Full of events the finale of the second season of the series «The Lord of the Rings»expectedly caused a wave of discontent on the part of devoted fans of Tolkien’s world — in particular, with regard to the disclosure of one of the key characters.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for episode 8 of season 2 of the TV series «The Lord of the Rings».
In particular, we are talking about the Stranger, who, as many viewers assumed, is a stranger, turned out to be Gandalf (one of the students called him «Grand Elf», eventually dispelling all doubts about his identity).
It is interesting that according to Tolkien, Gandalf had not even arrived in Middle-earth at the time of the events of the «Rings of Power» series, in the Second Age, but some Tolkien experts believe that this does not actually break the story in any way, since Tolkien did not have a «canon.
«First, we need to clarify that there is no such thing as a canon in Tolkien,» says Dr. Corey Olsen, president of Signum University, in an interview. «Tolkien’s ideas were constantly evolving. According to the text of The Lord of the Rings, we know that Gandalf and the other Istari arrived around 1000 AD. However, in recent years, the writer has considered the possibility that Gandalf or other wizards arrived in the Second Age to take part in the wars of the Rings of Power».
It should be noted here that Olsen’s statements are quite controversial online, calling «a self-proclaimed professor of Tolkienism». However, his interview was retweeted on the official page of the series «Rings of Power», so the creators seem to fully agree with the expert’s opinion.
He’s come to spread hope to Middle-earth. The Tolkien Professor and Varking dive deep into Tolkien’s lore on Gandalf. pic.twitter.com/vR0twBBM6C
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@TheRingsofPower) October 3, 2024
The «The Rings of Power» series is adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series and created by Patrick McKay and John Payne. The events take place thousands of years before the events of «The Hobbit» and «The Lord of the Rings» — in the Second Age, when Sauron and the elves created the Rings of Power and then secretly forged the One Ring to secretly control the rest. The era ended with the Battle of the Last Alliance, which is shown in the prologue to Peter Jackson’s trilogy (with the very moment when Isildur cuts the ring from Sauron’s hand along with the finger — with the sword Narsil, which we also was shown in the final episode of).
According to Amazon’s report, the second season of the series watched by 55 million viewers in a month. However, the growth rate of the audience is significantly lag behind the first (The premiere episode of the first season in a daywas watched by 25 million viewers).
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