Fans have been asking “Who is the Dark Wizard?” since the mysterious figure made his debut in the opening episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 on Prime Video last month.
The character played by Ciaran Hinds has caused much debate among fans in recent weeks, yet we gained a few more clues to his real identity in the season finale.
In the opening triple bill of episodes we found him in Rhûn with one of his mysterious 'acolytes' reporting back on The Stranger's progress through the land that lies in the far East of Middle-Earth.
In the first season this trio of acolytes believed The Stranger to be Sauron, but ‘The Dark Wizard’ told them he was in fact an Istar (a wizard sent by the Valar to assist the peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron).
Prime Video's saga is set during The Second Age, yet according to Tolkien-lore there were five known Istari in Middle-Earth by the time The Third Age rolls around - Gandalf, Radagast, Saruman and the two Blue Wizards. They were sent by Manwe, leader of the Ainur and King of the Valar.
The Dark Wizard confirmed that he and The Stranger (who’s confirmed to be Gandalf later in the episode) are both Istar when he told his companion “Manwe promised you would come..” in the season finale. He then called The Stranger “old friend” and said they “were as kin” at one point in time.
“Five of us there,” he continued. “But you were the one who convinced me to leave the uttermost West for this world, because you know none of us could ever hope to defeat Sauron alone.”
So we know The Dark Wizard is an Istar - or is at least claiming to be one - but which one is he?
Let's take a look at the possibilities...
Who is The Dark Wizard? Is The Dark Wizard Saruman?
There’s no shortage of material in the finale of The Rings of Power season 2 to suggest ‘The Dark Wizard’ is in fact Saruman. Not only does he call The Stranger “old friend” - a line Saruman uses in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
There are also shades of their Third Age meetings when Gandalf asks his companion if defeating Sauron would be enough and whether The Dark Wizard will seek to become his successor. “In time we will both be his successors” comes the reply. Does this line allude to Saruman’s meeting with Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring, where he suggests they join forces with Sauron?
It’s all very suggestive, but when we take a look at Saruman’s timeline in Tolkien's original works, it seems he didn't come to Middle-Earth until The Third Age.
But then neither did Gandalf, so if the show's writers Patrick McKay and John D. Payne have brought his arrival forward, it stands to reason they could have done the same with Saruman.
We know Saruman headed east soon after he arrived in Middle-Earth, which means he could well be masquerading as The Dark Wizard in the land of Rhûn. The character played by Ciaran Hinds also appears to be wearing white robes, which would fit with him being Saruman (later known as Saruman the White).
As the scene comes to an end The Dark Wizard tells us he rejects the name the desert people have given him. Yet he somewhat undermines those words by bringing down an avalanche of rocks upon the harfoots and stoors when Gandalf refuses to join him in his bid to replace Sauron.
Could this be an early sign of the malice that Saruman eventually succumbs to in the Third Age?
Is The Dark Wizard Khamûl?
The Dark Wizard claims to be an Istar, but could he be lying to Gandalf? Could he actually be someone completely different?
Only two of Sauron's nine Ringwraiths - or Nazgul - were explicitly named in Tolkien's writings, although it seems certain that McKay and Payne will be filling in the blanks with enthusiasm over the coming seasons of The Rings of Power.
One was their leader, The Witch-King of Angmar, while the other was Khamûl - nicknamed "Shadow of the East" - who was thought to be an Easterling who ruled Rhûn.
Little is known about Khamûl before he accepted one of the nine rings from Sauron, but from what we've seen so far The Dark Wizard would almost certainly accept one if The Dark Lord came calling. Could he one day become a member of the Nazgul?
Is The Dark Wizard one of the Blue Wizards?
In Tolkien's early writings, the Blue Wizards arrived in Middle-Earth at the same time as the other three members of the Istari, yet in later writings he hinted the two Blue Wizards - named Morinehtar and Romestamo - arrived in The Second Age.
In his earlier works the author also explained how they travelled East with Sauraman, yet unlike him, they didn't return, with some theorising they fell into darkness. In a 1958 letter, Tolkien expanded upon their fate...
"I really do not know anything clearly about the other two wizards – since they do not concern the history of the North West. I think they went as emissaries to distant regions, East and South, far out of Númenórean range: missionaries to 'enemy-occupied' lands, as it were. What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret cults and 'magic' traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron."
Tolkien's later works hinted at a slightly different fate, suggesting they had more luck holding back Sauron's forces than he previously mentioned.
Yet with the Blue Wizards' official biography vague at best, there's definitely room for The Rings of Power's writers to introduce one of them as The Dark Wizard in season 2.
Is The Dark Wizard Radagast?
Okay, so we don’t think there’s much chance of The Dark Wizard eventually becoming Radagast, the peace-loving woodland wizard who was played by Sylvestor McCoy in The Hobbit trilogy.
Radagast is an Istar, so it’s possible, but we reckon he’d need a complete personality change. There’s no way Radagast would hurt a desert mouse, let along bring down a load of rocks on a group of stoors!
Is The Dark Wizard a Balrog?
The Istari are simply a branch of the Maiar in Tolkien's writings so some have suggested The Dark Wizard could be a different type of Maiar, such as a Balrog.
A few fans have theorised that Balrogs could actually take a different form before they became the horned smoke monsters, so maybe Hinds could be a one pre-transformation?
It seems unlikely, apart from one comment made by the show's Production Designer Kristian Milsted, who may have hinted at The Dark Wizard's future home while discussing his current lair.
“It’s more a kind of teasing of what might happen here,” says Milsted. “It’s all carved out of a massive mountain.”
Tolkien's writings explain that Balrogs were Maiar that had been seduced by Morgoth into his service, turning into dreadful Ûmaiar, who wielded the flame of Udûn - as apposed to the flame of Anor used by the Istari. His works also describe them spending centuries hiding beneath mountains.
Now Morgoth might already be long gone by the time The Rings of Power starts, with Sauron stepping into his shoes as Middle-Earth's main villain, but could the writers have altered the Balrog's timeline so that Sauron corrupts them?
We've already seen one fiery demon of the ancient world stir beneath the dwarf-realm of Khazad-dûm, yet with "between three and seven" of these creatures existing in Middle-Earth, is it possible The Dark Wizard could be another one in the making?
