Mount Doom’s origins in The Rings of Power explained

Mount Doom is about to appear in all its grim and apocalyptic glory in The Rings of Power and here’s how the Prime Video series explains its origins.

Episode 6 (Udûn) of The Rings of Power season 1 sees Adar finally get his hands on the sword hilt he so desired thus far in the series.

However, it’s not him who wields and applies it to set off the apocalyptic final events of the episode; it’s his new loyal servant Waldreg who quite literally opens the doors for Mordor, triggering the origins of Mount Doom.

So how does this plan of Adar and orcs come to fruition?

Adar’s role and reason

Adar has been committed to the creation of Mount Doom, and although there might be someone else pulling the strings from behind, at the moment he seems to be the sole proprietor of the entire operations.

There’s a rather deeply personal connection that Adar has to the origins of Mount Doom, at least going by the shocking revelations he makes in episode 6.

Adar is one of the first orcs to ever be created by Morgoth — the Uruks. According to him, Sauron subjected the Uruks and the orcs in general to gruelling working conditions for his sinistrous machinations.

Adar claims he split Sauron open to stop the suffering of his children. One of the big reasons for the Orcs’ suffering now is the sunlight that can burn them to a crisp within moments of exposure.

That’s where Mount Doom comes in since the volcanic eruption of Orodruin aka Mount Doom will cover the entire skies around the mountain in darkness due to the ashes, blocking out the sun and fostering suitable conditions for the orcs to survive and thrive.

The toil and the turmoil of Orcs

Since the beginning of The Rings of Power, the orcs have been on a grind to dig tunnels all throughout the Southlands. Humans, elves, and anyone who can exert themselves to dig, Orcs captivated them and put them to work.

There was a fascinating ambiguity behind the entire operations Orcs were all about, to which they committed themselves with all their heart and devotion.

While the people of the Southlands and the viewers at home all speculated the reasons behind the tunnel digging, Orcs grunted and growled their way through the digging, not letting even sunlight stop them from doing so.

mount doom the rings of power
Orcs look on and cheer the creation of Mount Doom (Image for representation purposes)

The Orcs have been digging all the way from the Orodruin mountain to the villages far away.

Their widespread plan was hinted at in episode 4 when Bronwyn says that people all the way from Orodruin to Ostirith have come to take refuge in the watchtower.

That little bit of information must have sufficed to alleviate any doubts regarding the Orcs’ mission in the minds of Tolkien fans. Orodruin is the mountain that eventually becomes Mount Doom — a trivia well-known among the fans of the LOTR books.

Orodruin’s transformation into the Mount Doom

Adar led the orcs to dig the tunnels all throughout the Southlands in a grand and dexterous plan to create a conducive environment for them to live under.

The black sword hilt, the object surrounded by much mystique, actually turned out to be the key to creating Mordor, in a quite literal sense. Waldreg, the ever so loyal dog of Adar, carried the key to the lock in his new saviour’s stead.

He breaks the dam which then lets all the water flood down the tunnels straight into the magma chamber, activating the volcano which results in the magnificently harrowing eruption of the pyroclastics.

Mount Doom, although not explicitly mentioned in the show yet, has been created and its immediate consequences will be devastating for the Númenorean contingent.

However, an even worse fate awaits the Southlanders, who now have been stripped of their homes and the lands where they could build new homes.


Also Read: Mithril’s questionable origins in The Rings of Power explained

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