The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Writer Gennifer Hutchison Discusses Sauron, the Stranger, and More From the Season 1 Finale (Exclusive)

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has come to the end of its first season, and the finale episode, “Alloyed,” delivered answers to some of the biggest questions fans have asked through these first eight episodes. Some of those answers blew fans’ minds, and ComicBook.com had the opportunity to ask Gennifer Hutchison, who co-wrote the episode, a few questions about them. SPOILERS for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s first season finale episode, “Alloyed,” follow. The Rings of Power‘s first season finale reveals two identities: the mysterious Stranger learns he is a wizard, as many fans suspected from the start, and Galadriel discovers that Halbrand is Sauron, possibly repentant, in disguise.

These revelations set up two major storylines for , which recently began filming: the Stranger, with Nori Brandyfoot alongside him, departs for Rhûn in search of additional answers about his nature. Meanwhile, Sauron, now revealed to Galadriel, enters the newly founded Mordor.

We asked Hutchison about these reveals, the temptation of Galadriel, and what the show’s next season might have in store. Here’s what she had to say

The episode begins with this fake-out with the Stranger. I’m wondering, do we still have to call him the Stranger? We know now that he’s an Istar, a wizard. Are allowed to call him Gandalf now? Because he seems very much like Gandalf? Or are we still playing into that mystery?

Gennifer Hutchison: Well, he doesn’t really know his name yet. So I think until he knows his name, I don’t think we really know his name either. So I would still call him the Stranger.

Fair enough. There are changes from the source material in The Rings of Power. Can you explain to us what is going on with wizards in the show at this point? Because Sauron’s servants from Rhûn recognize him as Istari, which suggests that there are other wizards somewhere.

Well, I think that it’s really… I can tell you essentially what we’ve revealed is that he is a wizard, Istar. And the thing is, we’re discovering it along with him. That’s really the point of this character, and this storyline is building that world as he and Nori discover it, and so as far as where it goes in the future, that’s open for fans to think about in the break between seasons. But I will say they are obviously on that path to figuring out who he is and why he’s here.

The episode suggests that the Stranger’s next mission, whether he gets sidetracked or not, is to head to Rhûn, where there may or may not be a couple of blue-robed friends to help him. Can you say anything about the shape of his Season 2 story?

I cannot get into details. I can just say he and Nori are obviously on an adventure together to answer those questions, now that he has a little bit better idea of who he might be.

The other big reveal in this episode is, obviously, that Halbrand is Sauron. He talks about being repentant, which is something that draws on Tolkien’s writing, but it’s never clear if he is sincere or if it is all part of his game. How much can you say about what fans should read into his claims there?

Oh, yeah. No, it’s interesting, and I think we really did want that to feel open to interpretation, very specifically, as we were going through the season and building his character and his storyline. Because if you do go back, we wanted him to be internally consistent for both Halbrand and Sauron. And even in the room, we would go back and forth. Is he being sincere? Is this part of a manipulation? And I think part of the beauty of a character like Sauron and this situation is that it really is how you read it. And I would love for fans to be able to bring their own interpretation to that. Obviously, I think the actor has his own. We all have our own feeling. Is it genuine or not? And I think that’s a little bit of the beauty of it is it could really go either way.

The other thing is we see him walking back into Mordor, which sounds like a meme now that I say it out loud.

[Laughs] We do. Gosh.

One of the boldest things I thought this season did was that it touched on the Orcs and how the Elves see the Orcs, which even Tolkien struggled with how he presented Orcs. Are we going to see that dived into more as Sauron presumably comes to Mordor and tries to exert his influence and control on this nation that Adar has created?

Well, leaving the world’s state as it is — as you said, Adar and his Orcs have created Mordor; Sauron has crested the rise into it — obviously, those are storylines that have been left open at the end of the season. So I would say it’s safe to assume that there will be more exploration in that world as we go forward.

There’s the sequence where Halbrand/Sauron is trying to tempt Galadriel, and it’s hard not to see that sequence and think of Galadriel’s temptation with the ring and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It feels like those two scenes are in conversation with each other, at least to me as a viewer. Was that a conscious choice in the writer’s room, or was it incidental?

Oh, absolutely, it was. I’m glad that that came through for you. Because yes, that scene was, we were very much thinking of and drawing on the temptation scene in Fellowship, and really thinking about, she’s so relieved when she passes that test, but she really shows this side of herself that is surprising at the time. And so really wanting to build into that idea of, what had she been through? Where had she come from? And really, in a way, trying to maybe build even more of a backstory for that moment. So when you look at that moment now, maybe you’re thinking of that like, “Oh, gosh. This is even more of a significant test for her,” because it’s almost like closing a final door to this thing that we started here. We talked about that scene all the time.

Halbrand gets to Eregion and tempts the elves, who then forge the Three Rings, all in the course of this episode. I feel there’s another version of the show where Sauron manipulates the elves while Galadriel is investigating Halbrand’s origin is a whole season-long arc. What were the discussions around that? Was there ever a discussion about drawing that storyline out further into a multiple-episode arc? Or was there a desire to keep it succinct and get to that big reveal this season?

Well, I think there were many discussions. I think this storyline, really, was about the Three Rings. All I’ll say is there are more rings to be made.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 is streaming now on Prime Video. Season 2 is in production.