9 questions we have after watching 'The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power' season 1 finale

Throughout the first season of "The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power," fans have been trying to work out the identity of the character known as the Stranger.

In the first episode, he falls from the sky in a meteor and ends up befriending a Harfoot, ancestor to the Hobbits, called Nori (Markella Kavenagh). Across the first season, it becomes clear that the Stranger has magical abilities. This led many fans to believe he is the fan-favorite wizard Gandalf, who has been played by Ian McKellan in previous adaptations.

The finale reveals that the Stranger is an Istar, the name for wizards in the "Lord of the Rings" world, which means it is still possible for the character to be Gandalf.

Until proved otherwise, all signs point to the Stranger not-so-secretly being the legendary Gandalf the Grey.

During his journey with the Harfoots, the Stranger struggles to communicate with them and appears to have lost his memory. Yet after holding the staff of one of Sauron's followers, he is suddenly able to speak clearly and remember his identity.

Does the staff have some restorative ability, or does it just mentally unlock his brain to be able to speak again?

The Stranger has been chased by three mysterious people dressed in white throughout the first season. In the finale, they reveal themselves to be followers of Sauron thinking that the Stranger is Sauron. However, they are never able to reveal their full identity because they are vanquished by the Stranger.

Why do they want Sauron to regain his abilities? How were they able to mistake a wizard for their leader? Are there more magical followers like them or are they the last three?

These are all questions we may never get an answer to, especially since the mysterious group was newly created for the show rather than being based on book characters.

At the end of the first season, it appears that Sauron has gotten what he wanted: The creation of the three rings for the Elven-kings. Fans of the book series know that the dark lord eventually tricks the Elves, Dwarves, and Humans into forging powerful rings before creating his own ring to rule them all.

However, it is still unclear if at this point that this is Sauron's end goal. In season one, we see Sauron's journey through a secret identity, Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), who stumbles upon his greatest enemy, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark). Throughout the season, he reluctantly aids her, making it seem that she is the one leading him on and forcing him into the position of king of the Southlands.

Halbrand is then wounded during the battle for the Southlands in episode six, which means he is then brought to the Elven kingdom to be saved. This all seems like a complicated and almost unpredictable plan in order to trick the Elves into making the first Rings of Power.

Potentially, Halbrand truly wanted Galadriel to switch to his side and the rings were an addition to his plan once they stumbled into his lap.

Only time will tell how "Rings of Power" will reconstruct Sauron's greatest plan.

Part of the answer to this question is if Galadriel didn't agree to the rings being made, we wouldn't have "The Lord of the Rings." However, it almost seems out of character for her to willingly go along with a plan concocted by Sauron.

In the finale, Galadriel discovers that Halbrand has been the enemy she has been chasing this whole time. She tries to attack him but he pulls her into a deep sleep where they discuss her options: Join him to rule Middle-earth together or tell the elves the truth and risk dishonor.

Galadriel chooses a third option. She doesn't tell the Elves the truth, even her close friend Elrond (Robert Aramayo). Instead, she slightly alters Sauron's plan and instead requests for three rings to be created instead of two, hoping the third will hopefully create balance for whatever evil is in the rings.

This fits her character since she has been hellbent on doing whatever she can to kill Sauron for revenge, including tapping into the darkness. However, it is a foolish thing to do when she just found out the rings were essentially created by the enemy of Middle-earth and doesn't truly know their purpose yet.

Plus, if it all backfires she will face more dishonor and distrust than if she put a stop to the rings.

After Galadriel unmasks Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) as the dark lord Sauron, he vanishes from Eregion — although not before trying to pull Galadriel to his side. And in the closing moments of the episode, we see him striding through Mordor, as Mount Doom still burns in the background. But what's his actual plan?

Adar (Joseph Mawle) and the Orcs have already transformed the Southlands into Mordor, so he's probably gone there to take the land for himself. After that, it seems likely that he'll start heading to the kingdoms of men and dwarves to create rings for them next, but it's not exactly clear. Surely Galadriel and Elrond could just warn the other kingdoms of who Halbrand really is?

He's also going to forge the one ring (to rule them all) at some point in the future, but that might not happen for quite some time.

While the finale mainly focuses on Galadriel, Sauron, Elrond, and Celerimbor creating the Rings of Power, it surprisingly doesn't return to Durin (Owain Arthur) and the Dwarves in the mountains. The former prince was stripped of his title by his father after revealing the existence of Mithril to Elrond.

But what happens to a member of the royal family if they lose their title? Durin probably isn't going to be exiled out of the mountain because he lives with his wife, Disa (Sophia Nomvete), and their children.

Durin will have to work hard to get back in his father's good graces because he eventually becomes King of Khazad-dûm in the Second Age, even wielding the ring of power supposedly given to them by the elves. Although this puts the dwarves in Sauron's crosshairs and he sends Orcs to constantly harass them, so we could get some epic dwarven action in future seasons.

Unfortunately, we still don't know what happened to Isildur (Maxim Baldry) following the eruption of Mount Doom and the ensuing chaos in episode seven.

He survives the initial blast but seemingly gets buried by a burning building when he tries to save some civilians inside.

But the most important thing is we didn't see a body. No body? No confirmed death!

Plus, the only witness to his apparent demise is Queen Miriel, who was blinded in the same incident and was simply pretending to be fine in the aftermath until giving her condition away to Elendil.

The "Rings of Power" season one finale doesn't offer any clues as to where Isildur is, but considering he becomes one of the most important figures in Middle-earth's history, it feels like a safe bet to say that he's not dead yet.

In Peter Jackson's trilogy, Isildur is the one who actually defeats Sauron by slicing his fingers off — causing him to lose the ring. However, the hero is easily seduced by the ring's powers and refuses to throw it into Mount Doom, keeping it for himself. He's eventually killed by Orcs near the gladden fields.

Basically, he can't be dead because it would drastically change a key part of the story further down the timeline.

Thankfully, this question is a little more straightforward.

When the Númenorian forces return to their kingdom after leaving the Southlands/Mordor, Elendil (Lloyd Owen) quickly realizes that something is wrong because the city and all of its ships are covered in black flags.

This means that the kingdom is mourning the death of King Tar-Palantír (Ken Blackburn), who passed away shortly after speaking to Elendil's daughter, Eärien (Ema Horvath)

While the dying king thought he was speaking to his own daughter, Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), he told Eärien that Númenor should embrace the elves and be more respectful to Valinor in an effort to stave off its apocalyptic future.

He also showed her the seeing stone (called the Palantír), although the finale didn't show the audience if Eärien actually used it.

The king's death is going to have drastic ramifications for Miriel and Eärien going forward, especially since Pharazon (Trystan Gravelle) doesn't believe in working alongside the elves whatsoever.