--- description: Everything we know about the mysterious character in Rhûn played by Ciarán Hinds. title: Who Is the Dark Wizard in The Rings of Power? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafd5eaba4f47f5a6/698a5ae49862f52b12896244/ciaran-hinds-rings-of-power.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What We Know About the Dark Wizard in _The Rings of Power_  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Sep 17, 2024 8:57 PM CUT  Ciarán Hinds as the "Dark Wizard" in The Rings of Power Ciarán Hinds as the "Dark Wizard" in The Rings of PowerBen Rothstein—Prime Video  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Sep 17, 2024 8:57 PM CUT **_This post contains spoilers for_** [**The Rings of Power**](https://time.com/7010539/the-rings-of-power-recap/ "undefined") **_through Season 2, Episode 5_**. Sauron may be busy forging rings, but another evil power is rising in the east on [_The Rings of Power_](https://time.com/7010539/the-rings-of-power-recap/ "undefined"). In Season 1, The Stranger and his harfoot friends ran into some pale, mystical baddies in the forest. It turns out that they hailed from the eastern land of Rhûn. They were the henchmen of a dark wizard, played by Ciarán Hinds, who was introduced in the second episode of Season 2. Hinds is no stranger to fantasy adaptations: He has had roles in both [_Game of Thrones_](https://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/ "undefined") and [_Harry Potter_](https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2082124,00.html "undefined"). However, in _The_ _Rings of Power_, he seems like a particularly ominous foe to The Stranger, who many have [speculated to be Gandalf](https://time.com/6209301/the-rings-of-power-characters-cast/ "undefined"). But the Dark Wizard's exact identity and ultimate goal had thus far remained a mystery throughout Season 2. **Read More**: [_The Secretive, Extravagant, Big-Hearted World of The Rings of Power, the Most Expensive Show Ever Made_](https://time.com/6205837/the-rings-of-power-amazon-most-expensive "undefined") Here is what we do know about the Dark Wizard and our best guess at his motivations. ## The new foe is likely one of the Istari At the end of Season 1, three cultists tracked down the Stranger in the forest, believing him to be Sauron reincarnated. Of course, they are wrong: Galadriel's friend (and potential love interest) [Halbrand turned out to be the Dark Lord](https://time.com/6222116/sauron-halbrand-the-rings-of-power/ "undefined"). The Stranger is actually one of the Istari, a race of wizards that appear in writer [J.R.R. Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_](https://time.com/collection-post/5898436/fellowship-of-the-ring/ "undefined") [books](https://time.com/collection-post/5898436/fellowship-of-the-ring/ "undefined"). Tolkien writes about five wizards, two of whom feature heavily in the _Lord of the Rings_ books: Sauron and Saruman. **Read More:** [Why Sauron Can Change Form on _The Rings of Power_](https://time.com/7011042/the-rings-of-power-isildur/ "undefined") At the end of Season 1, the Stranger defeated the cultists in battle. But they survived and fled back to their master, the magic-user played by Hinds. Amazon offers this official description of the character, which confirms that he, too, is a wizard. --- > “It turns out, the mysterious being known as the Stranger is not the only wizard who has come to Middle-earth….for in the mysterious lands of Rhûn, another wizard awaits him. A dark and powerful wizard, whose origins and intentions are shrouded in secrecy, and who has a legion of magic-wielding acolytes who obey his every command — among them the three travelers who sought out the Stranger at the end of Season 1…on the Dark Wizard’s orders.”” --- It is yet unclear whether this wizard is one of the handful of Istari written about in Tolkien's stories or whether he's a new character entirely. But fans have some theories. **Read More:** [_Who Exactly Were Those Three Witches in_ The Rings of Power_?