{"id":553447,"date":"2026-03-30T02:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T02:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/553447\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T02:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T02:47:12","slug":"the-lord-of-the-rings-5-things-that-still-make-no-sense-about-gandalf-the-other-wizards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/553447\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lord of the Rings: 5 Things That Still Make No Sense About Gandalf & the Other Wizards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gandalf is one of the most important characters in The Lord of the Rings<\/a> franchise, yet there are still several things about him\u2014and wizards in general\u2014that make very little sense. Gandalf, along with all the members of the fellowship and various others, was introduced on screen in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, unlike many other characters in those movies, Gandalf went on to play a key role in several other movies and shows within the franchise. <\/p>\n

The character\u2019s first return came in all three movies based on The Hobbit, and he is currently confirmed to be in the upcoming movie The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum<\/a> as well. It has also been revealed that in Prime Video\u2019s ongoing series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power<\/a>, the Stranger is actually Gandalf<\/a>. Despite all of those on-screen appearances, however, these 5 things about Gandalf still don\u2019t make much sense.<\/p>\n

5) Gandalf Couldn\u2019t Figure Out The Riddle To Enter The Mines Of Moria<\/p>\n

\"Ian<\/p>\n

Although a relatively minor detail, one of the first things that didn\u2019t make sense about Gandalf in the original trilogy was his inability to solve the riddle in order to enter the Mines of Moria in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The riddle was, \u201cSpeak friend and enter.\u201d When Frodo asked what that meant, Gandalf explained that it was simple; if you wanted a friend, you needed to speak the password, and the doors would open. However, Frodo figured out that it was actually asking for the Elvish word for friend, \u201cMellon.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point in the story, Gandalf had already been established as a wise and worldly character, who theoretically should have had no trouble solving this (relatively straightforward, to be honest) riddle. In fairness, Gandalf had already made it clear that he didn\u2019t want to enter the mines, so some in the fanbase believe he was intentionally pretending not to know. In the film, that doesn\u2019t seem to be the case, though; the wizard appeared genuinely stumped, which was rather out of character.<\/p>\n

4) Gandalf Didn\u2019t Use Much Magic In Return Of The King<\/p>\n

\"GandalfImage via New Line Cinema<\/p>\n

After Gandalf\u2019s apparent death in The Fellowship of the Ring, he returns in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers no longer as Gandalf the Grey but as the even more powerful Gandalf the White. That transitioned marked a significant upgrade in Gandalf\u2019s abilities; in fact, White Wizard was the highest rank of wizards in The Lord of the Rings. Despite that power, when it came time for the epic showdown in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Gandalf actually used surprisingly few magic powers. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that his staff was destroyed by the Witch-King of Angmar during the Battle of Gondor, and that certainly limited him to a degree. However, Gandalf didn\u2019t need his staff to do magic; he could still have tapped into his powers without it during that battle and during the one that followed at the Black Gate of Mordor. Surely these battles were the time that such power would have been most important, as everything throughout the three movies boiled down to them.<\/p>\n

3) Gandalf Wasn\u2019t As Concerned As He Should Have Been About Bilbo\u2019s Ring<\/p>\n

\"Bilbo<\/p>\n

Bilbo Baggins acquires the One Ring during the events of The Hobbit, and by the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring 60 years later, he still has it. While Gandalf didn\u2019t know that Bilbo had found the One Ring, he did know that he had found a magic ring. However, it isn\u2019t until The Fellowship of the Ring that Gandalf becomes truly worried and begins digging into the history of the One Ring and its power. <\/p>\n

While he can\u2019t be faulted for not suspecting this was the One Ring, as that would have seemed impossible, it\u2019s odd that he wasn\u2019t more concerned. After all, again, Gandalf was known for being an exceptionally intelligent and perceptive wizard. Presumably, knowing that Bilbo had found a magic ring under suspicious circumstances should have meant at least a few alarm bells for the wizard. It will be interesting to see how The Hunt for Gollum addresses this, if at all, given that is the cause for the titular \u2018hunt.\u2019 <\/p>\n

2) Gandalf Used A Moth To Call The Eagles<\/p>\n

\"TheImage Courtesy of New Line Cinema<\/p>\n

Although much has been said of the eagles in The Return of the King<\/a>, specifically regarding why Gandalf didn\u2019t just use them to bring the One Ring to Mordor in the first place, that so-called plot hole actually make sense. For many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that Sauron almost certainly would have seen them coming with his massive eyeball, it wouldn\u2019t have worked to simply have the eagles fly someone with the One Ring into Mordor. Even so, there is a very odd moment with the eagles in The Fellowship of the Ring.<\/p>\n

Namely, when Gandalf has been captured by Saruman, he speaks to a moth to get the eagles to rescue him. Granted, Gandalf has magic, so it can arguably be chalked up to that, although that\u2019s a bit of a blanket rationale that still doesn\u2019t really explain how that worked. It\u2019s worth noting, too, that the moth is an invention of the movies; in the books, it\u2019s another wizard who has the eagles rescue Gandalf\u2014and he doesn\u2019t use a moth.<\/p>\n

1) Wizards Were Meant To Be Guides Only, But Gandalf Was Much More<\/p>\n

\"Gandalf<\/p>\n

Finally, the most significant thing that doesn\u2019t make sense about Gandalf is his level of involvement. In the Lord of the Rings books, it\u2019s established that wizards were sent to Middle-earth to be guides only. Yet, Gandalf went far, far beyond that directive, especially when it came to Frodo. In The Fellowship of the Ring alone, Frodo is incredibly hesitant to leave the Shire, and Gandalf essentially tells him it\u2019s the only way.<\/p>\n

Yes, it makes sense for Gandalf to feel the need to become more involved, considering that all of Middle-earth was in danger from Sauron\u2019s return. Even with that in mind, though, wizards were meant to have a very specific role, and it\u2019s clear that Gandalf went well beyond that throughout the original trilogy.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the\u00a0ComicBook Forum<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gandalf is one of the most important characters in The Lord of the Rings franchise, yet there are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,246008,125058,206,24242],"class_list":["post-553447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-gandalf","tag-list-feature","tag-movies","tag-the-lord-of-the-rings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}