Who Is The Dark Wizard In Rings Of Power? Every Villain He Could Be, Explained

Season 2 of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" introduced a lot of new faces to the Middle-earth adaptation from showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. One of these is a mysterious "Dark Wizard" played by the talented Ciarán Hinds. He pops up early in the season, and it doesn't take long to see where the "Dark" part of his moniker comes from. The guy oversees a cultish group in Rhún, the eastern region of Middle-earth about which J.R.R. Tolkien didn't say much. He's clearly on a power trip and oversees disturbing rituals, including hand-cutting and moth-based reincarnations. 

Despite the definitely evil vibes, when he confronts Daniel Weyman's Stranger (whose real identity is finally confirmed to be Gandalf) in the season finale, he tries sweet-talking his Wizarding friend into joining him. When that fails, the Dark Wizard lets loose, raining destruction down on the Stoorish community and leaving his counterpart to clean up his mess.

By the time the dust settles and the season ends, we finally discover (after a lengthy two-season guessing game) that the good guy is Gandalf, but we still have no confirmation of the identity of the Dark Wizard. Is he Saruman? Is he one of Tolkien's mysterious Blue Wizards? Is he someone else? Let's run through the best options for the Dark Wizard (and then cross our fingers and hope that we don't have to wait for two more seasons to figure out if we're right or not this time).

The most obvious guess is that the Dark Wizard is Saruman. Ciaran Hinds' character has that grumpy, lofty Saruman thing going. He also has splashes of black in his white beard, a distinctly Saruman look taken from Peter Jackson's films (yes, technically, the projects aren't related, but the show has clearly borrowed from the iconic trilogy's aesthetic at times). Besides, if the good guy is Gandalf, his natural nemesis would be Saruman, right? The Dark Wizard even calls Gandalf "old friend," which is reminiscent of the Wizards' conversations early in the movie "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," when Saruman (Christopher Lee) tries to convince Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to abandon reason for madness.

Despite the signs, however, the showrunners have actually thrown a wet blanket on the Saruman theory. Patrick McKay clarified to Vanity Fair, "I'll say something on the record. Given the history of Middle-earth, it would be highly, highly, highly improbable that this could be Saruman." J.D. Payne added, "If not impossible." After some more explanation, McKay stated, "It would almost defy the laws of gravity and physics for it to be Saruman." 

To be fair, the show has already gone out of its way to make some storylines work (like bringing the Balrog into the story much too early or having Sauron masquerade as Halbrand for a whole season before shifting to his canon-accurate Annatar persona). Until his identity is confirmed, the Dark Wizard could still technically be Saruman. But based on the showrunners' comments, it appears unlikely at this point.

The Dark Wizard could be one of the Blue Wizards, a pair of enigmatic magic-wielders whom J.R.R. Tolkien occasionally referenced in his writings but barely developed. In the published version of "The Lord of the Rings," they only indirectly come up at one point when Saruman briefly mentions there being "Five Wizards."

Tolkien goes into a bit more detail in other writings, though it's still very limited. In a nutshell, the two Blue Wizards are sent to the eastern regions of Middle-earth with a similar mission to Gandalf — to resist Sauron. Depending on the source (letters, posthumously published books, essays, etc.), they're either nameless, called Alatara and Pallando, or named Morinehtar and Rómestámo. In later writings, Tolkien planned on making the Blue Wizards critical to Sauron's downfall, working against the Dark Lord in areas like Rhûn, where the villain has a powerful sway over the local tribes of Men. However, in earlier writings, Tolkien suggested that the Blue Wizards might have failed in their mission, Saruman-style. 

In one 1958 letter in particular, he said, "What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret cults and 'magic' traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron." This description of Wizards "gone bad" and founding secret cults jives with the way the show has set up Ciaran Hinds' Dark Wizard. The only question is, why is there only one Wizard? And why isn't he in blue? Is there another azure-clad magic-wielder lurking in another part of the region?

Technically speaking, another option for the Dark Wizard identity is Radagast the Brown. Yes, this is the lovable, rabbit-taming character played by Sylvester McCoy in Peter Jackson's films of "The Hobbit," so the idea initially sounds ridiculous. Besides, in the books, Radagast is both kind and good. But let's consider the fact that we don't know much about Radagast. J.R.R. Tolkien didn't provide much information on him or his history, which means the show could start him off as evil before redeeming him. And while Saruman despises Radagast in Tolkien's writings, the character is nowhere near as eccentric and quirky as he appears in Jackson's movies.

In the showrunners' Vanity Fair interview, Patrick McKay said about the Dark Wizard's trajectory, "The Dark Wizard has an important role to play in the doings of Middle-earth, and in the development of our wizard, who's now coming into his own. Tom Bombadil has told him, 'You're destined to face him. And then destined to face Sauron.' So the Dark Wizard's fate is not decided and his name is not out there yet."

This hints at the idea that this Wizard isn't irredeemably on the path toward evil. Perhaps Gandalf's work is to convince him to return to his original purpose. There's also the fact that in Season 2, the Dark Wizard directly states that he and Gandalf are two of five similar magic-wielding beings. If Saruman is ruled out and he isn't a Blue Wizard, Radagast would be the next (and only) Wizard left of that quintet. Still, while a possibility, the odds of him being Radagast seem small at this point. There are just too many inconsistencies.

The book "Unfinished Tales" includes a famous essay on the "Istari," or J.R.R. Tolkien's upper-case "W" Wizards, in which the author clarifies several things, including the origin of his Wizards, their makeup, and their purpose. The chapter was compiled by Tolkien's son, Christopher, and it includes a few different versions of Tolkien's writings and thoughts, too — including a juicy tidbit where he says, "Of this Order [of Wizards] the number is unknown; but of those that came to the North of Middle-earth, where there was most hope ... the chiefs were five."

This passage indicates that there may have been other Wizards who arrived in Middle-earth separate from the five big-wigs. Even the Five Wizards are distinctly described as being the "chiefs," not the only ones, of that Order.

Another option is that Ciaran Hinds' character could be a human who is wielding magic. In the same essay, Tolkien points out that his angelic "Wizards" are "quite distinct from the 'wizards' and 'magicians' of later legend." In addition, he makes multiple references at other points to Men who are sorcerers — including one of the Nazgûl and the Mouth of Sauron. While it seems improbable, if the showrunners wanted to, they could have this magic-wielder simply be a man who has mastered the dark arts of magic to the degree that he can compete with a bona fide angelic spirit, much like the Witch-king and Gandalf would do thousands of years later.

With so many options, what is the most likely choice? Looper's official guess at this point is that the Dark Wizard is one of the two mysterious, underdeveloped Blue Wizards from J.R.R. Tolkien's unfinished legendarium. This matches most with the Dark Wizard's setting, actions, and apparent motives.

In addition, the showrunners clarified in a Reddit Q&A that it is most likely (though still not certain) that he is a Blue Wizard. Specifically, Patrick McKay said, "I think it's hard to say anything is 100% [...] We know there are five wizards talked about in 'The Lord of the Rings.' One of them is Saruman, one of them is Gandalf, one of them is Radagast, and then there are two others. It is our expectation that he will be one of those two others."

Cryptic as ever, even in a comparatively definitive answer, McKay's comment seems to indicate that, unless there is a major pivot, the Dark Wizard is a Blue, which leaves us with the follow-up — where's his partner in crime? Or, better yet, will they make the other Blue a good guy, thus simultaneously fulfilling both sides of Tolkien's uncertain fate for the eastward-drawn duo? Guess we'll have to wait until Season 3 to find out.