Amazon’s Rings of Power Has Finally Given Us the Gandalf and Sauron We Have Been Waiting For
After two seasons of keeping its cards close to its chest, Amazon’s The Rings of Power has finally shown fans the version of Gandalf they have been holding out for.
A new first look from Empire reveals Daniel Weyman in Season 3, fully embracing the classic aesthetic of the wise if sometimes grumbling wizard. That means we are getting the pointed hat, flowing robes, and a wooden staff gripped firmly in hand. For anyone who has spent two years watching him wander Middle Earth as an amnesiac oddity, it is great to see Gandalf’s path to The Hobbit and beyond becoming clear.
Weyman was introduced in the first episode of the series as a mysterious traveler known as “the Stranger.” While many fans guessed that he would eventually evolve into Gandalf, there were other wizards also in the running, including Saruman. The show gradually confirmed he was one of the Istari before the season 2 finale finally put a name to the face, with the character claiming his staff and declaring himself Gandalf. Season 3 will pick up on this and give us the Grey Wizard who looks like decades of Tolkien adaptations have led us to expect.
Gandalf was not the only headline from Empire‘s reveal, either. The magazine has teased several other images to come and has also offered a first look at Charlie Vickers’ Sauron in his complete, iconic dark armor and crown, a dramatic departure from the Halbrand and Annatar disguises he wore across the first seasons. Co-showrunner Patrick McKay has not hidden what the big moment of this season will be, either, as we will finally see the forging of the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom.
What Else We Know About Season 3
Beyond the two big character looks, the season is set during the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, one of the most devastating conflicts of the Second Age of Middle Earth. Prime Video has slated the premiere for of Season 3 for November 11, 2026, and Empire’s subscriber cover — illustrated by Carlos Huant — teases the scale to come with an image of Gandalf the Grey squaring off against a Mûmak of Harad, the giant elephantine beast better known to film fans as an Oliphaunt.
The Rings of Power has been an ambitious and frequently controversial series from the start. As the show is based mostly on the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, there are many gaps in timeline that the series has filled out in a way that some die-hard Tolkien afficionados have not been happy with.
Some were not thrilled by the idea of Gandalf, or any wizard, appearing in series at all, as the timeline did not match up with other works by Tolkien such as The Silmarillion. Some fans argued the show should leave Gandalf well alone rather than bend Tolkien’s timeline to fit him in. Even now, with Gandalf fully Gandalf, that debate is not about to just go away.
Between a wizard who finally looks the part, Sauron finally becoming the dominant force of evil, and the One Ring about to make its way into the world, The Rings of Power is starting lay down some more familiar groundwork after two seasons that reshaped several parts of Tolkien lore to serve the story. On November 11, the future of Middle Earth will take a huge step towards dark times, and maybe we will finally see more people just accepting the discrepancies and going along for the ride.
(featured image: Prime Video)
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