Though the episode stops short of confirming which Istari the Stranger is (the safe money is on him being Gandalf, but there are other possibilities, for sure), the revelation gives the Stranger more control over his magic powers and he's able to speak and think clearly.
It's certainly possible this character is Gandalf, but making it so would be a deviation from Tolkien's writings. Gandalf isn't supposed to arrive in Middle-earth from Valinor until after Sauron is defeated the first time at the end of the Second Age and this show is not there yet.
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.
As it turns out, the Mystery Meteor Man is indeed one of the Istari. With strange hooded figures following the tracks of his falling from the sky in the first episode, they finally catch up with the Stranger right at the beginning of the finale, and immediately call him... Lord Sauron.
Unless Gandalf secretly arrived thousands of years before Tolkien said he did and looped back around later to pretend he arrived during the Third Age, Meteor Man is not Gandalf. And if this guy does turn out to be Gandalf, The Rings of Power will have committed a pretty big canon violation. Release the fans.
Aragorn vs Sauron unreleased scene (better quality) - edited
Is the meteor man lord Sauron?
Once they have found Meteor Man, they believe him to be Sauron and offer themselves as his servants. Many fans also thought him to be Sauron and made a good case for it, but as it turns out, he is not Sauron. Instead, he uses his magic to save Nori and the other Harfoots from the White Cloaks.
The wisest of the Maiar, Gandalf was created by Ilúvatar before the Music of the Ainur. At the beginning of Time, he was amongst the Ainur who entered into Eä. In his "youth" he was known as Olórin and lived in Lórien.
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.
Sauron and Gandalf were both Maiar: a supernatural race that serve the Valar, and many Maiar assumed different forms. Gandalf is one of five Wizards, a group of Maiar originally sent to Middle-earth by the Valar to aid the resistance against Sauron, and were given the appearance of old men.
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. As the girls learn, he doesn't seem to speak the same language as them, has a hard time understanding what's going on, and isn't quite sure where he's from.
The Rings of Power seems to tease that the Stranger is Gandalf in its final season one episode. After the Stranger is named an Istar, or wizard, for certain, he also appears to echo Gandalf's quote from The Lord of the Rings movies, telling Nori that when in doubt, she should follow her nose.
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.
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.
So far, in The Rings of Power, we have only met one Istar and all we know to call him is The Stranger. In Tolkien's lore, because Alatar was the first one chosen to travel Middle-earth to circumvent Sauron's plans in the second age, this is the most likely identity of The Stranger.
At some point prior to The Rings of Power, Sauron conjured a fresh physical form. He then seized the Southlands' crest from its last known king (who died 1000 years prior to the TV show's timeline) and assumed the identity "Halbrand."
The creation of the Halbrand identity seemingly served as a way for Sauron to start a new life in Middle-earth. Meeting Galadriel kicked his ambitions back into gear, but he was pretty hesitant along the way.
Some fans thought that Sauron had bewitched her into keeping his secret, and others thought that Galadriel lied because she was still thinking about joining Sauron. But, both of those theories are simply wrong. Galadriel didn't come clean because she still wanted revenge on Sauron.
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.
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.
As such, he was immortal and extremely powerful, yet had limits on how far these powers could be used. His two most salient powers were his knowledge and his voice. Saruman was, in a very real way, the junior brother of Sauron both having been Maia of Aulë, Valar of Smithcraft, in the very beginnings of time.
Summary. Gandalf's claim to be Saruman when he returned in The Two Towers was because his resurrection as Gandalf the White meant he had taken on the role and form of the White Wizard. The wizards in Middle-earth were avatars or incarnations of the powerful Maiar beings, with Saruman as the leader.
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.
As Gandalf saved the Shire, he grew an admiration for the Hobbits. Despite their suffering, he witnessed them helping one another and noticed their courage through these harsh times. He eventually had to leave, but his time there had convinced him to return regularly to check up on the Hobbits and help spread joy.
Melkor is the most powerful of the Valar but he turns to darkness and is renamed Morgoth, the primary antagonist of Arda. All evil in the world of Middle-earth ultimately stems from him. One of the Maiar of Aulë betrays his kind and becomes Morgoth's principal lieutenant and successor, Sauron.
