Who is Halbrand? I feel like the show keeps on pushing some mysterious background and none of the characters have seriously challenged him. I have a feeling he isn't the promised king of the Southlands. Is he Sauron in disguise so he can get the Elves' trust to create the rings? Seems like Sauron has already been working in the background to get Celebrimbor to work on the forge to create the rings. I still think we haven't seen Sauron — he will be teased at the end of this season and maybe show up end of next season.

Also, who is the stranger who fell from the sky? I read some people suggesting it was Gandalf, but per the wiki, Olorin (the Maiar version) wasn't sent to Middle Earth until the third age, after Sauron's initial defeat.

I just spent a ton of time reading the LOTR wiki for this post. Crazy how deep and developed this mythical world is