Vond dit wel een aardige post op Reddit over wie, wie zal zijn.
quote:
The Stranger : Sauron or a Blue Wizard
Evidence for the Stranger being Sauron :
Everything seems evil around him (the leaf of Gil-galad when the comet crashes, the cold fire and ashes that Nori touches, Largo breaking his ankle when he breaks the branch, the fireflies that die). He also has a strong association with fire, and even implies he is searching for it (Mana Śrė). The constellation he is searching for might also be another map to Mordor and Orodruin.
Furthermore, if he is Sauron, he will eventually turn against the Harfoots that found him. I would like the irony of him hurting the Harfoots when he returns only for him to be eventually destroyed by Hobbits in the end of the Third Age.
Evidence for the Stranger being a Blue Wizard :
Unlike Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast, in one of Tolkien’s last writings the Blue Wizards are sent to Middle-earth around SA 1600, which would allow the show to use them without breaking the lore. The Stranger looks and acts like one of the Istari in more than one way, eventually wanting to help Nori and the Harfoots in episode 3. At least in two occurrences there are strong parallels with Gandalf (when he seems ‘taller’ in front of Nori and when he speaks to the fireflies). The evil around him might only be a sign that the reason he is here is to stop that evil.
It has been pointed out that the constellation resembles Gemini, and since Tolkien often used real life constellations to give them new interpretation (we even see Ursa Major / the Sickle of the Gods in episode 2), using Gemini for the Blue Wizards could be really smart. In that case it would imply that the Stranger is searching for the other Blue Wizard.
Theo : a Nazgūl, probably the Witch-king
I think Theo is the son of Halbrand for two main reasons : Bronwyn lived in Hordern and Halbrand said that he fled from the Orcs that put his home in ashes ; Halbrand’s ancestor (probably Ulfang) made a blood oath with Morgoth and Theo’s blood reacts to the Sauron sword.
It would make both Theo and Halbrand the descendents of the King of the Southlands, thus the name « Witch-king » (the sword already has a strong connection to sorcery).
From the little we have seen of him, Theo has many reasons he would end up siding with Sauron : his father abandoned him, his mother seems to side with an Elf that always has oppressed his people.
Halbrand : the King of the Dead
I was a firm believer Halbrand would become a Nazgūl until this new theory came out. It would make perfect sense for him to become the King of the Dead, as he is already the King of his people. Since the Southlands will very probably be destroyed to become Mordor, it is indeed highly possible that Halbrand will lead his surviving people to relocate to the White Mountains.
Moreover, Halbrand being early in Nśmenor could help establish his relationship and oath to Isildur. Finally, if Theo is indeed his son and ends up to be the Witch-king on the side of Sauron, it would give Halbrand reason to break his oath to Isildur when he calls upon him to fight Sauron.
The opposition between Halbrand and Theo would be a battle of two Kings, the King of the Dead and the Witch-king, a father and a son.
Bronwyn : perhaps a Nazgūl
Bronwyn might as well be just an entirely new character, used mainly to act between Halbrand and Theo. But if she were to be someone we know, another Nazgūl might be possible. After all, there are nine of them. We also know she loves her son very much. Also being with love with an immortal Elf might lead to accepting a ring that grants immortality.
Adar : a corrupted Maglor
I know some people don’t like this theory much, and I understand where they come from. However, there is still a lot of evidence pointing to this possibility, and many reasons that I think would make it a compelling story. And after all, Maglor is the only surviving Noldo still not in the show.
First of all, if we look at the lore, by casting afar his Silmaril, Maglor has literally broken the Oath of Fėanor, and thus should succumb to the everlasting darkness which would lead to his corruption.
From the little of Adar we have seen, there are still several main clues : he is an Elf, black of hair, who carries a sword very similar to the Noldorin swords from the series’ prologue, all of which already establish his strong connection to the House of Finwė. But the most striking to me is probably the shot where we see Adar walking among the Orcs in the end of episode three : only his left hand has a glove, which I think is meant to cover the burns he got from holding his Silmaril.
Maglor would also have reason to attack the Southlands, since if their ancestor is indeed Ulfang, their betrayal is the reason he lost the war and he and his brothers couldn’t get the Silmarils from Morgoth. The fact that he is leading Orcs might only be a means to an end, similar to characters like Saruman.
Finally, Adar means « father », and Maglor was known to be an adoptive father to both Elrond and Elros, who both have a strong impact in the story of the Second Age. I also found oddly coincidental (since this theory has been a lot in my mind) that we first speak of Elros being Elrond’s brother in the episode titled « Adar ».
Exploring Maglor’s relationship to Elrond would be fascinating.
Eärien and Kemen : Nazgūl or sacrifices to Morgoth
Here it is more pure speculation as we know basically nothing about them. However it is known from the lore that three of the Nazgūl were Nśmenoreans, so I am always searching for them when I see new Nśmenorean characters haha.
But Eärien and Kemen both have strong potential to fall into that category, as they both have a lot to prove.
I also think that making any of them into sacrifices for Morgoth’s cult would have a strong impact.
One of Morgoth’s cultists : Khamūl
In my everlasting quest to find all the Nazgūl, I add this one here. The reason is pretty easy : the show runners have said that the cultists from the trailer are from Rhūn, and they already seem to be strongly associated with evil. Everything points to Khamūl being somewhere among them.
About Sauron
You will notice that if the Stranger turns out not to be Sauron, then he would be nowhere in this list. In that case, I think Sauron might not even have been introduced yet. Another possibility that has been mentioned is that Annatar is already working with Celebrimbor, and that is why he seems to be so hurried to build his tower.