The Lord of the Rings: Is that Saruman in “The Rings of Power” Season 2?

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER

August 19, 2024 at 19:07

New “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” posters reveal a new character played by Ciarán Hinds. Could the character be Saruman?

On August 29, 2024, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2 will start streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Now a new batch of character posters have been released and one of these posters shows a new role played by Oscar-nominated actor Ciarán Hinds (“Belfast”).

The actor is already known to fantasy fans as Dumbledore’s brother Aberforth from “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2”. Now he plays a new character in Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”.

I think we can tell you that he has supernatural powers and is a worthy opponent for the Stranger.

Showrunner JD Payne

For fans of the “Lord of the Rings” films, the long, black and white beard and the bushy eyebrows will naturally stand out. These immediately remind us of Christopher Lee’s character design as Saruman. But who is Ciarán Hinds really playing?

A man with magical powers: Is the new character a magician?

In an exclusive conversation with showrunner JD Payne, we already asked about the identity of the new character and he revealed that Ciarán Hinds’ role “has supernatural powers and is a worthy opponent for the Stranger.”

The fact that he represents a counterpoint to the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) naturally fuels the idea that he could be an Istari, a wizard. While it is already clear to many fans that the Stranger is actually Gandalf, it should be noted at this point that this has not been confirmed in the series itself.

However, if the stranger turns out to be Gandalf, which, in all honesty, looks very likely, then it is only logical that Ciarán Hinds’ role is an incarnation of Curunír. Curunír is the name that Saruman bears in his immortal Maia form.

Early incarnations of Gandalf and Saruman

Curunír, like Olórin (Gandalf’s Maia name) and the other Istari, is sent to Middle Earth in the Third Age to fight against evil as Saruman. The Amazon series is set in the Second Age. The films by Peter Jackson, which tell Frodo’s story, are set in the Third Age, thousands of years after the series.

Since the Maiar can take on different forms, the stranger and the new character will certainly be early incarnations that do not bear the names Gandalf and Saruman.

The Maiar work on behalf of the gods of Middle Earth, the so-called Valar. The two were probably sent to Middle Earth to fight against the growing evil and at the end of the series (before the Third Age) they are called back to Valinor, their homeland, only to be sent back to Middle Earth later in their forms as Gandalf and Saruman.

When that happens, it is quite conceivable that Gandalf and Saruman will no longer remember their adventures from “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” but only certain impressions. In Gandalf’s case, for example, his affinity with halflings.

Saruman them

Saruman envies Gandalf for various things. For example, Saruman is the head of the White Council, but Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) always stressed that she would have preferred to see Gandalf in that position.

In addition, Gandalf receives a Ring of Power from Círdan in the Third Age, which gives him a great honor as the ringbearer of an Elven ring, which Saruman would have liked to claim for himself.

It is possible that this envy goes back to previous incarnations and conflicts between the two Maiar, which we witness in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”.

On August 29, 2024, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” season 2 will start with three episodes on Amazon Prime Video. The new season consists of a total of 8 episodes, which will then be released at weekly intervals. Work is already underway on season 3 of the “Lord of the Rings” series.