceitful enemy who takes on a brand new “fair-looking” kind as Annatar, “Lord of Presents” earlier than tricking the elves of Center-earth into forging the Rings of Energy. SO, the Stranger may very well be Sauron starting his infiltration of Center-earth. Nonetheless, since it has been mentioned that “Sauron” will NOT appear in Rings of Power Season 1, this concept may very well be useless within the water.
• A brand new character – or spin on another person from Tolkien lore that we do not acknowledge but. 

Learn the total article for the deeper breakdown. Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy streams new episodes Fridays on Prime Video.