Gandalf Is More Powerful In The Rings Of Power Because Of The Show’s Hobbits

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Rings of Power season 2.

The Rings of Power is making Gandalf a more powerful wizard thanks to Middle-earth’s Hobbits, an apt storytelling technique. In The Rings of Power season 2’s ending, one of the show’s biggest theories was finally confirmed. After two seasons of hints and references, The Stranger’s identity was confirmed as Gandalf with Daniel Weyman’s mysterious wizard finally revealed as the iconic Lord of the Rings character.

For two seasons now, Gandalf has been searching for his purpose and identity in Middle-earth, primarily accompanied by The Rings of Power’s cast members of a Hobbit persuasion. Be it Nori Brandyfoot, Poppy Proudfellow, or The Rings of Power season 2’s Stoors, the show has been outlining Gandalf’s earliest history with Hobbits, explaining his fondness for them in the Third Age. To make this storyline even more heartwarming, Gandalf has been made actively more powerful by the Hobbits as he truly finds his potential and destiny in Middle-earth.

Gandalf’s Staff In The Rings Of Power Comes From The Stoors’ Tree

The Grey Wizard Found His Staff Among The Stoor Village

The way in which Gandalf was made more powerful by the Hobibits was through his staff. Gandalf’s staff in The Rings of Power season 2 has been a big focus, with the wizard’s earliest visions hinting that he needs to find it in the lands of Rhûn. After all, a staff is a defining trait of one of The Lord of the Rings’ Istari, and The Rings of Power season 2 ended with Gandalf finding his.

Gandalf’s staff was found shortly after his confrontation with the Dark Wizard, who captured Nori and Poppy to lure the good wizard out of hiding. After destroying the village of the Stoors, the Dark Wizard departed, leaving Gandalf to sort through the wreckage alongside the Halflings. Eventually, he comes across his staff: a broken branch from the tree in the Stoors’ village. With finding the staff being the next step in unlocking Gandalf’s wizard potential, the Hobbits have made the wandering Istari more powerful, albeit indirectly.

The Rings Of Power’s Hobbits Making Gandalf More Powerful Is Apt, Knowing LOTR’s Story

Gandalf & The Hobbits Have A Strong Connection

Thanks to the knowledge of The Lord of the Rings’ timeline, The Rings of Power‘s trick of having the Hobbits make Gandalf more powerful is incredibly fitting. As is outlined in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf has a particular affinity for Hobbits. More so than most others in Middle-earth who deem that power comes from strength, military might, and knowledge, Gandalf believes that true power comes from the small, good deeds of everyday people, which the Hobbits of The Shire typify above all.

The origin of Gandalf’s staff in
The Rings of Power
brings his future protection and fondness for the Hobbits of Middle-earth full circle…

As such, it is fitting that Gandalf’s Middle-earth journey begins with the early versions of Hobbits from The Rings of Power‘s Second Age unwittingly providing him with a conduit for his own power. This power is later used by Gandalf to often protect Hobbits, be it during the story of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, and Smaug the Dragon or his experiences with Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pipping during The War of the Ring. Appropriately, the origin of Gandalf’s staff in The Rings of Power brings his future protection and fondness for the Hobbits of Middle-earth full circle.

Why Gandalf Needs A Staff If He Can Already Use Magic Without One

Istari Staffs In The Lord Of The Rings Explained

Naturally, the importance of Gandalf’s staff in The Rings of Power season 2 raises the question of why he needs one, despite being able to wield magic regardless. The reason for this stems entirely from control. In The Lord of the Rings, wizards can use magic without their staffs, as has been highlighted many times, but often in smaller, more subtle ways. Gandalf has highlighted this not only in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings but in The Rings of Power as well.

Gandalf has conjured small flames to light his pipe in The Lord of the Rings movies and used water/ice to heal without a staff in The Rings of Power.

Therefore, a staff is essential for wizards to commit feats of great magical power. Staffs serve as the conduit for the wizards’ power in The Lord of the Rings universe, meaning that, without them, that power cannot be channeled as effectively. This is proven multiple times by Gandalf in The Rings of Power season 1, from his creation of fire using fireflies to his destruction of trees in the Harfoot camp and accidentally injuring Nori using ice healing. Although magic is possible without a staff, these instances prove one is necessary for full control.

This point has been driven home in several iterations of Tolkien’s world. For one, The Rings of Power has highlighted two times in which a wizard has used greater magical power by wielding a staff; Gandalf did so to dispatch the Dark Wizard’s followers in season 1’s finale by wielding their staff before the Dark Wizard did so himself by destroying the Stoors’ village in season 2’s ending. As The Rings of Power proves, staffs are not essential to magical power, but it is important to channel it and increase a wizard’s overall effectiveness.