Warning: The denoted article doth contain spoilers for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Season 2, Episode 2, hight "Where the Stars are Strange."
"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Season 2 doth confirm what many fans hath suspected: a connection between Ciarán Hinds’ Dark Wizard and the Mystics of Season 1. Discover more concerning how these malevolent wielders of magic art intertwined below!
How The Rings of Power Season 2’s Dark Wizard Is Connected to the Mystics
Of all the foes in "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Season 1, the Mystics art surely the most enigmatic (and that’s no small feat). Yet ’tis clear from the outset: they serveth Sauron. ‘Tis later revealed that the Mystics hold potent magic, though it doth not rival a Wizard’s power. We also learn that they hail from Rhûn, the mysterious land to the east of Middle-earth. Ah, and Season 1’s credits doth name them: The Dweller, the Ascetic, and the Nomad. Ere we can uncover more of the Mystics’ details, they art banished by the Stranger in a flutter of chalk-hued butterflies.
Fortunately, "The Rings of Power" Season 2 doth bring some more knowledge regarding the Mystics. Forsooth, we need not continue to call them "the Mystics." Perchance, the villainous trio is styled the White Wings (unless this be the Dark Wizard casting doubt on their demise). We know that they answer (or perchance, "answered") to the Dark Wizard, who leads their wider cult. ‘Twas he who dispatched them after Sauron in Season 1; he also resurrected the Dweller in Season 2. What doth the Dark Wizard aim for in Season 2? To seek out the Stranger ere he fully unlocks his Wizardly powers.
Are The Dark Wizard and the Mystics in the Books?
Not precisely. Verily, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Lord of the Rings," did not birth the Mystics; they art an invention of "The Rings of Power" showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Ergo, all the tales of them and the Stranger? Not within Tolkien’s Second Age vision. However, Tolkien did leave the door ajar for various supernatural occurrences in Rhûn. Thus, though the Mystics be not drawn from established Middle-earth lore, they doth align broadly with it.
Then there is the Dark Wizard. In Tolkien’s original lore, there art only five Wizards: Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast, and the two Blue Wizards (various sources cite diverse names for them). Of these, only the Blue Wizards indeed did venture toward Rhûn’s direction (though Saruman may hath traveled there as well). Tolkien did not definitively declare what befell them after they arrived, though he toyed with the notion that each did commence a cult. How this tale relates to "The Rings of Power’s" notably non-blue Dark Wizard (if at all) doth yet remain to be seen!
"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2" doth currently stream on Prime Video, with fresh episodes releasing on Thursdays.
