Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 finale: EP on Galdalf
We recognize that there are a lot of reveals that took place across the Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 finale — but what stood out the most? Well, from our vantage point, we cannot help but think about Gandalf!
After all, consider the following here: We are talking about a long-rumored story possibility coming into reality. There have been clues for a while that The Stranger was actually the famed wizard, but there was still something special about the character being officially unveiled as this “Grand Elf.” This enables the creators the opportunity to tell more stories and explore the iconic figure’s origins in a way some may not have expected.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-showrunner JD Payne indicated that for some time, they have been preparing for this critical reveal:
Yeah, we’ve had the rights to him from beginning and certainly we had leanings in terms of who we suspected The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) was going to become. The further we got into the story, the further it just made sense for him to be Gandalf. And there are a couple of reasons. One, Gandalf has this strangely strong relationship with Halflings. He’s a wizard who loves to hang out in the Shire. Why? And we thought, “Well, if at one point in his existence he had vulnerably come to Middle-earth in this challenging time with no memory of who he was, and he had been found by ancestors of the Hobbits and they had helped him, that would be a thing he would never forget.”
Second, we see this character crosses path with Tom Bombadil (Rory Kinnear) and has a relationship in which he can learn his power as a wizard. Gandalf, in the books, right before he’s about to leave Middle-earth, the last thing he does is to say, “Before I leave, I’m going to go hang out with Tom Bombadil, and I have some questions I need to ask him.” And usually, when you’re leaving a place, you don’t go meet a new person you’ve never talked to before; you hang out with your friends…
The larger question that we have to wonder here is just how much flexibility that the showrunners really have with this character, given that so much of his lore is largely set in stone. This is different from what we have with several other characters; however, at the same time Gandalf is hardly the only person in this spot. The show is already, to some extent, dealing with this thanks to both Galadriel and also Sauron to a certain extent.
Related – Are we getting closer to The Rings of Power season 3?
Are you glad that the Gandalf reveal is confirmed on Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3?
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