WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FROM THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER EPISODE 8, PROCEED WITH CAUTION! In The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 8, the Stranger finally meets with the mysterious trio who greets him as “Lord Sauron.” However, Nori and the Harfoots manage to steal the leader’s magical staff, which the Stranger then uses to banish the trio into darkness. It’s confirmed that the Stranger is not Sauron as most fans had originally suspected. However, his identity is pretty much revealed later on in the episode. The Stranger and Nori decide to travel east to discover the truth about his powers. Although he is initially unsure which way to go, the Stranger eventually chooses a direction because of the sweet smell in the air. “When in doubt… always follow your nose,” he tells Nori.
It was an awesome reveal that was exciting for fans who realized that Gandalf had been hidden in plain sight in The Rings of Power. However, not even Daniel Weyman knew about the Stranger’s true identity until it was time to film the finale. “That was incredible because I hadn’t known. They hadn’t told me one way or the other, and they kept this script back,” Weyman told Collider. He then revealed that it wasn’t until he and co-star Markella Kavanagh were reading the script that they discovered the truth. “I read episode eight with Markella who plays Nori, and I’m so thankful to have been working with her so much. But as we read it side by side, both on different iPads going through it, and we got to that part, my chin hit the floor, and we sort of looked at each other. And I mean, you can hear the excitement in my voice now. Our eyes were almost wet with ludicrously excited tears. It was just crazy,” Weyman stated. It’s awesome to know that Weyman was just as surprised (and thrilled) as the rest of us. With that in mind, we can’t wait to see more of Gandalf in the second season.
