Who is the Dark Wizard in The Rings of Power? Every theory ahead of The Lord of the Rings show’s season 3

The Rings of Power has kept its Dark Wizard's identity under wraps since introducing him in season 2. Ciarán Hinds’ sorcerer first appeared in Rhûn with his cult of Mystics, sending his powerful acolytes after the Stranger. In the season 2 finale, this sinister figure drove the Stoors from their homes in a threatening display of power after the Stranger refused to join him.

However, one thing he has not done is tell us his name. With season 3 weeks away, here are the main theories about who he could be, and some new evidence that may just settle the question.

He isn’t Gandalf

For much of the show’s run, viewers debated where Gandalf would appear in the show. The Dark Wizard was clearly one of the Istari, but as season 2 advanced, it became clearer that Gandalf was the Stranger, before it was confirmed in the final episode. The season 2 finale cleared part of that up. The Stranger settled on the name Gandalf after the Stoors nicknamed him “Grand-Elf,” shifting the next season's identity mystery off him and onto the Dark Wizard.

The Istari are Maiar sent to Middle-earth in the guise of old men, translating from Quenya to "Wizards". Tolkien names five of them: Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast and the two Blue Wizards. With Gandalf ruled out, that leaves four candidates.

Saruman

Saruman is the obvious guess, because he is the primary Istar in The Lord of the Rings who turns villain, and the Dark Wizard is no angel. In Unfinished Tales, Tolkien also writes that Saruman went into the East with the Blue Wizards, which gives him a link to Rhûn.

However, the showrunners have played that down. In a Reddit Q&A, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay said they found it “very hard to imagine” the Dark Wizard being Saruman, given his relationship with Gandalf in the Third Age. Also, Saruman’s corruption occurs in the Third Age, when he becomes jealous of Gandalf and greedy for the One Ring — a significant part of the canon. A Saruman who was already evil thousands of years earlier would undercut his fall in The Lord of the Rings.

Radagast

The Dark Wizard could be Radagast the Brown, although this is even more of a stretch than Saruman. Tolkien’s Radagast is passive and friendly, while the Dark Wizard is a ruthless murderer. Radagast gets so absorbed in birds and beasts that he all but forgets the mission the Valar gave him (to fight Sauron). A dark past in the Second Age would give the show a reason for that withdrawal, but it would darken The Hobbit's gentle Radagast considerably. Tolkien wanted adaptations to be "perceiving where the core of the original lies," which he wrote in a letter. But turning Radagast into a heartless killer would be on the unperceptive side of perceiving the original.

One of the Blue Wizards

Tolkien never quite settled on what to call the two Blue Wizards, the Ithryn Luin. They are Alatar and Pallando in Unfinished Tales, and Morinehtar and Rómestámo in his late writings. In notes published in The Nature of Middle-earth, they appear to have yet another pair of names, Palacendo and Haimenar, which editor Carl F. Hostetter translates as roughly “far-sighted one” and “far-farer.” Both fit Wizards who vanished into the distant East.

Tolkien says very little else about them other than that they went into the far East and never returned. In one letter, he wondered whether they failed in their mission and may have founded “secret cults and ‘magic’ traditions” that outlasted Sauron’s fall. That sounds very much like the Dark Wizard in Rhûn, surrounded by his Mystics. The showrunners have come close to confirming it too, saying in the same Reddit Q&A that their “expectation” is that he will turn out to be one of “those two others.”

The latest piece of evidence is in the “Many Faces” featurette Amazon released on Thursday, October 22. In the featurette, the Dark Wizard is wearing blue robes and holding a staff with some kind of blue embellishment. In another scene, blue light filters through the windows of what appears to be a temple in Rhûn. Call us presumptuous, but we suppose the Dark Wizard is a Blue Wizard.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 premieres on Prime Video on November 11, 2026.

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