Any chance The Stranger is not Gandalf? I thought he’d be a wizard, but was still hoping for him to be another one, like one of the unnamed one. Until he said, “follow your nose”.
100% Gandalf.
I doubt we will ever hear the name Gandalf though we may hear Olorin. But yes, it certainly points in that direction, and it would require some serious explanation at this point if its not.
I always suspected it was him, but the “follow your nose” I think is the final confirmation.
Remind me what “follow your nose” is a reference to?
Interview with the show creators regarding the first season:
We were concerned about a situation where the part of the audience steeped in lore is six or seven episodes ahead of the characters. If deception is an important part of the journey, we wanted to preserve that experience for book readers too.
Regarding the other rings: Celebrimbor, cleaning up the workshop after completing the Three, turns to his assistant and says, “Oh snap, I seem to have misplaced those sixteen early prototypes - if you come across them, be a good fellow and drop them into the melt. No use wasting good magic alloy…”
Regarding the Stranger: Re-embodiment by way of meteorite is an imprecise business at best. The two Blue Wizards landed in widely separated locations in Middle Earth and it will take a while before they make the rendezvous in Rhun. Sauron went way off course and landed in the sea, destroying a passing ship in the process. Good thing he disposed of the last of the survivors before they could rat him out to Galadriel…
He’s just mocking Gandalf’s catchphrase which he heard far too often back in the break room of the Maiar main office…
Maybe not. I like the analysis from the episode breakdown video from “Nerd of the Rings”:
The end of this scene from FOTR in Moria
Huh, I think it was assumed that that was one meteorite seen by many different people across Middle-Earth, but it could have actually been three (or more).
Ah thanks. Somehow that line didn’t stick we me like the writers intended. Of course my DVD sets have been in storage for a long time now.
Confirmation that the Stranger is actually Toucan Sam?
Looking back, is it believable that Celebrimbor didn’t think of adding another metal to the mithril to make an alloy?
When the conversation started about making an alloy, I said out loud, “And thus the elves invented adamantium.”
That conversation was silly. If the Elves know about metallic alloys–and their technology shows that they must–then they also know that some alloys enhance certain qualities rather than just diminishing all qualities.
No, not at all.
No. And neither did “i need super-pure gold and silver, so let me melt down your whole sword”.
But as a device to let Sauron be helpful to the elves, the interaction worked, even if the details of the help he provided didn’t.
Anything to be drawn from the Three Fates being turned into swarms of moths? That was kinda weird. But I think shows they aren’t destroyed.
Is Galadriel basically insane/idiotic to insist they continue with the ring-making-project after learning that the process they are using came from Sauron? How did creating three rings even help them as opposed to making two?
Well if you want it from the point of the Lore we do know, it is basically Arghh!, too stupid! Why did they do that?
From just the show point of view. This Galadriel is an absolute fool.
If this goes the way it has, with massively compressed time…it will continue to be a form of media that completely eschews the potential drama of the creation of the Nazgul. Now sure…the Witch King was probably already a nasty git, but the eight others?
In the Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War videogames…I believe they include passages where Nazgul are either created quickly or someone replaces a slain Nazgul…uhh…the fall of Human Kings and powerful human wizards should have been a slow and tragic thing. Not something just done at the convienence of Sauron.
And I fear thats what we will see here. Just a very quick assembling. Adar probably becoming the Witch King, which has a bit of tragedy I suppose…but is kind of half assed.
IOW I just dont trust the show-runners to extract any real tragedy out of this.
They said it made balance, but it would also mean two could team up against one. Wouldn’t 4 be more balanced?