Pallando’s Villainous Turn in Rings of Power Season 3: Blue Wizard Twist Explained in Full

Pallando revealed as the Dark Wizard

Ciarán Hinds’ character was introduced in season 2 as a Dark Wizard leading a cult in Rhûn. The showrunners later confirmed on Reddit that he was one of Tolkien’s blue wizards, while Daniel Weyman’s character was confirmed as Gandalf.

Season 3 names Hinds’ character Pallando, a name from Tolkien’s legendarium. Instead of following the more familiar assumption that the Dark Wizard was Saruman, the series makes him a blue wizard and an enemy.

A villain beyond Tolkien’s lore

The show appears to build on a brief reference to blue wizards starting magical cults. Pallando’s followers and the acolytes sent after Gandalf draw on that detail, but the cults’ dangerous role is the series’ own invention.

Alatar’s killing changes everything

Pallando seeks to align with Sauron before overthrowing him and taking control of Middle-earth. The season’s bigger revelation is that Pallando killed Alatar before becoming ruler of Rhûn.

Alatar is a Maia and immortal, so his spirit would eventually return to Valinor. But wizards are said to have little understanding of their lives in the Undying Lands, meaning Pallando would not have known Alatar would survive in spirit. His action is presented as deliberate and driven by greed and evil.

Other wizards remain unaccounted for

With Gandalf, Pallando and Alatar accounted for, Saruman and Radagast remain. Radagast may be the “tree-talker” Kemen mentions in the season 3 opening episodes, potentially placing him against Númenor’s efforts to harm the Faithful. The article describes the blue wizards’ conflict as another major departure from Tolkien’s canon, while noting that the series has found ways to redirect the story toward events in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.