There’s so much depth and breadth to the lore of Arda and all it contains, thanks to iconic author and philologist J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are the late scribe’s seminal works, serving as the blueprint for high fantasy in the decades to follow. Tolkien’s mythology for Middle-earth and beyond is so detailed that he created several languages for his characters, including the Elvish native tongues Quenya and Sindarin, as well as Sauron’s Black Speech.
Tolkien’s vast universe also contains myriad characters of varying development. Two particular characters whose fates were left dangling in the breeze were the Blue Wizards. Tolkien was unsure how to handle them (and understandably so), as is evidenced by his later writings. In Season 2 of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, viewers learned that the Stranger is Gandalf the Grey, one of the five Istari (including Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown, and the two Blue Wizards) who traveled to Middle-earth. Fans also now have confirmation that the Dark Wizard, played by Ciarán Hinds, is a Blue Wizard – Pallando, to be exact. The Rings of Power is already polarizing, so this move to insert a Blue Wizard into the narrative is undoubtedly controversial. That said, it remedies a 71-year-old issue Tolkien himself struggled to resolve.
The Stranger and the Dark Wizard in ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2
The Rings of Power Season 2 sees the Stranger, Nori Brandyfoot, and Poppy Proudfellow travel to Rhûn, where the former hopes to learn how to harness his abilities. From his seat of power (Caras Gaer), the Dark Wizard sends his acolytes to retrieve the Stranger, believing him to be Sauron. After that fails, the Stranger encounters the enigmatic Tom Bombadil, while the Harfoot duo stumbles upon the Stoors and returns to their village with them. Bombadil helps the Stranger discover who he is and hone his powers.
Later, the Stranger and the Dark Wizard cross paths in the Stoor village. The Dark Wizard, who refers to the Stranger as an “old friend,” urges the Stranger to join him in his quest to become Sauron’s successor. So, the Dark Wizard is clearly an antagonist in The Rings of Power. It doesn’t help that he apprenticed with Bombadil. Upon obtaining his staff, the Dark Wizard seized control of most of Rhûn.
What Tolkien and His Texts Say About the Blue Wizards
Not much is known about the Blue Wizards. Manwë, King of the Valar and King of Arda, summoned a council of the Valar, where they decided to send emissaries to Middle-earth. Oromë chose Alatar, who brought his friend Pallando along for the trip. Initially, Tolkien wrote that the pair arrived in Middle-earth in T.A. 1000. However, he later amended that to S.A. 1600, with them arriving around the same time as Glorfindel as opposed to Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast. The objective was to weaken Sauron’s forces in the south and east of Middle-earth, while the other three carried out their mission in the west.
There’s a chapter devoted to the Istari in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. Pallando and Alatar’s fates are unknown. It’s surmised that they failed their mission, though, and potentially became servants of Sauron. In “The Istari” section of Unfinished Tales, Tolkien hinted that, of the five wizards, only Gandalf returned to Valinor. Letter 211, penned in 1958, conveyed Tolkien’s indecision regarding the Blue Wizards’ fate while touching on the Sauron theory:
“I really do not know anything clearly about the other two – since they do not concern the history of the N[orth].W[est]. 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.”
This indicates that The Rings of Power creative team is committing to the Blue Wizards becoming Sauron’s servants. Well, at least Pallando. It makes sense given the Dark Wizard’s arc in Season 2, and considering that Rhûn is Sindarin for “East.”
Since Pallando Is Confirmed, Will Fans See Alatar in ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 3?
Two friends in “sea-blue” clothing left Valinor for Middle-earth, venturing east and south to aid the rebellion against Sauron per their assignment (and to find his hiding place in the east). However, only Pallando is confirmed in The Rings of Power. This begs the question: Where’s Alatar? It’s worth noting that Amazon doesn’t have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or The Peoples of Middle-earth. Therefore, the show only has access to The Lord of the Rings, its appendices, and The Hobbit. The Blue Wizards are only mentioned in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, whereas they get slightly more focus in Unfinished Tales.
So, there’s not much to work with in terms of source material. It’s possible Pallando and Alatar went their separate ways. After falling under Sauron’s sway, Pallando remained in Rhûn in the east to develop his abilities and plan his eventual takeover as the Dark Lord’s successor. Perhaps they’ll go the “good wizard/bad wizard” route, with Alatar leaving his corrupted pal behind in favor of hunting for Sauron in the south, unwaveringly faithful to his mission.
Since the series is already taking some liberties with the timeline – notably, that the Blue Wizards didn’t arrive in Middle-earth at the same time as Gandalf and the others – maybe they’ll forgo showing Alatar altogether. Gandalf could be the “good” Istar, with Pallando as his enemy.
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how Pallando develops in The Rings of Power Season 3, and if Alatar pops up, that’ll be a plus.
- Release Date
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September 1, 2022
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
- Directors
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J.A. Bayona, Sanaa Hamri
- Writers
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Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
