Amazon Prime’s spin-off show does well to capture the magic of Tolkien’s beloved fantasy universe, and fans of the franchise will recognize many of the storylines and characters it introduces despite it being set thousands of years prior to The Lord of Rings. And yet, there’s plenty of mystery, too. Here’s where The Stranger is from in The Rings of Power and our best guess is on who he is.
Where Is The Stranger From in the Rings of Power? Answered
The Stranger, or Meteor Man as many are referring to him, is a very mysterious character who has been introduced in Episode 1 of the show. He is found by Nori after having impacted the earth, seemingly traveling within a meteor from outer space. Tolkein never included such a reference to an individual arriving in such a manner in any of his The Lord of the Rings material, so we’re having to do a little guesswork to deduce his identity and where he came from.
His origin has not yet been confirmed by the show, but his arrival from space suggests he is an ethereal or angelic presence of some description. Since we know he is not an elf, human, or dwarf, we can presume he is Maiar, the angelic beings who came to Middle Earth many years before the events of The Lord of the Rings.
Characters including Gandalf, Saruman, Rhadagast, and the Balrogs are members are all Maiar — though they have their own Maiar names you may or may not know. Olórin, for example, is Gandalf’s Maiar name.
Given that The Stranger is likely a Maiar, there are a number of different theories as to whether The Stranger is one of the iconic Maiar seen in The Lord of the Rings.
Is The Stranger Gandalf or Saruman? Answered
While we don’t know for sure yet, The Stranger could actually be Gandalf; he’s already building a relationship with the ancestors of the hobbits, and he talks to the fireflies in a similar fashion to how Gandalf is seen talking to moths in The Lord of the Rings. The words he keeps repeating are Mana and Ure, which means “blessed flame” — these are actually the same words Gandalf speaks when facing the Balrog in Lord of the Rings.
The only issue with the Gandalf theory is that Gandalf was fabled to have come to Middle Earth much later than the era in which the events of The Rings of Power are taking place. The exact same is true of Radagast and Saruman, too.
Perhaps, then, The Stranger is one of the blue wizards who came to Middle Earth in the second age to help against Sauron? The only problem there is that there should be two of them, and we’re only being introduced to one of them here.
Is The Stranger a Balrog? Answered
There’s one other theory, though, which is a bit wild but could well be accurate given some of what we know about The Stranger and his relationship with fire so far.
As mentioned earlier, Episode 2 shows The Stranger interacting with the Fireflies. The interaction quite honestly feels a little sinister, given that he seemingly kills them all after using them. Remember how in episode one Galardial says that the fire in the cave isn’t hot and that evil takes all its warmth? Well, when Nori first stumbles on the fire, she remarks that the flames aren’t actually hot.
So is The Stranger Sauron after all? Maybe, though, that seems a little far-fetched given everything that is occurring over in Hordern with the orcs. Instead, could it be possible that the fire imagery, the fireflies, and the words Mana Ure, could we be seeing with The Stranger is a Balrog in human form?
Of course, it’s all guesswork for now; we’ll just have to wait and see in Episode 3 and beyond before we can properly answer where The Stranger is from in The Rings of Power, and our best guess is on who he is. Until then, for more useful guides on the show, search Twinfinite or check out some of the related content below.
