Rings of Power Episode 6 BREAKDOWN | Lord of the Rings on Prime Explained

Deep dive into Rings of Power Episode 6: "Udûn" ! We'll look for all the references to Tolkien's deeper lore, explain what is happening, and I'll give some thoughts along the way. While this was a more action-oriented episode, there's still a lot of lore-related things to discuss and an explosive ending (which I correctly predicted!)

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[scottmaybee]

I'm calling it now - Sauron is the apple Isildur threw out of the boat.

[undefined]

The fact that Adar said he killed sauron, and halbrand asking him do you remember me in previous scene, smells fishy

[Morbos]

I don't see Adar's statement about Sauron healing Middle Earth as problematic. From Sauron's and Adar's point of view that is what they think they are doing even if from any other perspective it is evil and destructive.

[EjSavage]

So far, Adar is one of the better characters in my opinion. He has a backstory that actually makes you want to figure out what made him evil. He obviously still holds on to his Elven roots. He cares for his children (the Orcs/Urek) and best of all he actually looks like a dark elf… not just a dweeb in makeup and armor 😂

[abarairenji]

Fun fact #1: Gandalf calls the Barlog of Moria the Flame of Udûn.
Excerpt:
'You cannot pass, ' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. 'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.'
Fun fact #2: this is also the speech I made to my ex when she tried to get back into my life.

[joshuachong]

This is unrelated to any lore, but I thought it was an amazing choice to add flood water to the volcano. I'm a geologist and this is probably as close as film can get to portraying a *sort of* accurate rendition of HOW a volcano actually erupts: by the addition of water and other volatiles (H2O, Co2 etc) that would cause crystallisation of minerals, mostly feldspars, to form. The formation of these crystals in that magma actually takes a greater volume than the magma due to the relatively greater size of the now solid crystal, thus expanding it, making it thick and mushy, and increasing pressure in the chamber, so when there's too much and nowhere to go, an eruption occurs. IN the real world this occurs on much slower timescales and with a lot less drama, but... I am SO happy to have seen it! Okay, its a rocky rant, but just this scene made me overlook whatever mini-misgivings I have (most).

[tmillerde]

I really appreciate the civil constructive criticism you have with certain aspects of the show. Other outlets have been absolutely brutal with their criticisms and while I may completely agree with their points, I just prefer your method of respectfully explaining what parts you like and what parts you don’t like and why.

[lowerstreet]

When the season ends, it would be great if you could show us on a Middle Earth map your hypothesized routes of the various characters over the course of Season 1. I'm a little confused by some of the distances and the time it takes to get from one place to another (eg. Khazad-dum to Linden, or where exactly Bronwyn's village might be). It would be nice to see some of the places on a more zoomed out map, so it's easier to see the relative locations of everyone (before zooming in).

[simonunger]

Really liking Adar as a semi-sympathetic villain, his perspective on orcs and their place in Middle Earth is very interesting. Hope we get to see a lot more of him

[TheLastAxeman]

Adar's take on the orcs as him being quite a literal father to them, like a first generation of orcs, it was sad as hell. He is so tragic, perhaps remembering his time at Cuivenien before being captured by Morgoth, yet He experienced millenias of darkness and pain, not being an Eldar he once was. But he points very well that his offspring are still children of Eru. I

[BenyaminLorit]

I'd like to point out that you kinda skipped over the fact that the way Theo described to Arondir how he felt an intense attachment toward the sword hilt (and how it made him feel powerful) was similar to the way ringbearers felt towards the One Ring.

[FFXZeldagames]

Biggest takeaway of the episode for me: Isildur's Mother drowned in a place/culture where the mantra is "The Sea is never wrong." That cut me to the bone.

[fabiofonv]

Galadriel when the pyroclastic flow hit: "It's quite cool"

[Isaac-torquato]

In The Return of the King (book), the orcs catapult heads of men into minas tirith. It's just not possible to make scenes like this feel soft and i don't think that violent scenes like the ones in the tavern are out of place.

[moviewolverine]

Big fan of the battle tower that can be brought down by hitting exactly one weak spot. Top notch craftsmanship.

[AnythingMachine]

Just imagine the life that Adar has led - awoken unbegotten with a blank, fresh mind beneath the stars in the years of the trees in Cuiviénen (or at least in one of the first few generations that predate Finwe), attempted to found a culture from first principles with the other elves, kidnapped by an evil God and subjected to unimaginable horrors in Udun, seen literally billions of his twisted descendents enslaved by Morgoth and Sauron and then slaughtered like animals by the Noldor and Valar, then abandoned by his masters as useless as the continent he lived on imploded, somehow survived the cataclysm and escaped to wander Middle Earth for millennia... No doubt he's utterly insane by this point.

[arahman]

Galadriel's threat sounded a little like Morgoth's torture of Hurin, didn't it? Darkest she has been this show.

[thomabow]

At 19:38: I think the concept of orcs being irredeemable is a wonderful concept for the show to explain that was never at all touched on in Peter Jackson's trilogy, and rightfully so. Given their tragic backstory, you do have to question what sense of the divine remains within them as Adar says. However, I doubt the showrunners will make a dramatic statement of this, as clearly in the Third Age they are servants of evil still. I always enjoyed the concept that without the iron fist of a dark master, they are timid, shy nocturnal creatures with a penchant for violence, but not necessarily cruel.

[BlyatBlaster]

I didn’t read the Galadriel/Halbrand scene as romantic either. I haven’t gotten that from any of their interactions.
One of Tolkien’s very core themes is that characters can “love” each other without it having to be romantic. The camaraderie and brotherhood of Men, the shared history and suffering of the elves, the national pride of the Dwarves. All of these foster a love between these peoples that doesn’t have to be romantic. Like when people try to argue that Frodo and Sam are somehow romantically involved. They aren’t. They love each other. And they aren’t romantic. It’s possible. Tolkiens themes center on this idea of love between fellowships, love between friends. Love that isn’t romantic and doesn’t need to be.
There’s absolutely no reason Galadriel and Halbrand can’t love each other and also not be romantically attracted to each other. That’s very much in keeping with Tolkien.

[danielflynn]

As far as Arondir's speech goes...I thought it actually fit his character pretty well. He doesn't seem like much of a talker, earlier in the season he said to Bronwyn that he has expressed his feelings for her in every way but words. He's a very stoic, reserved, kinda quiet lead by example type guy. He motivates more by being out front and showing the others how to be brave. Rousing speeches just aren't his style basically, maybe, in my opinion.