Arguably, the most powerful beings in Middle Earth are the maiar. These otherworldly characters came out of the Undying Lands and across to the realm of elves and men, in order to guide them and shape their futures. Counted among the maiar are the five wizards, known as the Istari, as well as the evil antagonist in both the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings: Sauron.
The best-known wizards are Gandalf and Saruman from the original trilogy, and then Radagast from the later trilogy. They and their kind are believed to have appeared in the world sometime around the beginning of the Third Age. Their purpose was to stave off the growing evil of Sauron, who made a bid for power after the defeat of his master Morgoth. But how did these mystic beings appear on Middle Earth? Was it by magic, or by some other twist of fate?
The answer is never explicitly given in any of Tolkien’s narratives. All that is said of them is that they came from across the seas at a time when the world was in crisis, and needed them most. It is important to remember that not all the maiar stayed good. Among them were corrupted beings such as Balrogs. However, the five wizards themselves were given the Istari mission of protecting Manwe’s creations, nurturing their love and helping them to make the right choices in the battle against Morgoth and Sauron’s poison. Only Gandalf ever truly achieved this purpose and helped to reunite the peoples in a common cause of peace against the darkness. And even then, it took almost a thousand years of being in their midst, for him to come to light and show them their salvation.
The five wizards and their involvement in the early years of the world have come under much scrutiny in recent weeks. This is largely due to the mystery in Rings of Power surrounding the identity of the stranger in the meteor, who is currently making his way across the lands with the Harfoots. Some believe that he may be Sauron, while others are convinced that the rather grey-looking man is Gandalf. The despite the timelines don't quite match up, as Rings of Power focuses on the Second Age, where the wizards did not arrive until the Third. However, people have begun to wonder whether it is possible that the wizards could have appeared in a spectacular display of magic, as the stranger in the meteor did. After all, they are magical beings, beyond the usual constraints and confines of the earth.
Of the two blue wizards, little is known beyond the fact that one of them went into the east, and one of them went into the south. It could be possible that the stranger in the meteor will turn out to be one of these. He may end up helping the people of the Southlands, whose story is running concurrently to that of Galadriel and Halbrand. However, this would suggest that one had arrived before the other four. This seems unlikely, as they were all sent across by Illuvatar at a time when Middle Earth needed all the help it could get.
Of Radagast, little is mentioned in the Hobbit, other than that he is a reclusive nature lover who prefers to keep himself to himself than to involve himself the affairs of the mortals. That leaves Gandalf and Saruman. The two are essentially the good and evil counterparts to one another, who represent all the opposing ways that a white wizard can influence the fate of the world. Saruman chooses the path of power and greed, and subsequently falls. Gandalf chooses the path of truth and loyalty, and as such is risen up as a hero. He is given the opportunity to sail back to Valinor at the end of the War of the Ring, alongside the ringbearers, Frodo, Bilbo and Samwise.
Although it is never exactly explained how they arrived in the first place, the fact that Gandalf sails back to his birth-land at the end of the events of the Lord of the Rings suggests that perhaps this may have been exactly how they ventured to the eastern shores in the first place: by boat. So far in Rings of Power, there have been several attempts at crossing the sundering seas, which have all proved perilous. But perhaps these magical beings used a ship to arrive in secrecy. This might allow them to blend in and integrate themselves into the world. They could observe and gain the trust of the peoples, and learn all that they would need to complete their Istari missions over a thousand years later.