As soon as the Mystics realize the Stranger isn't Sauron, they label him an "Istar." With this label, and several other hints throughout the episode and the season, The Rings of Power has all but confirmed that the Stranger is everyone's favorite wizard: Gandalf the Grey. Let's break it down.
Although the finale, “Alloyed,” opens with the reveal that the Stranger is Sauron, that's a fakeout, and the trio of white-cloaked women who were after him was mistaken. We later learn that Halbrand is Sauron, while the Stranger is one of the Istari — the formal name for wizards in Middle-earth.
If the Stranger were to be confirmed as Gandalf, the history of Middle-earth may have to be changed. Gandalf the Grey is not supposed to arrive in Middle-earth until the Third Age (Rings of Power is set in the Second Age, otherwise known as the Age of Númenor), accompanied by Radgast the Brown.
This revelation refutes any lingering theories that The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), the man who fell from the sky at the start of the season, is in fact Sauron, with the finale confirming he's actually one of the Istari, Tolkien's version of Wizards.
Although the Stranger hasn't been officially confirmed to be an early version of Gandalf, the most famous of Middle-earth's wizards, the show hasn't exactly disabused that impression, either.
Theory: The Stranger is a Blue Wizard, not Gandalf | The Rings of Power
Is Gandalf alive in Rings of Power?
Now let's talk about Gandalf in The Rings of Power
As immortal beings born shortly after the beginning of time, all the wizards were definitely alive during the time period of The Rings of Power. That said, most of them were on a completely different continent.
The Rings of Power Season 1 revealed that the Meteor Man is an Istar, a powerful being sent as an encourager to Middle-earth by the Maiar. The series heavily implies that the Meteor Man is none other than Gandalf the Grey, but doesn't yet introduce the other four Istar who were also sent to the physical realm.
As soon as the Mystics realize the Stranger isn't Sauron, they label him an "Istar." With this label, and several other hints throughout the episode and the season, The Rings of Power has all but confirmed that the Stranger is everyone's favorite wizard: Gandalf the Grey. Let's break it down.
The thing is, while many fans took the finale as confirmation that Meteor Man is Gandalf, that was never outright said. He is a wizard, but there was no mention of Mithrandir, Olorin or any other of Gandalf's names.
It is definitely not Gandalf or any of the other wizards. Meteor man is either Sauron or Tom Bombadil. Tom is older than anything on middle earth, why would he come in a meteor during second age? Well, time travel does not always go smoothly.
While The Rings of Power season 1 includes no overt clues to suggest a direct link between Harfoot characters and the Fellowship Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, several subtle details indicate that Nori Brandyfoot could potentially be an ancient relative of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.
Halbrand does not deny his heroism out of bashful humility, though; he knows that as Sauron, he's not the hero she wants him to be for the Southlands -- not when his plans involve scorching it into Mordor. No, Halbrand was never a hero, nor did he ever claim to be.
Could the Stranger be a Blue Wizard? According to Tolkien's writing, Gandalf and Saruman didn't arrive in Middle-earth until the Third Age. Since The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age, this would suggest that the Stranger is definitively not either of those wizards.
To learn about what is considered "canon", see LOTR:Canon. "The Stranger" was a moniker given to one of the Istari who arrived in Middle-earth during the Second Age via meteorite.
The wizards arrived in Middle-earth separately, early in the Third Age; Gandalf was the last, landing in the Havens of Mithlond. He seemed the oldest and least in stature, but Círdan the Shipwright felt that he was the greatest on their first meeting in the Havens, and gave him Narya, the Ring of Fire.
We now know for sure that the Stranger is an Istari, or Wizard. Tolkien made it clear there are only five Wizards who come to Middle-earth, each tasked with helping the people of Middle-earth fight Sauron.
Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and her friend Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards) travel to the site where the meteor crashed out of curiosity. There, they're met with a strange sight: at the center of the broken flaming meteor is a very tall man, played by Daniel Weyman.
Ever since he first fell to Middle-earth in an early trailer, fans have been wondering who the mysterious "Meteor Man" might be. Played by Daniel Weyman, "the Stranger" (as he's credited) appears to us first as a naked, bearded man in the burning crater of said meteor.
The single biggest giveaway is his relationship with the Harfoots. A major theme in Tolkien's legendarium is that none among the wise and powerful except for Gandalf had ever paid any attention to the Hobbits before the time of Bilbo and Frodo.
The Rings of Power's earliest signals that the Stranger is Gandalf concern his physical appearance and costume. Daniel Weyman's character first drops from the sky sporting long gray hair and an impressive beard, and when Nori fashions some clothes for her new friend, the garments she picks are also gray.
Why does Gandalf have no memory in Rings of Power?
Stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as the life age of the earth." From that explanation, it makes perfect sense why Gandalf wouldn't remember much. He had left the confines of time, reembodied his Maiar form and been thrust back into the mortal realm.
No, The Stranger (Daniel Weyman) is not Sauron, Saruman, or even Radagast the Brown. While it is revealed in the season finale that The Stranger is an Istar/Istari (otherwise known as a wizard in Middle-earth parlance), one line clues us in even further to The Stranger's identity.
Who was the man who fell from the sky in Rings of Power?
The final episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's first season revealed that the “meteor man” (aka The Stranger) was actually one of the Istari, or Wizards.
Gandalf, known temporarily as the Grey and later the White, and originally named Olórin (Quenya), was an Istar (Wizard), dispatched to Middle-earth in the Third Age to combat the threat of Sauron.
Vickers' comments imply that Sauron's intentions with Galadriel were primarily political in his dealings with the elves and that he was using her to elevate his power as a ruler over middle earth. The actor didn't seem to believe Sauron wanted to change at all, and that he had been manipulating her all along.
