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Fay Watson

The Rings of Power's Gandalf reveal wasn't decided until writing began on season 2: "It took a while for us to get there"

The Stranger Patrick McKay

The Stranger in The Rings of Power season 2.

After almost two seasons of speculation, The Rings of Power season 2 finale finally revealed the Stranger's identity. In episode 8, after some prompting from Tom Bombadil, he shares that his name is Gandalf, bringing in one of the most beloved characters in The Lord of the Rings canon to the Prime Video show.

However, it wasn't always in the cards that the Stranger would be Gandalf, co-showrunner J. D. Payne tells us as part of our interview to mark The Rings of Power season 2 being named GamesRadar+'s best show of 2025.

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