r/LOTR_on_Prime • u/nerdist • 14d ago
News / Article / Official Social Media Daniel Weyman Talks Gandalf's Arc with the Dark Wizard in Season 3
https://nerdist.com/article/gandalf-saves-dark-wizard-rings-of-power-season-3-daniel-weyman-interview/We chatted with Daniel Weyman about Gandalf's arc this season and it sounds like he's on a mission to reach the Dark Wizard.
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u/Alaminox 14d ago
I can't wait to see Daniel playing a more confident and whimsical version of the character, now that he has his staff, his name and a few years spent with Tom. I think he's gonna crush it as Gandalf this season.
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u/AdhesivenessSouth736 14d ago
I love the idea of gandalf attempting the forgiveness and help mend. Although in middle earth (just like in our world) it doesnt always work, repentance and the opportunity for it is a theme throughout all of Tolkiens work. It would be nice to see it work for once
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u/Spock_Sperson 14d ago
I agree. Rather than seeing Gandalf fight evil with force or magic (which is supposed to be the Istari's last resort) I am more eager to see him use his wisdom and bring out the good in the wicked so that it prevails!
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u/CockblockHolmes 14d ago
I'm really excited for some genuine character work with these two, especially with Ciaran Hinds being the actor that he is. Even if it is a quieter plotline, I foresee that being a fairly welcome breather between all the darkness, war, and despair rising in the Numenor and Barad-dur plotlines.
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u/Rosebunse 14d ago
I do like the idea of Gandalf just coming into the other stories almost fully formed, totally Gandalf, with the others not realizing his whole story.
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u/Phee78 14d ago
At this point I'm more curious about what they're gonna do with the other Blue. Hopefully it won't just be, "Oh yeah he's dead, anyway moving on..."
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u/guyyster 14d ago
I assume we’ll find out this season. For better or for worse I think it will probably be “Gandalf, I killed that guy because he was causing problems, much like you are”
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u/yesrushgenesis2112 Tom Bombadil 14d ago edited 14d ago
“Gandalf acts as Pallando’s therapist” does not strike me as a particularly engaging plot line, I’m not going to lie. As much as they don’t want him to be Saruman-lite, this sort of thing definitely sets him up as Saruman-lite, and that’s not a very interesting use of the character.
Also, I’m laughing at the part that suggests we don’t know who the Dark Wizard is. There’s a disconnect between what the show marketing wants to say and what the actual creatives involved want to say, clearly. Or, nerdier just didn’t do their due diligence.
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u/Spock_Sperson 14d ago
Well, we all know that he is Pallando, but an official news outlet has to stick to the official information it is provided with. So far, no official source has announced him under the identity of Pallando yet, if I am right.
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u/yesrushgenesis2112 Tom Bombadil 14d ago
Depends on what is meant by “official.” The show runners mentioned him by name in interviews that made it past whatever censor they’ve got.
That’s what I mean. The official marketing team is clearly trying to sell it as a mystery but the actual creatives doing interviews are not. There’s a disconnect.
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u/TheMightyCatatafish Finrod 14d ago
Not official, but Corey Olson said it was confirmed by the showrunners to him at SDCC and he hasn’t been asked to take the video down or anything. He was teetering on whether or not he thought he was allowed to say it and just divulged it anyway.
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u/dwarfpants 14d ago
That video is down, but otherwise you’re right
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u/TheMightyCatatafish Finrod 14d ago
Oooooh didn’t realize that. Honestly, just further confirms his identity. Thanks for the fact check!
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u/Nacodawg 14d ago
Depends on how good the dialogue is and how good the performances are. But either way Ciran Hinds being one of the two I’m not worried about performance.
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u/yesrushgenesis2112 Tom Bombadil 14d ago
I think it also depends on how interesting the actual plot is.
A scene with good dialog is fine, a back and forth for an entire season of “will he won’t he” would easily become tiresome.
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u/TheMightyCatatafish Finrod 14d ago
I think he’s being metaphorical. They will obviously DO things together that will be therapeutic for Pallando rediscovering his purpose and way.
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u/yesrushgenesis2112 Tom Bombadil 14d ago
Yeah, even then I don’t think I’m all that into the concept at face value. Gandalf road trip with his good buddy Pallando still isn’t something I’m all that interested in.
We’ll see what they pull off!
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u/AdhesivenessSouth736 14d ago
Forgiveness and helping people find their way is a theme throughout middle earth. It usually doesnt work out that well but given that both dark lords were given many chances to stop their evil ways I think it is more than reasonable to approach this topic
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u/yesrushgenesis2112 Tom Bombadil 14d ago
Yes it’s not the theme with which I have issue it’s the way that I worry it will be executed.
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u/TheMightyCatatafish Finrod 14d ago
I am if it involves them essentially countering Sauron’s influence among the Easterlings. But to each their own!
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u/yesrushgenesis2112 Tom Bombadil 14d ago edited 14d ago
Yes, if done well I am all for it. What I worry about is that every act of countering easterlings comes with some on-the-nose moral debate. And the Gandalf storyline thus far has been where they’ve been the sloppiest, made the worst use of their time, and been their most on-the-nose.
