The following contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1, now streaming on Prime Video.
With The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's first season over, fans and dissenters have been able to pass judgment. While some of them have done exactly that, Rotten Tomatoes has certified the season as fresh with an 85% rating. A lot of those positive reviews were bolstered by the dramatic and revealing finale. Episode 8, "Alloyed" not only revealed the guiles of Halbrand's Sauron, but it also showed that the Stranger was going to be a (hopefully heroic) Istar.
As one of the Istari, many fans have decided that the Stranger is Gandalf. Yet, The Rings of Power's showrunners have insisted that the character's identity is still a secret. Regardless, the biggest mystery isn't the Stranger's identity -- it's why he couldn't remember anything, including his own name. Here's why.
Why The Witches Thought The Stranger Was Sauron
Originally, fans thought that the Stranger was Sauron. The way he crashed to Middle-earth in a Meteor gave him an other-worldly vibe, and the surrounding circumstances didn't bode well for his character. His fire wasn't hot and the snippets of language he used both pointed toward evil. Fans weren't alone in their predictions, either. It wasn't long before three evil figures started trailing the Stranger's movements.
In the finale, the three white-robed witches (The Ascetic, The Nomad and The Dweller) finally voiced what a lot of fans were thinking: the Stranger was Sauron. They explained that he couldn't remember his identity because the Valar had placed a veil over his mind. It was supposed to be a way to prevent him from doing even more evil in Middle-earth. Yet, they were mistaken because the Stranger wasn't Sauron after all. If he wasn't Sauron, and the Valar hadn't put a veil over his mind, there must have been another reason he couldn't remember anything.
Why The Stranger Lost His Memory
The Stranger's character -- as he is -- is an original creation for The Rings of Power, but his situation does compare to a particular event in The Lord of the Rings. Whether the Stranger is Gandalf or not, his miraculously entering Middle-earth in a meteor was quite similar to when Gandalf reentered Middle-earth as Gandalf the White. When Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli found Gandalf in The Two Towers, he didn't remember his name either. He had fought the Balrog, died and been sent back as a similar but different figure. Then -- to the trio -- he said: "Darkness took me. And I strayed out of thought and time. Stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as the life age of the earth."
From that explanation, it makes perfect sense why Gandalf wouldn’t remember much. He had left the confines of time, reembodied his Maiar form and been thrust back into the mortal realm. That doesn't bode well for remembering minutia. Now, compare that to what happened to the Stranger. He had crash-landed in a meteor, which would be pretty dramatic for anyone. On top of that, though, this was his first time being thrust from the Mair world into a mortal form. So, just like Gandalf in The Two Towers, it makes sense that the Stranger would be a bit fuzzy on things.
The Rings of Power Season 1 is streaming on Prime Video.