_](https://time.com/6221970/the-rings-of-power-three-witches/ "undefined") ## He may be one of the blue wizards You may remember that wizards in Tolkien's stories are associated with different colors. (Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White, etc.) Tolkien wrote about two blue wizards in _Lord of the Rings_ named Alatar and Pallando. They both traveled to Rhûn to convince men who had been loyal to Morgoth—the evil power who was essentially Sauron's boss—not to join Sauron. Tolkien wrote that the blue wizards failed to stop Sauron and established cults of their own in Rhûn. They taught their human followers magic and encouraged the mortals to worship them. **Read More:** [_There's a Deeper Meaning Behind the Wizards in_ The Rings of Power](http://There’s a Deeper Meaning Behind Wizards in The Rings of Power "undefined") Given the Dark Wizard does seem to have a cult following, there's a good chance he's one of these two blue wizards. ## He may be Saruman If _The Rings of Power_ hopes to make more connections to _The Lord of the Rings_, it would make sense that at some point they would introduce Saruman. The White Wizard did travel to Rhûn early in his time on Middle-earth, though Tolkien never wrote what he did there. It's possible the show is trying to fill in that gap. Still, Gandalf—that is, if The Stranger _is_ Gandalf—would not approve of another wizard starting a cult when his mission is to stop Sauron. A confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman so early in their time together on Middle-earth seems unlikely considering that they were allies for thousands of years before Saruman became loyal to Sauron and betrayed Gandalf during the events of _The Lord of the Rings_. ## He could be Khamûl We know that Sauron will eventually forge nine rings for men, and the wearers of those rings will be corrupted and become ringwraiths or Nazgûl. The ringwraiths serve Sauron and they're the hooded figures who hound Frodo and the fellowship throughout the _Lord of the Rings_ books. We've probably already met a few of these mortal men on the show. **Read More:** [_What Powers Do the Rings Actually Have in_ The Rings of Power_?_](https://time.com/7019182/what-do-rings-of-the-rings-of-power-do/ "undefined") Even though this mysterious man wields magic, he may not _technically_ be one of the Istar from the books. If he's a mortal man who acquired mystical skills, then he's a leading candidate for the character of Khamûl, one of the nine wringwraiths and a man who hailed from the east. ## He may be an entirely new character Though many of the characters from _The Rings of Power_ can be found in Tolkien's texts—Isildur, [Galadriel](https://time.com/6209860/galadriel-the-rings-of-power-tolkien/ "undefined"), Durin—some have been created from whole cloth like the elf Arondir or the harfoot Nori. It is certainly possible that this dark wizard character is brand new to the show. There is plenty of latitude for showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay to play with the stories in Rhûn given that Tolkien left much of the activity in that land mysterious. **Read More:** [_Why Isildur Will Play a Key Role on_ The Rings of Power](https://time.com/7011042/the-rings-of-power-isildur/ "undefined") However, the writers also clearly want to keep the audience guessing as to the identities of certain characters and how they might fit into the canon. They left the reveal of Sauron until the end of Season 1 and are still playing not confirming The Stranger's identity. So it's likely that this Dark Wizard is indeed an original Tolkien character—even if it's someone the fans do not expect. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7021099/rings-of-power-dark-wizard/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7021099/rings-of-power-dark-wizard/"},"headline":"What We Know About the Dark Wizard in The Rings of Power","datePublished":"2024-09-17T20:57:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T18:17:11.594Z","description":"Everything we know about the mysterious character in Rhûn played by Ciarán Hinds.","url":"https://time.com/7021099/rings-of-power-dark-wizard/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafd5eaba4f47f5a6/698a5ae49862f52b12896244/ciaran-hinds-rings-of-power.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafd5eaba4f47f5a6/698a5ae49862f52b12896244/ciaran-hinds-rings-of-power.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ciarán Hinds as the \"Dark Wizard\"","caption":"Ciarán Hinds as the \"Dark Wizard\"","creditText":"Ben Rothstein—Prime Video","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7021099/rings-of-power-dark-wizard/","name":"What We Know About the Dark Wizard in The Rings of Power"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Lord Of The Rings - The Rings Of Power | Official Trailer | Prime Video","description":"Everything we know about the mysterious character in Rhûn played by Ciarán Hinds.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pvOPbsu3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-08-20T22:03:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pvOPbsu3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7021099/rings-of-power-dark-wizard/","duration":"PT2M39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7021099/rings-of-power-dark-wizard/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```