Rings of Power Reveals a Mysterious New Evil Wizard

The Rings of Power is already doing a batch to alteration up what we knew from Tolkien’s penning astir the past of Middle-earth. But its latest summation raises a ton of intriguing questions astir 1 fascinating facet of Tolkien’s worldbuilding the amusement has already played a batch with itself: the accomplishment of a new, sinister wizard.

Today Amazon officially unveiled the archetypal look at Game of Thrones and Rome histrion Ciarán Hinds’ caller character. Although we’ve known that Hinds volition look successful amusement for a while, this is our archetypal confirmation arsenic to who he’s really playing: a mysterious fig known lone arsenic the Dark Wizard. Described by Amazon arsenic “a acheronian and almighty wizard, whose origins and intentions are shrouded successful secrecy, and who has a legion of magic-wielding acolytes who obey his each command,” the Dark Wizard volition signifier an important portion of Rings of Power‘s storyline successful Rhûn successful play 2, arsenic the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) and his Harfoot companion Nori (Markella Kavenagh) task to the eastbound lands successful bid to assistance the erstwhile observe his ain magical connections arsenic 1 of the Istari. According to Amazon, it was the Dark Wizard who sent the mysterious acolytes aft the Stranger successful play 1, believing him to beryllium Sauron reborn, truthful immoderate this Wizard is up to, it’s surely nary good.

Who Could the Dark Wizard Be?

“We person seen passim Tolkien that almighty beings are tempted to evil. Gandalf volition not transportation the Ring for helium fears the evil it could bash done him,” Rings of Power co-showrunner Patrick McKay told Comicbook successful a caller interrogation astir the Dark Wizard’s origins. “Saruman turns to evil believing that that’s the champion mode to prevention the world, successful immoderate twisted logic he’s travel up with. So we cognize that bully characters tin crook to evil and we cognize that adjacent wizards tin crook to the acheronian side, truthful to speak, and watching however that’s gonna play retired with Ciarán Hinds is gonna beryllium hopefully a existent thrill for people.”

In Tolkien’s writings, lone 5 of the Istari, known much colloquially arsenic Wizards, were sent to Middle-earth during the Third Age. Agents of the Valar, the Istari were primordial spirits called Maia, transformed into mortal but magically-powerful signifier and tasked with helping the races of Arda combat the menace of Sauron, himself a fallen Maia. Those 5 from among the Maiar were known arsenic Curumo, Olórin, Aiwendil, Morinehtar, and Rómestámo, who, successful their mortal forms, became known arsenic Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast, Alatar, and Pallando, respectively.

While overmuch is known astir Saruman and Gandalf, of course, and Tolkien explored Radagast concisely successful The Hobbit, Alatar and Pallando (both known collectively arsenic the Blue Wizards) were the astir mysterious of the Istari. In immoderate of Tolkien’s earliest penning and letters astir Middle-earth, the Blue Wizards were concisely described arsenic having been dispatched to the eastbound lands, and apt failed successful their missions there, yet founding magical cults. But successful manuscripts written person to the extremity of his life–collected successful the 12-volume bid The Peoples of Middle-earth by Tolkien’s son, Christopher–Tolkien radically altered this idea, alternatively casting Alatar and Pallando arsenic Istari who were dispatched by the Valar overmuch earlier than the others, during the Second Age, to disrupt Sauron’s power successful the east. In these writings, the Blue Wizards are much successful: though they couldn’t find wherever Sauron’s tone had fled aft the War of the Last Alliance successful Middle-earth’s eastbound and confederate realms, they would play a large portion successful ensuring his power and his agents could ne'er lucifer the powerfulness of the Free Peoples successful the West during the second play of the Third Age, helping successful their ain mode to guarantee triumph successful the War of the Ring.

There’s already plentifulness of crushed to judge that The Rings of Power is mounting up Weyman’s Stranger to go Gandalf. And it would beryllium kind of weird, for arsenic Saruman-esque arsenic Hinds’ quality looks, for the Dark Wizard to beryllium a Saruman who fell to acheronian successful the Second Age, lone to beryllium redeemed and autumn again successful the Third. Radagast is conscionable arsenic improbable a candidate, fixed what small we knew of him, leaving 1 of the Blue Wizards arsenic a imaginable campaigner for the Dark Wizard’s existent identity. Rings of Power has already played a small spot with what we knew of the Istari from Tolkien successful having them statesman to get successful the Second Age, but if play 2 draws connected that conflicting thought that Tolkien had astir them–initially that they failed and diminished successful their duties, lone to past re-imagine them arsenic immoderate of the Valar’s earliest agents against Sauron–and roles it into a singular story, possibly we’ll spot the Stranger and his allies face this Dark Wizard and crook him from evil?

Time volition tell, when The Rings of Power returns to Amazon August 29.