An unnecessary Orc family becomes the new subject of conversation for The Rings of Power fans.

The Rings of Power TV series has been a controversial addition to The Lord of the Rings franchise. Many ardent fans of the Middle-Earth saga argued that the Amazon Prime series disrespected J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. As the show’s second season officially kicked off on August 29, it has sparked controversy again, for its portrayal of Orcs.

Orcs in The Lord of the Rings trilogy | Credits: New Line Cinema

The Middle-Earth fans know Orcs as disgusting, beastly, and vicious soldiers of the Dark Lord. The Peter Jackson trilogy had an almost perfect portrayal of those vile creatures. However, The Rings of Power Season 2 stirred a massive controversy after trying to take a more humanistic approach.

The Rings of Power Season 2 has a major Orc problem

The Rings of Power is based on the appendices from the original novel. However, since the first season, the show has often come under fire for experimentation with its source material. Soon after 3 episodes from the second season were launched on Amazon Prime, a massive internet fire was raised on the scene of an Orc family.

Even though it is very brief, a scene in the show featured an Orc family with a female Orc and a baby. The books and even the Peter Jackson trilogy have featured the Orcs as malevolent and ghastly creatures without any feelings. Surprisingly, the show took a contrasting route and featured the Orc father as a victim of the circumstances controlled by the evil ruling class.

By introducing an Orc mother and Orc baby into the picture, the makers have tried to evoke sympathy among fans. Both the novel and the books portrayed a clear demarcation of good and evil where the Orcs belonged to the latter. A user @AJA_Cortes wrote that the new season of The Rings of Power has reduced itself to a joke by showing the Orcs as sympathetic characters.

There is also an intense debate among Middle-Earth fans about the existence of female Orcs in J.R.R. Tolkien‘s work. Tolkien never said anything concrete about the existence of female Orcs and Orc reproduction but the fans believe that they are a wholly male and malevolent race.

Is the Orc family shown in The Rings of Power accurate to Tolkien’s lore?

A still from The Rings of Power | Credits: Amazon Prime

There is a modern trend among pop culture projects to show a different side in the evil characters. The makers often attempt to portray the villains in a grey shade instead of black or white. Looks like The Rings of Power also fell prey to it as Tolkien never spoke clearly about the Orcs.

According to Game Rant, J.R.R. Tolkien mentioned in The Silmarillion that the Morgoth captured Elves and tortured them to turn them into Orcs in the First Age. But unfortunately, the book is not considered canon. Later, Tolkien also wrote that Orcs were made by Morgoth “from the heats and the slimes of the earth”.

Nevertheless, Tolkien had yet to decide a fixed story for the Orcs’ origin. The Hobbit implied that they could reproduce when Bolg was shown as the son of Azog. Going forward, even though the writer wrote in another letter that “there must have been orc-women” somewhere.

Orcs are primarily shown as soldiers of the Dark Lord so it can be concluded that we cannot know much about them. It can be undeniably stated that showing the human side of the Orcs was not necessary for the makers. Now it will be interesting to watch if The Rings of Power will continue to raise more conversations in the upcoming episodes.

The Rings of Power Season 2 will be streamed every week on Amazon Prime.