Welcome to the Ending Explained for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Episode 6, titled “Udún”. Episode 6 finally brings the climax to the story that we have seen since episode one. It also brings a sort of closure to the Southlands storylines involving Arondir and the army of Orcs that have been doing some sketchy business in the area. Amazon Prime will count that this episode and its amazing spectacle might bring some people back to the show.
The writing and the acting are still weak, but it would be foolish to say that The Rings of Power isn’t a good-looking show. The production values displayed on these episodes were not perfect, but they were incredibly high, higher than any other TV show in history. This is a movie-level quality production we are talking about here and for an hour and ten minutes, Middle-Earth sort of came back to life on our screens. It still doesn’t match the quality of the film trilogy from more than 20 years ago, but it was close to it. There is potential here.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for episode 6 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Read at your own risk.
Do Arondir And The Rest Of The Humans Survive Adar’s Attack?
As the previous episode came to a close, we were left with a cliffhanger involving Arondir and the rest of the humans in the vicinity of the Southlands. They were hiding in a keep in the mountains, waiting for Adar and his Orcs to come and kill them. The Orcs were looking for the Dark Sword that Theo found some episodes ago. Arondir and Bronwyn concluded that the sword was more than just that. It was a key to something, somewhere. The answer to what the sword opened was not revealed.
Episode 6 opens with Adar and his Orcs arriving at the keep to find that there is no one there. Adar is not convinced. He can smell Arondir in the air. He is right, Arondir is there, and they have just fallen into a trap. Arondir ends up collapsing the tower of the keep, and it falls down on Adar and most of his army. Meanwhile, the humans were already back at their village, and they see how the Orcs are decimated by the falling structure. The people start preparations to receive the remaining Orcs.
Arondir tries to bring courage to the people, but the odds don’t appear to be in their favor. Arondir grabs the Dark Sword and hides it somewhere to keep it safe. Then he promises Bronwyn that she, Theo, and he will become a family after all of this is over. The Orcs arrive with Adar at the head, and a battle ensues. The humans end up victorious thanks to Arondir’s strategies. However, they discovered something disturbing: there were humans among the Orcs.
Adar arrives with more orcs and captures Arondir and the humans. Theo reveals the location of the Dark Sword to Adar, as it was under the tavern, so that Adar spares his mother’s life. Adar grabs the Dark Sword, but his celebration is cut short when Galadriel and the Numenoreans arrive from the voyage to Middle-Earth at a very convenient time. The Numenoreans save the people of the Southlands, and Galadriel and Halbrand capture Adar before he can escape with the Dark Sword in his possession.
Did We Just Witness The Creation Of Mordor?
The people of the Southlands start celebrating, and Queen Miriel introduces Halbrand to the Southlanders, and they recognize him as the true king of the Southlands. They all celebrate his return. Meanwhile, Galadriel is questioning Adar. Adar lies, saying he no longer follows Sauron’s orders because he killed him. He says that after Morgoth’s defeat, Sauron went to the north searching for the ultimate power, but his efforts were fruitless. There was something lacking. We see that Sauron was trying to forge something on the forge Galadriel visited at the beginning of episode one.
Galadriel almost kills Adar, as he provokes her by saying that he isn’t the only elf to be twisted by darkness. Galadriel stops killing the twisted elf thanks to Halbrand. She joins in the celebrations. Arondir sees that Theo is feeling guilty for having given up the Dark Sword’s location. The boy admits that when he had the Dark Sword in his hands, he felt powerful. Arondir gives the sword to Theo so he can give it to Numenor, but Theo discovers that inside the bundle there is only an axe.
It is revealed that before trying to escape, Adar gave the Dark Sword to one of the human traitors. The man is then seen back in the keep in the mountains, and he uses the Dark Sword on its keyhole. When he turns it, he sets free a mechanism that sets free millions of gallons of water that were being held on the mountain. They travel down the mountain and get inside the tunnels the Orcs were seen digging a couple of episodes ago. The water travels below Earth and the massive amount of water crashes with the magma below.
Galadriel and the rest of the humans are surprised as they see the mountain erupting, liberating a massive energy wave. We see as the land is then transformed into a landscape of fire and ash. We are seeing the creation of Mordor, the place that Mordor chose to be his seat, a place where evil can flourish. With his kingdom now built, Sauron might be appearing on the show sooner than later. Is it Halbrand? Is it The Stranger? We have to wait and see. There are only two more episodes left in this season.
