The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 will explore the origins of Orcs, reviving a debate that’s been raging for decades. An interview in Entertainment Weekly with Adar actor, Sam Hazeldine, revealed how The Rings of Power season 2 will explore this aspect of the story more thoroughly than any other live-action adaptation. However, this theme emerged in the show as early as season 1. Season 1 introduced the original character, Adar, a villain that didn’t clearly appear to belong to any of the races in The Lord of the Rings.

As one of the more mysterious The Rings of Power characters, Adar was shown in episode 5 to be an Elf that had been corrupted into an Orc. According to Sam Hazeldine, season 2 will show how Adar went from being an Elf to an Orc. He also discussed the character being made an “offer of power” from Sauron, which Adar “willingly” accepted without understanding the consequences. By diving back into this, The Rings of Power will inadvertently bring an old debacle over Orcs back into relevance.

Rings Of Power Season 2 Will Go Further Than The Films In Showing Orc Creation

Season 2 Adopts One Popular Theory Of Orc Creation

The origin of Orcs in Lord of the Rings is hotly contested among fans, and was only briefly touched on in the Peter Jackson films. Jackson’s depiction of Uruk-hai birthed in mud and slime came from one of Tolkien’s earliest Orc origin stories – seen in The Book of Lost Tales – which claimed that Orcs were “bred from the heats and slimes of the earth.” Tolkien never published this in his lifetime; instead, it was published by his son posthumously for literary interest.

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Uruk-hai are a separate breed to Orcs, and not one that Rings of Power has tackled yet. Uruk-hai were later given a different origin story in Tolkien’s work, as were Orcs. It is one of these later origin stories for Orcs that Rings of Power is leaning into – the notion of Orcs as corrupted Elves. Rings of Power offers a more up-to-date version of the Orc origin story than Jackson. Judging from Hazeldine’s comments, season 2 may also specify the process of corruption that makes an Elf into an Orc.

Tolkien Was Undecided On The Origin And Nature Of Orcs

There Were Many Versions Of The Orc Origin Story

Peter Jackson’s version of the Orc origin story made sense for his films, providing family-friendly horror potential and drama, but Tolkien made this story darker. Tolkien later claimed that Orcs were corrupted Elves, which is the version of the story that Rings of Power uses, and that Tolkien’s son chose for The Silmarillion. Work that Tolkien published in his lifetime offered no certain conclusions on the topic, but Frodo made an interesting assertion on the subject of Orc origins in The Return of the King:

The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own. I don’t think it gave life to the Orcs, it only ruined them and twisted them; and if they are to live at all, they have to live like other living creatures. 

Although this is a character’s opinion, rather than Tolkien’s confirmation, it is at least certifiably Tolkien-approved as a version of the story. What’s more, this interpretation gels with the majority of Tolkien’s writings on the matter, which is why Christopher Tolkien chose it for The Silmarillion. However, there were inconsistencies on Orcs across Tolkien’s work. And in fact, Tolkien’s latest word on the topic was that “Orcs were bred from men.” Tolkien’s legendarium is, by far, best understood as a collection of myths, rendering a final decision unimportant. As Christopher Tolkien said in The Silmarillion foreword, it would take a “heavy and needless cost” to achieve “a complete consistency.”

Sauron Played A Part in All Morgoth’s Worst Works, Including Orc Creation

Sauron Was Morgoth’s Second In Command

 Sauron probably helped make Orcs, so the show’s Adar storyline in season 2 may not be too far off the mark. The oldest villain in The Lord of the Rings world was Morgoth, who was eventually exiled to the Void. His second in command, Sauron, remained on Middle-earth. “In all the deeds of Melkor the Morgoth upon Arda, in his vast works and in the deceits of his cunning, Sauron had a part,” says The Silmarillion. It also says that corrupting Elves into Orcs “was the vilest deed of Melkor.” Therefore, it stands to reason that Sauron had a part in the creation of Orcs.

Perhaps this is what’s in store for Adar’s origin story in The Rings of Power season 2, as it looks like Sauron has something to do with Adar’s transformation from an Elf into an Orc. In his Entertainment Weekly interview, Hazeldine elaborated on his deal with Sauron going wrong and resulting in his transformation into an Orc. Sauron offered Galadriel a twisted deal at the end of season 1, so it’s not hard to imagine him employing the same tactics with Adar.

It’s possible Sauron offered Adar a role by his side in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, similar to how he did with Galadriel. If Adar was tempted by Sauron’s power, Sauron could have promised him command over legions of soldiers, forgetting to mention that this involved becoming their prototype. Perhaps Sauron offered something more personal – a family. This would tie in to the show’s tackling of the theme of family through Adar, the “father” of the Orcs. If Sauron promised Adar a family in exchange for service, it’s fair to say that Adar didn’t get what he expected.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 will air on August 29. 2024.

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Uruk-hai are a separate breed to Orcs, and not one that Rings of Power has tackled yet. Uruk-hai were later given a different origin story in Tolkien’s work, as were Orcs. It is one of these later origin stories for Orcs that Rings of Power is leaning into – the notion of Orcs as corrupted Elves. Rings of Power offers a more up-to-date version of the Orc origin story than Jackson. Judging from Hazeldine’s comments, season 2 may also specify the process of corruption that makes an Elf into an Orc.