‘Rings of Power’ Premiere: Daniel Weyman On Those Gandalf Theories About The Stranger (Exclusive)
02.09.2022 - 16:19
/ etcanada.com
The first two episodes of “The Rings of Power” have finally premiered on Prime Video, kicking off season 1 of the prequel series about the Second Age of Middle-earth about a time set several thousand years before the events of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”.
During this era of peace and prosperity, there are subtle signs of re-emerging evil as many characters’ lives come crashing together. Among them are the lumbering giant (Daniel Weyman), who crash lands on Middle-earth via a meteor, and the Harfoot, Elanor ‘Nori’ Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh), who discovers him.
Now that the first two episodes are streaming, both Weyman and Kavenagh address the many theories about the stranger’s true identify, including a popular one that he’s Gandalf, the wise and powerful wizard originally played by Sir Ian McKellen in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of the novels. [Warning: Spoilers for the first two episodes of “The Rings of Power”.]
The Nomadic Harfoots
While Hobbits are canon, and led J.R.R. Tolkien’s previous books, Harfoots are new to the overall franchise. The characters, notably the Brandyfoot family – Nori (Markella Kavenagh), Largo and Marigold Brandyfoot (Dylan Smith and Sara Zwangobani) – and their friend, Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards), make their debut after the showrunners extracted their story from a section of Tolkien’s writing, “Concerning Hobbits,” where the author wrote about the nomadic community’s wandering days.
More specifically, Smith explains, “they’re refugees from the last great war. They’ve deemed their only means of survival is to keep moving along secretive paths and have the ability to disappear at the snap of a finger. And what is all of that for? It’s not just eating another meal,