Episode 6 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has landed and it is the most action packed episode so far. Things have certainly picked up pace and individual plot lines have begun to intertwine. However, dramatic events at the episode’s conclusion have left fans asking “are the Southlands Mordor?”
SPOILER WARNING – the following article contains big spoilers from episode 6 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power takes place in Middle-Earth’s Second Age. For context, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are set during the Third Age.
With the events of The Rings of Power happening so long before The Lord of the Rings books/film trilogy, it’s understandable that the world of Arda and the continent of Middle-Earth appear differently.
Viewers will have noticed that thus far there has been no mention of the infamous land of Mordor, which is home to Sauron and his armies in the Third Age.
Many would presume that the dark lands of Mordor were always there. However, that isn’t the case in The Rings of Power chronology.
Much of the action in The Rings of Power has taken place in the so-called “Southlands”, which is a new area that isn’t mentioned in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings or Peter Jackson’s movies.
So, what happens in the Southlands and are the Southlands Mordor in The Rings of Power?
What Happened To The Southlands?
In The Rings of Power, the Southlands are home to men who were corrupted by and loyal to the Dark Lord Morgoth and Sauron, the former’s successor.
Here we meet the elf Arondir as he guards the villages of Tirharad and Hordern from the watchtower of Ostirith, under the shadow of the mountain Orodruin.
After the elves leave Ostirith unguarded, Arondir stays behind with his lover Bronwyn, a human healer, who lives in Tirharad.
Arondir and Bronwyn soon encounter a diseased cow that was grazing near the village of Hordern. The pair set off to investigate and discover the settlement has been burned and ransacked.
Inside a house, Arondir finds a tunnel but is captured by orcs as he explores it.
At the orc prison camp, Arondir and the other elves (who have also been captured) are made to destroy the Southlands by digging. The orcs are lead by Adar, a corrupted elf who seeks Morgoth’s sword hilt which is in the possession of Bronwyn’s son, Theo.
Ultimately, Adar frees Arondir on the promise that he delivers a warning to the people of Tirharad. As a result, they abandon Tirharad and take up refuge at Ostirith. This sets the scene for a Helms Deep style siege.
Elsewhere, the elf Galadriel encounters Halbrand, the supposed exiled King of the Southlands.
Accompanied by the forces of Númenor, Galadriel and Halbrand venture to the Southlands of Middle-earth in pursuit of Sauron.
Are The Southlands Mordor in The Rings of Power?
After luring Adar’s orc army into a deadly trap at Ostirith, Arondir and Bronwyn retreat back to Tirharad.
Here, the two forces face off in a bloody conflict that culminates with an ambush by Adar’s remaining soldiers.
Just when all hope for the villagers is lost, Galadriel and Halbrand arrive with the army of Númenor. They eliminate the orc hordes and capture Ardar as he tries to escape with the hilt.
Unknown to Galadriel and co., a traitor, Waldreg, actually took the hilt to Ostirith. There he uses it as a key at the previously hidden monument to Sauron.
This triggers a nearby dam to break. Water then rushes along the freshly dug tunnels towards the mountain of Orodruin. Here it clashes with magma and causes an eruption.
Are the Southlands Mordor in The Rings of Power? In The Rings of Power continuity, the eruption of the mountain at the end of episode 6 is the formation of Mount Doom – the volcano at the heart of Mordor where the One Ring will be forged and eventually destroyed. As a result, we know that the Southlands are, in fact, Mordor in The Rings of Power.
It will likely be a little while before we see Mordor as we know it in the TV series. However, with the first eruption of Mount Doom, the table has been set for the conversion of the Southlands into Mordor. And it surely won’t be long before the construction of Sauron’s fortress, Barad-dûr.
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