What is an Istar? Who are the Istari on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is back for a second season. The first three episodes are available to watch now on Prime Video, and they're already introducing us to all kinds of new characters and places. The Stranger and Nori the harfoot travel to the desert lands of Rhûn, where they run afoul of a new character played by Game of Thrones veteran Ciarán Hinds.

We don't know much about this new characters, but he appears to be a wizard. He has all the markings of a classic wizard from one of J.R.R. Tolkien's book: he's an older man with a beard and a staff who commands magic powers. We don't know why this new character is after the Stranger, who is also an old man with a beard and magic powers, but he calls the Stranger an "Istar." So what's that?

Basically, an Istar is a wizard. In The Lord of The Rings books, we learn that five wizards are sent to Middle-earth from the land of Aman, the sacred land across the sea where all the elves go when they tire of life out in the boonies. Their purpose is to help the peoples of Middle-earth combat the evil represented by Sauron. They all appear as old men with staves. Like elves, they are immortal, although they can be killed. They're basically minor gods, called Maia back on Aman. Interestingly, Sauron is also a Maia, although he's far more powerful than any of the five Istari.

The most famous of the Istari are Gandalf and Saruman, who have prominent roles in The Lord of the Rings books. Then there's Radagast, a nature-loving wizard featured prominently in Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies. Finally, there's Alatar and Pallando, the blue wizards who travel into the eastern parts of Middle-earth. Rhûn, as it happens, lies in the eastern part of Middle-earth.

Tolkien writers almost nothing of Alatar and Pallando, which leaves a show like The Rings of Power a lot of room to maneuver. The Stranger does not know who he is, and all we know is that he fell to Middle-earth in an asteroid coming out of the west. And we don't know who Ciarán Hinds' character is. Might they be Alatar and Pallando?

Well, in Lord of the Rings lore, it's said that Alatar and Pallando arrive in Middle-earth together, so if these two are Alatar and Pallando, The Rings of Power is changing up the source material a bit. It's also possible that these two are younger versions of Sauron and Saruman, although there are inconsistencies with that theory as well. Nonetheless, the fact that the word "Istar" is used seems to confirm that these two are members of the five Istari wizards.

New episodes of The Rings of Power drop Thursdays on Prime Video. Perhaps we'll learn more details as the season continues.

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