A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.
Gandalf was not late, only delayed.
Saruman accuses him of not consulting with the Order sooner:
The hour grows late and Gandalf the Grey rides to Isengard seeking my counsel.
and in the next scene:
The hour is later than you think.
Gríma echoes this to Théoden:
Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear.
Azog in The Desolation of Smaug says he should have come to Dol Goldur sooner:
You have come too late, Wizard! It is done.
And he arrives at Helm’s Deep in the very late stages of the siege, though it was precisely when he meant to.
So Gandalf is in fact chronically time-challenged.
Wizard’s advocate: those don’t say Gandalf is late. It says the hour is late, or he’s too late to do something. Maybe that was his intent to be too late to take that action, but he’s still in time to do something else.
Is that not foreshadowing, or at least a deliberate narrative choice? Frodo knows that Gandalf made a big deal about not being late, so the fact that he was late means some serious shit must have gone down.
Frodo knows that Gandalf made a big deal about not being late
Bud, Gandalf was fucking around. That’s why they both start laughing two seconds later.
True, maybe I’m overthinking it
You could probably consider it foreshadowing, but it’s mostly a joke between friends.
shortly thereafter…
Wasn’t it like decades later?
It was the entirety of their journey later, yes
17 years.
Is delayed late though?
Delayed precisely when he meant to
Goddamn wizard legalese…
I thought this is just how all old dudes do things
He arrived exactly when he meant to
He’s the late Gandalf now.
He was delayed in water.
