Editing Ainur (section)

==Istari==
The Istari is the formal name of the Wizards, all of whom were Maiar who were sent to Middle Earth to aid the free peoples and provide them with wise counsel during the Third Age between Sauron's initial defeat and his final one. Though they appear to take the form of elderly men, they're still quite powerful in their own right, both physically and [[Magic|magically]]. Compared to the other Ainur on this list, the Istari have a fully embodied experience while in Middle Earth; meaning that they have fully physical bodies capable of hunger, weariness and death, making them more vulnerable to both physical harm and corruption, but also better able to interact with the people of Middle Earth. There are five of them in total. In order of power and rank they are Curumo (Saruman), Aiwendil (Radagast), Alatar/Morinehtar and Pallando/Rómestámo (the Blue Wizards), and lastly Olórin (Gandalf). The important thing to understand about the Istari is that they are not spellcasters or conjurers; their magic is an inherent part of their nature as Maiar, and we get a glimpse of that when Gandalf drives away the Nazgul with what looks like a blinding light coming directly from his body.

They were sent by Manwë to inform mortals about Morgoth's lieutenant Sauron and raise forces amongst the Free Peoples to oppose him, they were however restricted from directly leading them or otherwise doing all the fighting, as there was the (justified in hindsight) fear that they could fall just like Sauron did and desire to dominate and rule Middle Earth instead of liberating it. The Istari also do not use their real names, instead using names given to them by the peoples of Middle Earth. While the Istari are all immortal beings from Valinor, their memories of that land become dimmed upon reaching Middle Earth; if they abandon their mission, they forget nearly all of it. Readers only learn to what happened to three of them. 

'''Saruman the White:'''  was corrupted after learning about the nature of the rings of power and its ruling ring, and fell completely after gazing into the Palantir of Orthanc and being subdued by Sauron. Saruman coveted the One Ring and desired to find and take it for himself, and being a Maiar of the same level as Sauron, could have theoretically been able to successfully exploit the One Ring and claim its power for himself, thus becoming a new Dark Lord. Even before the hunt for the One Ring, Saruman was vulnerable to corruption, as he was prideful and jealous that Gandalf had been proposed as leader of the White Council, and resentful that Yavanna had begged him to take Radaghast with him to Middle Earth; that being said, he did not initially plan on doing anything evil until he became obsessed with the Ring. At some point, Saruman casts aside his title of 'the White' in favour of becoming '''Saruman of Many Colours''' as a show of dominance and mastery. Saruman's treason and ultimate defeat is of course the first half of the plot of the whole series. The nature of his death and defeat differs between the books and film. In the films he perishes during the final confrontation at the Orthanc, being stabbed in the back by a vengeful Grima Wormtongue. In the books he survives until the very end of the story, where he tries to take a petty revenge upon the hobbits of the Shire by taking it over with a bunch of criminals and... [[Wat|industrialising it]]. That's right, Saruman's retirement plan was to become Big Tobacco. The Hobbits overthrow his mafia-regime, and after abusing Grima Wormtongue one final time, gets his throat slit by the fed-up lackey. 

Some time before (or after, if you're a film scrub) the events of the Hobbit, '''Radagast the Brown:''' lost sight of his purpose as a Wizard of the order, and instead became infatuated with Nature and its wild animals, likely falling to his own inborn callings and affinities as a Maia of Yavanna, the Vala of Nature. Despite losing track of his true mission, Radagast never completely abandoned it, and still served as a messenger for Saruman and did train birds to assist both Saruman and Gandalf, even if in those purposes he served as a cat's paw for the traitorous Saruman. It could also be said that by focusing on the natural world, Radagast still aided the Free Peoples by defending Nature against the industrial depredations of The Enemy.

'''Gandalf the Grey:'''  was the most proactive, counselling Elves, Dwarves and men. Despite not being the leader of the Istari, the elves perceived Gandalf's wisdom on their first meeting, and initially wanted him to lead the White Council. Ever since his arrival, Gandalf worked tirelessly to council and rally the free peoples and give them hope against the evils that lingered during the Watchful Peace. He was responsible for the events of [[The Hobbit]], which saw  the northern Orc armies and Smaug, the last dragon of any real strength, dead. He initially led the Fellowship until he was pulled down to the bottom of [[dwarf]] mines of Khazad-dûm by the Balrog, Durin's Bane. [[Awesome|Fought and chased the bastard up the Endless Stair for days, and died after killing it, with the duel itself destroying Durin's Tower at the top of the peak.]] He was then upgraded to '''Gandalf the White''' by [[God|Eru Ilúvatar]], where he was given Saruman's authority and loaned an extra dose of power, and was given a ride back to the action by the Eagle Gwaihir the Windlord (the lord of the Giant Eagles), thus rejoining the Fellowship. He fucked off to the Undying Lands after the War of the Ring as retirement is the only thing you can do after the defeat of the [[BBEG]]. Also had some pretty cool gear with him, such as his sword Glamdring, the Elven Ring of Fire: Narya, and a Wizard Staff he often dual-wielded with Glamdring. The latter being upgraded when he became the White Wizard in the place of Saruman.

As for the two '''Blue Wizards:''', we're only given scraps of speculative information. All we know for sure is that they headed East and South into the lands where Sauron held sway. One version says that they ultimately failed in their mission or even became wayward, possibly creating cults of magic. Another, however, says that they were successful in creating uprisings and occupying the vast forces of the East and South, preventing those forces from coming to the aid of Sauron in the War of the Ring. Regardless of whether the Blues succeeded or failed, they and Radagast likely returned to Aman as well.