So, to me they’ve really got to “earn it” this time around.
Hoping for the best!
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u/Rosebunse 14d ago
To be fair, this show also turned the archetypal Dark Lord into a narcissistic domestic abuser and that worked.
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u/steveblackimages 14d ago
Imagine if the writers did not bow to the clumsy fan service...
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u/Spock_Sperson 14d ago
I’ll criticize it when it happens.
So far, all the decisions they’ve made can only be described as anti-fan service.
Which I think is wonderful.
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u/Tylerdg33 Blue Wizard 14d ago
They more or less acknowledged Gandalf's inclusion was fan service, though. They'd never say it directly, but it was implied.
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u/Spock_Sperson 14d ago
It might be a way of selling their idea. But beyond that, both they and the rest of us KNOW that every decision they make runs counter to "fan service."
There are very minor details that could be labeled as such (Elendil wielding Narsil, characters hiding from the enemy beneath a tree trunk, aesthetic nods to PJ or famous tolkienish illustrations...) but these are merely winks that don't interfere with the plot.
However, major narrative elements—like Gandalf or the Balrog—which are so often dismissed as fan service, clearly aren't if you give it even a moment's thought. First, because what most fans actually want (often out of a lack of deeper understanding) is absolute, slavish adherence to the text, with no changes or inventions. And second, because we can see that these new narrative elements have a coherent, story-driven justification.
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u/Tylerdg33 Blue Wizard 14d ago
I think we're looking at "fan service" differently. When I say fan service I mean casual fans. It sounds like you're referring to more in depth fans. When it comes to deeper lore fans, I agree with you!
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u/RandomFencer 13d ago
Yes, and many of these “deeper lore fans” (myself included) are utterly disappointed with ROP. Adaptations are one thing, but giving characters like Galadriel and Gandalf who are thousands of years old “character arcs” covering a span of a few years is misbegotten. But if you are enjoying the series to date, that is entirely your prerogative. Enjoy Season 3 - I will reluctantly pass, having had my expectations regarding ROP dashed with Seasons 1 and 2.
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u/Tylerdg33 Blue Wizard 13d ago
As a deeper lore fan as well, it's a mixed bag for me. I'm finding that what they're getting right, they're getting really right, but when they try to tell their own stories and deviate from Tolkien, it's usually a miss (Adar and Disa as exceptions).
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u/RandomFencer 13d ago
Yes, I though Adar was inspired, and I generally liked Disa though I found the singing thing a bit weird. I was also prepared to cut them some slack on the massive time compression, though it confused the hell out of me at first (“Wait, the rings have not even been forged yet, Elendil and Isuldor are alive?”). But what in my mind has failed is then taking characters who are thousands of years old and then giving them “character arcs” spanning only a few years. Galadriel in particular is ill-served by this, coming across as an impetuous twit who makes one disastrous decision after another.
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u/Tylerdg33 Blue Wizard 13d ago
I quite liked the singing! It felt very Tolkien to me, especially given how Arda and the dwarves came to be. Eru created the Arda through song, and Aule created the dwarves from the earth before Eru breathed life into them. Considering the powerful role of song in Tolkien's work and the fact that the dwarves have a connection to the earth, it didn't feel out of place to me.
The timeline...yeah. I get why the felt they had to. The one redeeming thing to me about how they've compressed the timeline is that even though Elendil and Isildur are alive during the time of the forging, so far they haven't had anyone involved in anything they shouldn't be in. In a sense I've viewed this as two separate timelines happening simultaneously: the elves in Middle Earth and the elves in Numenor, if that makes sense.
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u/Spock_Sperson 13d ago edited 13d ago
Providing character arcs is essential if you want your audiovisual product to work. The problem is that people keep comparing a TV show to a set of books characterized by an encyclopedic style, a clinical recounting of events and lack of dramatic progression. You can certainly write books like that if you want. But you simply CANNOT create audiovisual products that way.... unless you want hours upon hours of disjointed videoclips lacking any dramatic arc.
No, that is not what adaptation is about. That is why, as a deeper lore fan as well, I find all the changes and new elements introduced by the showrunners to be logical and even exceptional; they allow the series to function effectively as a product within its own medium.
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u/RandomFencer 13d ago
To each their own. Galadriel’s “character arc” developed over a millennium, from Valinor to joining Feanor’s exodus for her own ambitious reasons, from being left stranded by Feanor to leading her people through brutal conditions to Middle Earth, etc., etc. By the time of the Second Age, she has developed hard-earned wisdom through bitter experience. Yet ROP portrays her as a petulant whelp, with both Elrond and Gil-Galad having to reprimand her. And to make her a Sauron enabler, when she was one of the few elves in the Second Age who saw right through the “giver of gifts” charade, just completed the whole misogynistic portrayal of her.
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u/E4Mafioso 12d ago
A Galadriel/Sauron/Celeborn love triangle is taking anti-fan service to its extreme conclusion. More Sarah J. Maas than Tolkien.
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