The Rings of Power‘s season two finale saw the return of Ciarán Hinds’ Dark Wizard. His goals and allegiances turned out to be different than we thought, but in an episode that confirmed The Stranger is really Gandalf, everything we saw from Hinds’ powerful sorcerer pointed to him also having a famous name. Just like everything else he did during the season, he gave us plenty of reason to believe he’s really Saruman. Only, the Prime Video series showrunners have said that’s likely impossible. So if the Dark Wizard is not Saruman who could he be? He could be one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ill-fated Blue Wizards of the Second Age.
From the moment he arrived on Middle-earth, all signs pointed to The Stranger secretly being Gandalf. And that’s exactly who he is. The same has been true of the Dark Wizard and Saruman since he made his debut in season two. Everything about him, including his appearance and staff, pointed to him secretly being the infamous White Wizard of The Lord of the Rings. And that continued into the final episode, where he cast aside his sinister human loyalists and cult followers and tried to embrace his “old friend” The Stranger.
Despite both being emissaries of Manwë, King of the Valar, The Stranger did not ally with his fellow Istar. The Dark Wizard hopes to succeed Sauron after defeating him. Gandalf would rather wander the desert nameless than try and rule. That greatly upset the Dark Wizard who’d waited a long time for his friend to arrive. He responded by trying destroy the halflings to teach his “kin” a lesson about showing pity in a world fighting Sauron.
The Dark Wizard’s actions in the season two finale only strengthened the theory around his real identity. He arrived long before the Stranger as one of five Istari to aide in the defeat of Sauron, yet he wants to replace Sauron as Middle-earth’s ruler. He also loves Gandalf and wants him by his side, but turned on The Stranger in anger when Gandalf refused. That all aligns with Saruman’s story in the Third Age, in the same way The Stranger’s own story on The Rings of Power has aligned with Gandalf’s. Saruman the White will arrive as the noble, good, powerful leader of five wizards. But after a long time he will succumb to darkness. He will ally with sinister forces, including Sauron, in hopes of replacing the Dark Lord as Middle-earth’s ruler.
Yet, despite all those many obvious and direct connections, it is apparently “highly, highly, highly improbable” the Dark Wizard is Saruman. That’s what The Rings of Power‘s showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay told Vanity Fair in an interview about season two. Payne said it might actually be “impossible” for him to be Saruman. McKay then added “it would almost defy the laws of gravity and physics for [the Dark Wizard] to be Saruman.
Their clever choice of words does not rule out the Dark Wizard being Saruman entirely. “Almost impossible” still means “possible.” But if they’re correct, who could Hinds be playing if not Saruman? Like the Dark Wizard, Payne and McKay referenced five wizards. One of the other three they cited is Radagast the Brown, of which there is no evidence he’s the show’s Dark Wizard. But the other two intriguing figures they mentioned do make sense. Known as the Blue Wizards, their story has much in common with Hinds’s Istar on The Rings of Power.
In classic J.R.R. Tolkien fashion, the canonical history of the Blue Wizards in Middle-earth is unclear. Tolkien changed their story over time while not giving definitive answers about who they were or what happened to them. Even their names changed. But what he did say connects them to The Rings of Power‘s Dark Wizard. Also known as Ithryn Luin for their sea-blue robes, they were two of five Istar who made up the Order of the Wizards.
Named in one place as Alatar and Pallando (whom Alatar convinced to come with him), they arrived in Middle-earth in the Second Age with a mission to “circumvent Sauron.” They were there to undercut remaining loyalty to Morgoth and Sauron among men and to raise up those who opposed them. Whatever they did or didn’t accomplish, the only wizard who remained true to his purpose entirely was Gandalf. Tolkien wrote he didn’t know what exactly happened to the Blue Wizards of the Second Age, but he feared what befell them. And that fear mirrors the Dark Wizard’s story on The Rings of Power. Here’s what the author said:
I think that they went as emissaries to distant regions, east and south.
Missionaries to enemy occupied lands as it were. What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret cults and “magic” traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron.
The Dark Wizard made clear his first mission is to stop Sauron. That’s why Manwë sent him and his fellow Istari to the east. But after generations on Middle-earth a cult of mystics rose up in Rhûn around the Dark Wizard. They believed he also wants to serve Sauron. And while his original intentions might have been noble, the Dark Wizard is now a killer who believes the means justify the ends. He’s lost whatever good was in him in his quest for ultimate power.
That sounds like Saruman. But The Rings of Power showrunners are right there are obvious issues with that possibility. It also makes way more sense their Dark Wizard is really one of the Blue Wizards we know so little about.
But not matter what his true identity—whether he’s Saruman, Alatar, Pallando, Radagast, or someone else entirely—The Stranger’s identity will always matter more. The only wizard the races of Middle-earth can count on in the Second Age is the one they will also rely on in the Third, Gandalf.