Who exactly is the Dark Wizard in ‘The Rings of Power’?
An important clue has been given about the true identity of this character.
In Rhûn, the Stranger meets a powerful figure called the Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds). The motives of this character are still unclear and many fans suspect that he is once again a well-known character from Tolkien’s mythology.
Mission
As historical background, the series dates back to the early days of Tolkien’s world. At first there were “races” of spiritual beings, called Valar and Maiar, who took human form to continue rebuilding Middle-earth. At the end of the First Age, the War of Wrath broke out, when some of them rebelled against their creator and decided that they themselves were better suited to rule. In both the Second Age and the Third Age, evil returns in the form of Sauron (Charlie Vickers). For this reason the Istari were sent to Middle Earth.
The Istari belong to the Maiar and their sorcerers, whose mission is to support Humans in their fight against evil. There are five such wizards in total, Gandalf the Gray being one of them. The series has now revealed that the Stranger is a past incarnation of Gandalf. In addition to the Stranger/Gandalf the Grey, the four remaining Istari are Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown, and two Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando. They were all named after the color of their clothes. An Istar has a human appearance, but has magical powers and can live for thousands of years. Contrary to the identity of the Unknown, he has The rings of power It is not revealed who the Dark Wizard is.
Odds
The rings of power modified Istari’s backstory quite a bit compared to Tolkien’s mythology. However, it is quite possible that the Dark Wizard will turn out to be an Istar, just like Gandalf. This was heavily hinted at in the final episode of the second season. The Magician tells the Stranger that there is “five [zoals zijzelf] are”. Then there are four possibilities as to his background: Saruman, Radagast, Alatar or Pallando. Little is known about the latter two in Tolkien’s works, although the writer mentioned at the time that these two traveled east with Saruman. However, unlike Saruman, the Blue Wizards never returned.
The showrunners previously indicated that “very unlikely” is that the Blue Wizard is a previous incarnation of Saruman. The creators may decide to include Radagast in the story, who has a strong bond with nature and befriended the Great Eagles. Given the power the Dark Wizard seems to have over nature, this is a logical choice. The other option is for one of the mysterious Blue Wizards to appear in the Second Age story. Either way, the Dark Wizard’s backstory will shed more light on his role during the Second Age.
Where to see?
The rings of power can be seen on Prime Video.