Why The Blue Wizards Don't Help Fight Sauron During Lord Of The Rings

The Blue Wizards were sent to Middle-earth to help in the fight against Sauron, but they were nowhere to be seen during the events of The Lord of the Rings. These two wizards, Alatar and Pallando, were the first of the Istari sent to Middle-earth, arriving from Valinor during the Second Age. Like Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast, it was their job to guide the beings of Middle-earth in their fight against Sauron, who had been one of their fellows. Despite this, the Blue Wizards had surprisingly little to do with the Dark Lord’s downfall.

The Istari of The Lord of the Rings were Maiar from Valinor, who had been born before the creation of Arda, the world. There were five Istari in total, the most familiar being Gandalf the Gray, Saruman the White, and Radagast the Brown. These three arrived in Middle-earth during the Third Age, though only Gandalf and Saruman took active roles in the ongoing fight with Sauron. Of course, Saruman ultimately turned to darkness, leaving Gandalf the only Istari to fulfill his duty of assisting the beings of Middle-earth in their triumph—but what of the Blue Wizards?

The Blue Wizards Were Helping In Other Ways During Lord Of The Rings

Blue Wizards Were To The East During The Events Of Lord Of The Rings

Like Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast, the Blue Wizards were given a job to do. As a whole, the Istari were meant to guide and assist in the fight against Sauron, but each went about it in their own unique way. In the case of Alatar and Pallando, they headed to the dark East, where the various kingdoms of men had commonly worshiped Melkor during the First Age and were ready to support Sauron during the Second and Third. Their job was to help those tribes that had rebelled from such an alliance and inspire further rebellion to ensure that potential forces against the West were in disarray.

Tolkien said in the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King that the Blue Wizards likely made a significant difference in the fight against Sauron during not only the Second Age but the Third Age as well. Therefore, they were likely still busy in the East during the events of The Lord of the Rings and had nothing to offer the Men fighting Sauron in the West. Of course, even if Alatar and Pallando had migrated from their initial Middle-earth destination, they likely wouldn’t have been much help anyway.

The Blue Wizards Likely Wouldn’t Have Helped Much In Lord Of The Rings

The Blue Wizards Couldn’t Have Fought Sauron

Being an Istari came with a complex balance in The Lord of the Rings. They were forbidden from taking direct action against Sauron since the beings of Middle-earth needed to overcome the villain with their own strength. They could only carefully guide, ensuring that the right people were in the right places at the right time and with the right weapons. For this reason, the Blue Wizards wouldn’t have been much help in the thick of things in The Lord of the Rings. It was never about the power of the Istari’s numbers—rather, the Valar sent five simply because of the likelihood of failure.

Tolkien was clear that, of the five Istari, only Gandalf was fully successful in his mission. Saruman had turned to evil, while Radagast became distracted caring for nature. It was Gandalf who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, trusting endlessly in the power of destiny to place him where he needed to be and paying meticulous attention so that he saw all the right opportunities as they presented themselves. The Blue Wizards being around during Lord of the Rings wouldn’t have made Gandalf’s job any easier. In any case, they had already lost sight of the bigger picture.

What J.R.R. Tolkien Thinks Happened To The Blue Wizards After Lord Of The Rings

Tolkien Explained What He Believes Happened To The Blue Wizards

While Tolkien stated that Alatar and Pallando would have had tremendous positive influence in the East during the Second and Third Age, he later contradicted himself slightly. He wrote that he was unsure of how successful their mission was but that he knew that they ultimately failed similarly to Saruman. The Blue Wizards overstepped the guidance they were meant to provide the Men of the East and instead began teaching magic. This, in turn, resulted in their being the center of cults, taking Melkor and Sauron’s place as the subjects of worship:

“What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret cults and ‘magic’ traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron.
”

The fact that the Blue Wizards’ Eastern cults “outlasted the fall of Sauron” implies that they were still kicking during the end of the Third Age. Like Radagast, Alatar and Pallando likely continued to live in Middle-earth, focused on their own goals and objectives. Given their failures, all these Istari were probably barred from returning to Valinor as Gandalf eventually did, but they might not have minded this so much. The Valar had thrown five Istari at the problem, and only one stuck. The others, including the Blue Wizards, ultimately chose different lives in The Lord of the Rings, for better or worse.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.

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J.R.R. Tolkien

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