“There’s no such thing, really, as canon in Tolkien”: A Lord of the Rings expert explains why that major reveal in The Rings of Power doesn’t break Middle-earth canon
That huge reveal doesn’t break Middle-earth canon
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The Rings of Power season 2, episode 8was packed with major events – including one, huge reveal aboutthe Stranger. Now, the following will containspoilers for the season 2 finale, so turn back now if you’re not up to date!
Towards the end of the episode, the Stranger, who had so far been nameless,decides to take on the name Gandalf, after hisStoorfriends take to calling him “grand elf.” Yep, the Stranger has indeed been Gandalf the Grey all along.
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s source material, though, Gandalf didn’t come to Middle-earth until the Third Age to assist in the struggle against Sauron. The Rings of Power is set during the Second Age, long before Gandalf is ‘supposed’ to arrive. But, as one expert has explained, it’s really not that big of a deal.
“First thing to specify is that there’s no such thing, really, as canon in Tolkien,” Dr. Corey Olsen, The Tolkien Professor/President at Signum University, explained in an discussion shared byThe Rings of Power Twitter account. “Tolkien’s ideas were ever evolving.”
“In the text of The Lord of the Rings, we’re told that Gandalf with the other Wizards arrived at around year 1000 of the Third Age,” Olsen added. “And in his later years, he was playing with the idea of maybe Gandalf coming sooner, maybe some of the Wizards coming in the Second Age and taking part in the wars of the Rings of Power.”
Elsewhere in the finale, it also seemed that theDark Wizardwouldturn out to be Saruman– though the showrunners havealready debunked this particular theory.
While you wait forThe Rings of Power season 3, check out ourThe Rings of Power season 2 reviewfor our verdict on the latest episodes.
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I’m a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site’s Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.
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